updated friday 22nd may 2020

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Parent Carer Letter Home - Term 6

Letter from the Director of Education 15th May 2020

22^nd May 2020   

Dear Parents/Carers,

Firstly, I hope you are all well.  I want to thank you again for all your understanding through what is of course a challenging time.  Your communication with staff and support of pupil learning has been fantastic.  Staff commitment to pupils has been exemplary and noted by Governors and the Local Authority as such.

You should all have seen the email from Alison Hurley, Director of Education last week.  A link to the letter is on our website. It recognises the government objective of opening schools to the children of key workers, children in vulnerable groups, and children in Reception, Year 1, Year 6 and Year 10, where it is safe to do so and where the school has capacity.  This is intended as a phased operation that starts to happen on 1st June. It is dependent on further Government review on 28th May.   The schools have put in place detailed risk assessments which are currently being reviewed by the Council’s Health and Safety department, who will also visit in Term 6.

At Woodstock we have re-evaluated the space and staff available to establish the maximum number of pupils we can safely have on site.  As we continue to prioritise children of key workers and those in vulnerable groups this means we do not have capacity to currently offer places to all our Year 6 pupils as this is a large group this year.  We have established that Bristol Gateway School has space for some of our Year 6 pupils and we have already made arrangements for some pupils to attend there. 

We will continue to work on the assumption that some parents/carers will prefer to continue to keep their child at home and that you will contact us if you would like to check the possibility of your child starting to attend.  Please be aware that if you choose to keep your child safely at home there is no penalty for doing this.

At Bristol Gateway throughout Term 6 we will continue to operate on a partially-open basis but with a focus on specific year groups. In addition to those pupils already attending, there will be an Initial focus on encouraging more year 9 and year 10 pupils to attend school.

Both schools will continue to be open from 10am 2pm Monday -Thursday and from 10am - 12.30 pm on Fridays.

For those students continuing on the home school programme full support will still be given. Remember, if you have any concerns about helping your child learn or you need any other support from the school, please let us know by either calling school or speaking or emailing with the teacher who is calling you on a daily basis.   We would encourage you to continue to push learning at home to prevent a learning lag. 

Again, the learning that has taken place has been amazing - we have loved seeing the pupils fantastic learning at home – please keep sharing your successes.

You will continue to receive Free School Meal Vouchers if you are eligible.  Meanwhile the school kitchens remain open. 

We will continue to send out additional detailed correspondence from our safeguarding team about support services in how to keep protected and safe during the Covid-19 crisis. #

The transport department are continuing to provide taxis where they can and in a way that is safe for pupil and staff.  In some cases there may be a need for parents or carers to either escort their child or to drive them to school if they are able.

I appreciate that the decision to keep children at home or send them into school can be very difficult.  There is lots of conflicting information in the press and on social media.  If you would like to discuss your concerns or be given more information regarding any details of the precautions we will be putting in place then please contact the schools on either  woodstock.sp@woodwayfederation.co.uk or bristol.gateway.school@woodwayfederation.co.uk

Kind regards

Mrs Kaye Palmer-Greene

Executive Principal         

Woodway Federation