Phased re-opening of Grove School

24.6.20

Dear Parents,

We are delighted to be able to let you know that the governors have agreed to our phased re-opening of Grove School. We will be starting with children in Nursery, Reception, Year 1 and Year 6. Starting these year groups follow the Government’s advice to schools.

We have had many responses from parents and have emailed their start and finish times to them. If you have not yet responded or would like your child to access learning in school this half term, email school on parents@grove.bham.sch.uk to let us know you would like your child to access learning in school this half term. Once we receive your email we will allocate your child two days in school each week. We will email you with information about which days these are each week and how the staggered start and finish times will work for your child.

If you have any questions please ask us by either telephoning school on 0121 464 4669 or emailing parents@grove.bham.sch.uk.

All other year groups will continue to have access to our daily online learning.

In our letter to parents last week outlined all of the new safety measures in school to keep everyone safe, these include:

• Staggered start and finish times to the school day, this will reduce the number of children arriving and leaving the school at any one time.
• A temperature check for all children as they arrive at school.
• Children in smaller groups with staff following the latest Government guidelines on social distancing.
• Additional cleaning of touch points and toilets throughout the school day.
• Additional cleaning resources in the classroom.
• Children will be asked to wash their hands on arrival at school and many times throughout the day.
• Clean school clothes each day, with school uniform on the first day and PE kit on the children’s second day in school.
• Two new first aid bases, one in each school building.
• Staff and pupils following the latest Government guidelines on social distancing.
• Safe movement around school as pupils follow our new one-way systems in school.
• Staff, including teachers, teaching assistants, lunchtime supervisors, cleaners, site management and contractors working on site all trained on our school risk assessment.
• Our kitchen staff will be providing school meals for all our children who are being taught onsite. A detailed risk assessment is in place for all food preparation.
• Children are able to bring in their own water bottle from home each day.

We are really looking forward to our phased re-opening of Grove School.

Your sincerely,

Mrs P Matty & Ms J Baker

 

 

Update on Grove School wider opening to Y6, Y1, Reception and Nursery 17th June 2020

Dear parents and carers,

Firstly, thank you for your tremendous support during this Covid-19 period. I would like to update you our progress on the phased re-opening of Grove School.

I will be meeting with governors next Tuesday (23.6.20) and seeking their approval for our Covid-19 risk assessment. We have looked at all aspects of school life and thought carefully about how to reduce the risk of Covid-19 transmission at Grove School.

Here are the steps we are taking and answers to questions parents have asked:

1.     We are following all the UK Government and Birmingham City Council’s guidance.

2.     Which pupils will be coming back into school this half term?

We aim to begin our phased re-opening of Grove School to children in Year 6, Year 1, Reception and Nursery from Thursday 25.6.20.

3.     How big will each group of children be?

The children will be in small groups, the size of the group is based on the latest UK Government advice on social distancing.

4.     How many days will my child be in school?

Each group of children will be in school for two days only and online learning will continue for the other three days each week.

5.     What time will I drop my child at school and what time will I pick them up?

Each group of children will have their own start and finish time.

The staggered start and finish times in school will help to reduce any congestion.

Parents will be asked to drop their child/children at the school gate and collect their child/children from the school gate.

6.     Will you check my child’s temperature?

By the entrances to each building we have new temperature sensors. When your child/children enter the school building they will have their temperature checked.

7.     Will the school be clean?

We have had a deep clean of the whole school and all the toilet areas since the Covid-19 lockdown began. We have bought a lot of cleaning materials, these are in all classrooms. We have also arranged for more cleaning during each school day. Three additional cleans of touch points and toilets will take place throughout the school day. This is on top of all of our normal cleaning routines.

8.     Will my child wash their hands?

Yes, plenty of times throughout the day. We have sinks in or by each classroom and have bought plenty of soap and hand gel. Your child will be asked to wash their hands at least six times each day. We will teach all children to wash their hands thoroughly for at least 20 seconds with soap and water.

9.     Will my child be in school uniform?

Yes, on their first day they will be in school uniform and on their second day they will wear their PE kit to school. This will reassure all parents that the clothes children wear in school are clean.

10.  How will the children move around school safely?

Staff have marked out routes through school to keep movement around school as safe as possible. All children will be moving around school observing social distancing rules.

11.  Will playtime be the same?

Each group of children will have time to play outside with their small group. This reduces the number of children playing out and will keep each group of children safe.

12.  What if my child is ill?

If your child is unwell you will be contacted by staff as normal. We have new first aid rooms in each building for pupils who are not feeling well.

13.  Who can I talk to about my child coming back to school?

Please email Miss Baker if would like to talk about your child returning to Grove:

j.baker@grove.bham.sch.uk

14.  How do I let school know I’d like my child to come back to school?


Thank you to all the parents who have already emailed and said yes you would like your child/children to be taught in school this half term. We will be in touch with you later this week to talk about their start time and days in school.

If you initially replied with a no or not sure and you would like your child to be taught in school this half term please email Michelle Murphy at m.murphy@grove.bham.sch.uk


Thank you again for all you are doing at home with your children.

Kind regards,

Mrs P Matty
Headteacher

 

Letter to parents 10th June 2020

 

Wednesday 10.06.20

Re: Phased opening of Grove School

Dear Parents and Carers,

We understand that this is an extremely challenging time for our community. We have been very pleased with the way our parents are working closely with our teachers and staff in the weekly telephone calls.

It is humbling to hear about so many acts of kindness and how our community is helping each other. We know from your responses to surveys from Year 6, 1, Reception and Nursery how concerned parents are about schools reopening. The main worries many parents have are will my child be safe and will older relatives and young children we live with be safe.

We would like to thank all the staff at Grove who are working tirelessly to provide high quality online learning for all our children. Staff are working closely with senior leaders to risk assess all aspects of the school day.

The government is asking school governing bodies to consider a phased opening of schools when it is safe to do so.

Members of the Scientific Advisory Group on Emergencies (SAGE) and the Association of Directors of Public Health have advised caution and concern about the too rapid easing of lockdown and the increased risk of a second pandemic wave.

Governors have set up a working group and we will write to you weekly to advise you on the phased reopening of Grove school.

Grove is currently open for vulnerable children and the children of critical workers, as we have been for the past seven weeks. More information on this is on our school website or you can telephone the main school office on 0121 464 4669.

We will continue to follow the government guidance for schools and will be keeping the situation under close review. We will write to you again next week with a further update.

Yours sincerely,

Mrs P Matty                      Ms J Baker
Head teacher                    Deputy head teacher

 

Letter from Birmingham City Council to parents and carers of all Birmingham school children 09/06/2020.

Please click on this link to read it. 

 

Friday 22nd May 2020

Starting the phased re-opening of Grove School

Dear Parents and Carers,

I hope you and your family are safe and well at this very unusual time of a Covid 19 lockdown.

I am pleased with how well our children have approached the new online learning. This will be continuing after our half term break. For half term teachers have planned holiday projects, which I hope you will enjoy with your children.

You will be aware from the news that the Government has announced ideas for the phased reopening of schools.

At Grove we will be working with staff to risk assess how to make our school life safe for our children and staff. Birmingham local authority have been helping their schools and have provided a detailed step by step approach to looking at every aspect of the school day. A letter from Birmingham Council is on their website, please follow the link below:

https://www.birmingham.gov.uk/news/article/618/statement_on_re-opening_of_birmingham_schools

After half term I will be continuing to work closely with our teaching staff, managers, lunchtime supervisors, catering and cleaning teams to plan for our school opening. Safety will be at the heart of this planning. When governors have approved our plans we will write to you and let you know what the phased reopening of Grove will look like. As soon as I know more on this I will provide you with more information.

Can I remind all our parents we continue to be open for critical worker children. If you have any queries on this please contact school on 0121 464 4669. Our school phone lines will be open again from Monday 1st June 2020.

For our families celebrating Eid this weekend, from all the staff at Grove we wish you a very happy Eid.

Kind regards,

Mrs P Matty