St Paul's Catholic Primary School

21th May 2020

Dear parents,
Further to our previous communication, the school leaders within Lumen Christ have been working extremely hard to respond positively to the government plans to extend the opening of our schools for children in Nursery, Reception, Year 1 and Year 6. These are worrying times for everyone and whilst we wish to support any national efforts to combat the impact of the COVID-19 virus, we remain primarily concerned for the well-being and safety of our pupils, staff and families.
We wish to continue to support you as parents and carers and feel it best to do that in an open and transparent way. To this end we would like to share with you the implications of following all necessary measures to minimise the risks, as far as possible, of having more children in school.
There is considerable complexity around planning for any wider reopening and although this has been set out to some extent by the government, we are still awaiting further clarification and specifications from the government and local authority.

It is widely acknowledged that rigorous social distancing is impossible in school settings. Therefore, a series of measures and routines will be put in place to safeguard everyone as much as possible:

Start and end of the new school day:
• There will be staggered start and finish times
• Parents will be advised that only one person should accompany children to school
• Public transport should be avoided if at all possible
• Parents will not be allowed to enter the building
• There will be no face to face meetings with parents, the school office will be able to take calls and answer emails (No parents will be allowed in to the office hatch)
• Parents will be asked to observe social distancing and not gather in groups at the gate
• Pupils will enter by a specified door and will wash their hands as soon as they arrive
• Pupils will not take work or equipment home
• Staff will continue to communicate with parents via phone, email, texts and the school website

During the day:
In reality, children cannot be expected to keep to social distancing and remain 2m apart from each other and staff. The below measures are therefore intended to ensure contact is minimal and the risks reduced:
• A one-way system may be introduced to support safe movement around the school site.
• Children and staff will have the facility to wash their hands regularly.
• Classrooms and all areas used will be cleaned more regularly and bins emptied frequently.
• Children will be placed into smaller groups of 10-15 and will be in the same room and seat each day.
• The same staff will stay with each group as far as possible.
• Staff will remind pupils about hygiene routines, handwashing and not touching their faces and mouths. We will also share the ‘catch it bin it, kill it’ message.
• The groups of children will not be allowed to mix with each other.
• Children of key workers and those who have already been coming into school will now join their year group if possible.
• Children will work with the same equipment which will be kept in school.
• Lunch and play times will be staggered.
• Children will wear school uniform as much as possible but will be allowed to wear their own clothes if needed to enable parents to follow government guidelines and wash clothes every day.
• Children will be allowed outside for fresh air and physical exercise.
• Staff will manage and monitor children’s toilet visits so social distancing is maintained.
• Pupils and staff will not be expected to wear facemasks
• Staff dealing with First Aid matters will wear PPE and this will be provided by school.
• Where possible doors will be left open (not Fire doors) to avoid contact with handles.
• Where possible windows will be left open to improve ventilation.

Staff at Lumen Christi will not be routinely taking children’s temperature. However, as previously, if your child has symptoms, they should NOT attend schools. If your child displays symptoms when they are in school, they will be isolated and you will be called and ask to collect your child immediately. All staff and students who are attending an education or childcare setting will have access to a test if they display symptoms. Therefore, you should then apply for your child and anyone living with you to be tested. Your child will not be allowed to return to school until you have evidence of a negative test result.
Please be aware that if a child who has been attending school tests positive for COVID-19, the other children and staff member within that group will be asked to go home and self-isolate for 14 days.
In this letter, we have tried to explain what the ‘new normal’ will be for children returning to school in June by describing the reality of the adjustments that will have to be made within school in order to do that in the safest way possible.
The government have stated that “the first phase of wider opening of educational settings from 1 June 2020 is dependent on the most up to date assessment of the risk posed by the virus’. The outcomes of those assessments is not expected until Friday 29th May. It is then that we will be able to determine if it is still expected that schools will open under the above conditions.

When should my child come to school?
In order to prepare and maintain a safe environment for our children, our staff will attend a preparation and training day on Friday 5th June. This will provide the opportunity for staff to prepare rooms and practice new routines around social distancing before welcoming the children on site.

Monday 8th June Reception children will return to school
Tuesday 9th June Reception children in school
Wednesday 10th June Year 1 and Reception children will be in school.
Thursday 11th June Year 6, Year 1 and Reception children will be in school.
Friday 12th June Key workers’ and vulnerable children only.

Monday 15th June Nursery children will return to school along with Reception, Year 1 and Year 6 children

In order to facilitate deep cleaning (Giving a 72 hours window when the site is not in full use) – only
the children of critical workers and those who are vulnerable will be able to attend school
on Fridays for the foreseeable future. This will also provide time for us to review and evaluate the
effectiveness of the measures we have put in place. It will also provide adequate PPA time for staff
and time for well-being calls to be made to the families of children still at home.

Children of key workers and vulnerable children who have previously been attending school will continue to do so.
When will the other children return?
It should be noted that the government have stated that they would like the children in Years 2, 3 ,4 and 5 to return to school later in June or July. We have no further details about this at the moment. Any future plans to do this will be dependent on continued declining trends in the spread of the virus and further guidelines from the government. We will keep you informed as soon as we receive further communication.
Working together, our Lumen Christi Principals, Committee Representatives and Board of Directors retain the power to make decisions about what is safe in our schools. We will be constantly reviewing the government guidance and our own practice and experiences. Where it is judged that guidelines cannot be safely followed or risk appropriately managed, the decision may be taken to further restrict opening or revert to closure until such time as these matters are resolved.

If you are unclear about the contents of this letter, have concerns or specific circumstances that you would like to discuss then please contact the school. However, please note that we will confirm these plans, provide more detail or notify you of any changes following the government announcement on 29th May.

Clare Madden
Lumen Christi Catholic Multi Academy

As Catholic schools we offer our pupils a unique education founded on the teaching of Christ which contributes to their spiritual and human formation of living life to the full. However, we all know that this cannot take place at any price, and that the health and safety of everybody concerned in opening our schools is paramount. This must be at the heart of any decision made in this respect.
Statement from Birmingham Diocesan Education Service May 2020