Letters
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Re-opening School - Letter from CEO
Thu 28 May 2020Dear Parents/Carers of children who have indicated that they would like to return to school
Please find attached a letter below from our CEO Susannah Connell, regarding the planned reopening of schools on Monday.
May I please request that you do not email the school with individual questions. I am sorry but we do not have the capacity to respond to these. We will be writing to you again tomorrow with final details about reopening.
Best wishes
Joan
Joan Beale
Interim Headteacher
Middlefield Primary Academy
28th May 2020
Dear Parents/Carers of children who have indicated that they would like to return to school,
I am writing to let you know how much we are looking forward to welcoming your children back to school. The Trust Board will be meeting on Friday morning, to make a final decision regarding the opening of schools on June 1st. This decision, along with additional information about classes, school routines and arrival and pick up times will be communicated to you by your Headteacher on Friday afternoon. The arrangements your school has made will ensure it is as safe as possible for everyone.
I know that some of you may also be aware of the speculation about the emergence of some ‘hotspots’ and the admission rates at Hinchingbrooke hospital. Cllr Dr Nik Johnson, who works in the hospital, has clarified the information. The admission rates ARE declining at Hinchingbrooke but not as fast as might have been expected. Given that the rates in the country as a whole will go up and down, as the lockdown rules are being changed, I think that all we can do is to continue to do everything we can to make the school environment as Covid-secure as possible.
The Trust and the Local Authority are keeping this emerging situation under review. We will continue to act on the advice and guidance we receive.
The ultimate decision to send children to school remains one for you, the parents. I want to reassure you that, whatever the statistics about hospital admission, we will do everything we can to welcome your children back with a smile and, of course, to keep them safe. I believe that if everyone follows the rules regarding washing hands frequently and maintaining social distancing, we can look forward to this return with optimism. This includes at school and especially in the wider community.
Yours sincerely,
Susannah Connell - CEO
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Staggered Return to School
Tue 26 May 2020Dear Parents/Carers
Return to school
For those of you who have indicated that you would like your child to attend school if we reopen on Monday June 1st, I would like to draw your attention to the following. This information is contained in the PowerPoint.
We are having a staggered return.
On Monday June 1st we are welcoming Year 6 only.
On Tuesday June 2nd we are welcoming Year 1 as well as Year 6
On Wednesday June 3rd we are welcoming the Reception children.
Please note that the board of the Diamond Learning Trust are meeting early on Friday 29th to make the final decision about reopening after reviewing the latest scientific and government advice. We will then confirm their decision with you.
Joan
Joan Beale
Interim Headteacher
Middlefield Primary Academy
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School Office contact
Mon 18 May 2020At present the office isn't being manned full-time during school hours, so please email us with any queries on office@middlefield.cambs.sch.uk or if you need to contact us urgently press option 5 on the phone to get through to the school club extension.Many Thanks -
School Reopening Update
Mon 18 May 2020Dear Parents and Carers.
I hope you are all well and have had an enjoyable weekend.
Please find above a further letter from Jonathan Lewis, Education Director from Peterborough and Cambridge, which all schools are sending out.
I will write to you again, as I promised last week, with further details of Middlefield’s planned arrangements for reopening.
Thank you to all parents who have responded so far. I do need to make you aware that for those of you who are key workers, you will have to send your children for the full day each day. We cannot have children arriving at different times or attending on different days.
Best wishes
Joan
Joan Beale
Interim Headteacher
Middlefield Primary Academy
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Coronacast Webinar – Reassurance for Staff and Parents
Thu 14 May 2020Coronacast Webinar – Reassurance for Staff and Parents
This has been an excellent watch for the staff here at Middlefield, so we'd like to share it with you. It gives us practical guidance to assist all schools with moving forward. (Please do not be put off by all of the faces on the video. It is a recording of a Zoom chat with headteachers!)
Dr Matt Butler (a consultant from the COVID Assessment Unit at Cambridge University Hospitals) speaks about COVID19, how it is spread and the steps we need to take to reduce the risks for our children, our staff and our families.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K2bEm_NvIpc
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Return to school Guidance for Reception, Year 1 and Year 6
Thu 14 May 2020Preparing for Returning to School – Information for all Parents/Carers of Children in Reception, Year 1 and Year 6.
For everyone to stay safe when children return to school on June 1st, there are several things that we all need to do. I know that you have high expectations of us and how we will keep your children safe when they are in our care. We also need to rely on you to support us by taking and/or not taking certain actions.
What Middlefield School are doing to ensure that children and staff stay safe.
Arrival and Entry
- We have identified different entrances and exits for each year group.
- There are 2m markings in the playgrounds. Children will be asked to keep this distance when entering school.
- There will be staff outside to direct the children. They will not be able to chat to you. Please do not try to speak with your child’s teacher. If you need to make contact about anything, please send a message to the class teacher using class dojo or email the office.
- We have split each year into 2 groups. Each group will have a maximum of 15 children and a have a teacher and a TA. This may not be your child’s regular teacher or TA.
- There will be a different start and finish time for each group. We will write to you again with details of which group your child is in, what time they should arrive and be picked up and which entrance to use.
- Children will have their own desk and their own set of equipment. They will stay at the same desk all the time they are in school. All classrooms will be thoroughly cleaned at the end of each day.
- We respectfully ask that you strictly adhere to this to ensure that there are not too many children and parents arriving at the same time.
- We ask that parents do not hang around outside and chat, as this does not adhere to social distancing rules.
- Children will stay with the same group for all the time they spend in school. They will not be permitted to mix with other groups.
- Children will wash their hands, on arrival to school and then go straight to their allocated classroom. They will hang their coat and bag on the back of their chair.
- They will not be able to move around other than to go to the toilet or for break and lunch time.
- Classrooms will be well ventilated and there will be hand sanitiser.
- Weather permitting, teachers will use the outside spaces as much as possible.
Break and lunch time
- These will be staggered. There will not be free play. Teachers will organise structured exercise and activities within the bubble of 15.
- Children who usually bring a packed lunch will eat this in their classroom or outside.
End of day/pick up
- As for arrival times, pick up times will be staggered to prevent too many people arriving at school at the same time.
What we would like parents to do
- Please support us to keep everyone safe. This means sticking to all we are asking you to do on arrival and pick up, especially practising social distancing.
- Please talk to your children to help prepare them for returning to school. It will be different, but it will be OK!
- Please try to explain to children that they will be washing their hands lots of times and that they will be told to keep away from other children and that this is very important.
- We know from working with the children of Key Workers that this is hard for all children and especially the younger ones. Therefore, we are asking for your help.
- Make sure that if children are wearing shoes with laces, they can tie these themselves. Otherwise please do not send them with shoes that have laces.
What we would like children to do
- Wash their hands thoroughly.
- Cover their mouths when they cough or sneeze.
- Keep away from other children where possible.
- Listen carefully to staff and follow their instructions at all times.
We thank you in anticipation of your cooperation.
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Reception, Year 1 & Year 6 - Return to school Guidance
Thu 14 May 2020Dear Parents and Carers
Following my communication Yesterday. As promised, I can now provide further details of how we will be organising children’s return to school. Please read the attached information carefully. We will provide greater details when we know the exact numbers of children attending in each year group. I know that some of you wanted further information before making your decision.
Best wishes
Mrs Beale
Joan
Joan Beale
Interim Headteacher
Middlefield Primary Academy
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Return to school update
Wed 13 May 2020Dear Parents/Carers
Thank you to those of you who have confirmed that you will definitely be sending your children to school from June 1st if we reopen. Many of you have said that you would like more information before you make this decision. This is quite understandable. I have therefore attached some information above which outlines some of the things that we will be doing. I hope this helps with your decision making. We will continue to update you regularly and provide greater detail of exactly what we will be doing in each year group.
Best wishes,
Joan
Joan Beale
Interim Headteacher
Middlefield Primary Academy
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DfE Helpful Parents Guide
Tue 12 May 2020Dear Parents and Carers
If you haven’t picked it up already there is a helpful parents guide on the DfE website which can be found here - https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/closure-of-educational-settings-information-for-parents-and-carers/closure-of-educational-settings-information-for-parents-and-carers
Since I wrote to you yesterday, the government has issued further guidance on their Covid-19 recovery strategy generally and also for schools. We will be discussing these with our staff, our Trust, the Local Authority and other headteachers.
We will keep you posted about reopening. Thank you to all who have already responded about sending children to school, if we reopen on June 1st.
Best wishes
Mrs Beale