The Headteacher's Blog

Assuming nothing changes in the meantime, our outline plan for September and full opening looks like this:

The school day will remain as it is now, with ‘relaxed’ arrival between 08:35 and 09:00 and ‘relaxed’ leaving between 15:10 and 15:25

No matter what ‘stagger' we put in place it will clash for some parents of children at other schools who also have their variation of ‘staggered starts’, so we are just going to continue being accommodating. (It also nicely deals with internal sibling links)

We will further separate the children as they arrive by using the side gate from Tapton field for one year group, Year 3

We know that that is the new starters, but it is also the year group whose cloakrooms are nearest to the gate

We won’t have Year 4 use Shore Lane, even though they are now, as 120 children (plus parents) going that way would be very different to the current 44 children only

For the first week we will ask Y3 parents to drop and collect from our top playground: it is what we always do, because it works, making spotting your child easier

We will have outdoor sinks and handwashing installed in three places round the site, to enhance facilities, and we will keep on insisting on good hygiene control

Our working ‘bubbles’ will be based around double-class sized groups of 60 or 61 children: there are two classes in each open-plan base, and two classes in each double mobile, all sharing cloakrooms and toilets and sinks and entrances and support staff

Staffing is located within each ‘bubble’ for the most part, with only PPA for teachers covered by colleagues working across ’bubbles’

These groups can share spaces and resources, retaining them for a week or while a unit of study is completed

If we deliver face to face assemblies or have visitors they can work with these ‘bubbles’ as one

These ‘bubbles’ can have playtime and lunchtime together, meaning, basically, that we can have playtime and lunchtime outside

Children will still have two playtimes each day, morning and afternoon, with each staged so that two year groups at a tie are outdoors –one year group on each playground (with the playgrounds divided into two parts, one for each double-class ‘bubble’)

School meals will include the same hot meal option we have been operating this term; packed lunch, jacket potato and fillings, school meal from the rotating menu, vegetarian alternative, and a range of desserts

Timings will have to change to separate the year groups and ‘bubbles’ within, but will allow a good time to eat in the hall and a half hour play outside;

• Y5 eat at 11:45, play from 12:00 to 12:30
• Y3 eat at 12:00, play from 12:15 to 12:45
• Y4 eat at 12:15, play from 12:30 to 13:00
• Y6 eat at 12:30, play from 12:45 to 13:15

The children will sit in their classes – to reduce, as possible, the time in contact and mixing with other ‘bubbles’. There will be no mixing in or between year groups at any table

The eagle-eyed will spot that this makes lunchtime shorter, for pupils and teaching staff, by 10 minutes (but longer overall for school by 15 minutes). We will compensate by increasing the length of playtimes, with Y3&5 having longer in the afternoon and Y4&6 having longer in the morning

Lunchtime staff will stay with a specific ‘bubble’ right through the break, and teaching staff will supervise their ‘bubble’ or year group as far as possible at playtimes

Curriculum and timetable reorganisation will allow most aspects of our established broad, rich and ambitious teaching and learning offer to continue – we may need to block topics into week-long sections rather than spread them over a half term, but we will teach music and art and PE and DT and geography and science and computing and …

All aspects English and maths will be taught, though we are investing heavily in resources so they are not shared beyond the double-class ‘bubble’ without appropriate measures

We are also investing funds (music fund and PE & Sports Premium) in equipment for these areas so they can fully continue for every class

Music lessons will actually be enhanced – orchestra, choir and wind band will be suspended but staff will deliver specialist music lessons to classes and ‘bubbles’

Subject specific equipment will be used carefully – for example, PE equipment will be distributed to classes so they have a set to use all week / fortnight so it does not need cleaning between lessons of different classes

School uniform will be expected, but as our changing rooms are closed we will ask children to come dressed for PE on the appropriate days – this will save on cloakroom space, avoidable room use, time, and potential contacts / mixing that could be avoided

Each ‘bubble’ will have basket or trug of playground equipment for their exclusive use, to take back and forth from classroom to playground

Visits can and will take place, with necessary changes to travel arrangements (possibly with increased cost), and precautions we are all familiar with in place as well

Swimming lessons are booked and will be paid for and will start as soon as the pool is open and staffed

Pastoral support, from teachers and support staff, will be enhanced for at least the first term

Alternative provision will open, we hope, in September, and we will access this for appropriate children

All children in all classes will be spread out as far as the room allows, though they will sit two to a table. It’ll all be forward-facing, side by side – sitting in rows, effectively

Windows will be open for fresh air circulation

The same requirement for all children to wash their hands frequently will be in place, with more soap, paper towels and hand sanitiser available and more supervision in place

Before and after school clubs and activities will start as soon as possible – safely, and with access controlled so that ‘bubbles’ remain intact, possibly with reduced numbers. We will financially support where we can and where needed to ensure children can be physically active and the child care element is in place

Some will be offered to single year groups only

Some will run for lower numbers

Some, outdoors, will be able to continue almost unchanged

Some might not be financially viable, or be practical given restrictions, and unable to restart just yet

Our new Year 3 pupils, our ‘new starters’, will be invited to visit on 1^st September to meet the teacher, have a lesson and bring a packed lunch to try out the hall / playground

The first Parents Evening will be brought forward – but will be ‘socially distanced’ or virtual / by telephone

Teaching staff will use ‘formative assessment’ (questions and answers in many forms, but in an on-going way rather than tests at the end of a unit of teaching) to find out what children have ‘lost’, and then we will reteach it

Teachers will cover what was not taught this term to each year group

We will use the DfE guidance on core curriculum to help us focus on the key progressions in maths and English

Home learning provision will stop except in two circumstances – if a child cannot attend due to an extreme clinical vulnerability, or if part or all of the school is closed due to a localised ‘break out’ of the coronavirus

We will encourage all pupils who can to walk, cycle or scooter to school (and do the same for staff – two have bought new bikes recently on the Bike 2 Work scheme)

We will deliver ‘gatherings’ virtually – assemblies and other events will be via digital media only until we can all physically come together

FOLA (the Friends of Lydgate Association – the pta) are looking at ideas for distanced but fun activities to continue their activity and fund raising

Teaching and support staff placements have been reorganised so that classes have fewer contacts with adults each week, and likewise for staff- fewer will work across multiple classes

Interventions will be running, but with groups drawn from those same double-class ‘bubbles’ if at all possible (and appropriate to need)

Behaviour expectations about respecting the right to safety and good health will remain in place