Author: Mr Roundtree

Yesterday, we outlined our plans for how we might open up our schools more widely. These plans aren’t fixed: the situation we’re in right now is changing all the time. However, regardless of any new government announcement, things are unlikely to differ for next week and the week beginning 01 June:

Next week

On Monday 25 May, we’ll be closed for all children. This is because so few people needed to be in school on the Bank Holiday. For the rest of the week, Moortown Primary and Scholes (Elmet) Primary will stay open for children who are attending regularly at the moment and this includes individuals from St James’ CE Primary.

During this week, there will be a break from the daily home learning activities that teachers set, but we’ve put together this menu of optional activities.

Week commencing 01 June 2020

On Monday 01 June, we’ll be closed for all children. This is so that we can prepare for increasing numbers over the following weeks.

From Tuesday to Friday, school will be open for those using it as they are already and for some additional children. By now (or very soon), you’ll have been contacted and you’ll know that your child is expected. By 3.30pm tomorrow, we can’t accommodate any additional children.

Some principles for children returning to school

During lockdown, we know that children may have had very different experiences in terms of family life (for example, they may have experienced bereavement) and in terms of learning (for example, some will have been able to access the home learning enthusiastically, and others less so). As a result, we know that lessons in school won’t be as they were before, though many of the same good teaching principles apply.

Some of our priorities will be:

• the safety and hygiene of children and adults, a priority above all else
• the wellbeing of children: we’ll talk, play games, read stories
• to establish rules and new routines, but in a gentle way
• to wash hands frequently: we’ve timetabled many key points in our day when this must happen
• to get outside as much as possible (and when this happens, high-touch areas, such as tables, chairs, door handles and taps, will be cleaned)

Our learning priorities will be the core skills of reading, writing and maths, but there will be time for other, enriching/relaxing activities, too. Lessons will be shorter to allow for handwashing and other practical considerations that weren’t needed before lockdown.

We’ll let you know more specific details as soon as we can.

Two important things to be aware of…

For all parents: We’re going to close school at noon each Friday for the next few weeks. This is so that rooms can be deep-cleaned, and so that teachers have a chance to plan and prepare some of the home learning activities.

For children in Nursery (Foundation 1): We’ve no plans at the moment to re-open Nursery. This goes against a priority that government has set out, but is in-line with Leeds City Council’s support for a phased re-opening. We’ve made this decision based on concerns about safety and social distancing for our youngest children.

The Leeds position

Read a letter to parents from Saleem Tariq, the Director of Children and Families in Leeds.

Jonathan Pryor, Executive Member for Learning, Skills and Employment, and Sal Tariq, Director of Children and Families, set out this position on schools re-opening in an email earlier this week:

Last week the Government declared which year group cohorts (Nursery, Reception, Year 1 and Year 6) will be eligible to return to school from June 1st at the earliest, joining those pupils who have been eligible to attend school throughout the past two months (vulnerable children and children of key workers).  The Government have stated that when pupils return, they should be in school full time and that the rotation of year groups should be avoided.

As Leeds City Council, we believe that it is important for children to resume their education so they can learn and interact with their peers. However this needs to be done in such a way that the risks to pupils, staff and parents is minimised as much as possible.

Due to a variety of factors, it would be impossible for all schools to operate to the Government’s timetable of opening Reception, Year 1 and Year 6 from June 1st.  While some schools will begin to gradually expand their intake from this date, Leeds will not be expecting all our schools to be open to all those pupils from day one.

In deciding what is feasible, schools are being asked to carry out an initial comprehensive risk assessment so that leaders can evaluate potential solutions on how they could safely and effectively accommodate eligible pupils. We would ask schools, in the first instance, to take a phased approach to how many pupils they take back and from when schools are ready.

Every school has a different number of vulnerable and key worker children, every school has a different number of staff who will not be able to attend school in person because they or a family member are in a vulnerable category and therefore shielding, and every school has a different layout and therefore has differing abilities to implement social distancing measures for its staff and pupils.

It can be expected, therefore, that there will not be one city-wide model for the initial phased re-opening of schools. However, Leeds City Council will support schools to work towards gradually increasing the number of pupils they receive at the pace that their individual circumstances will allow.

It is clear that there are a number of clarifications and actions are still needed from the Government before numbers returning to school can substantially increase.  We have been consistently asking for the scientific advice that has informed the Government’s position, we are demanding that this be published immediately.

There must be clarification around the appropriate levels of social distancing that will need to be implemented, and schools must have flexibility as each school will have a different layout and therefore will have differing abilities to implement social distancing.

There must be comprehensive and regular testing made available for school staff, as well as for the children and young people attending school, linking into a local tracing programme

Staff who are social distancing because they, or those they live with, are in vulnerable categories must be given national guarantees that they can continue to work from home and not be expected to physically come into school.

We support the Local Government Association’s call that local authorities be given the power to close any school where there is an outbreak of cases.  Given the disparate rates of R across the country, it is right that this power should sit locally and be done in consultation with Directors of Public Health.

And finally the new case count must be much lower than it is currently, with a sustained downward trend.

We are working in consultation with schools and the Department for Education to gain answers to questions which still remain.

It is important to note that schools have been open throughout the past two months, providing education in person for vulnerable children and the children of key worker children – in addition to providing education and pastoral care to those children at home.  This has been a phenomenal task and we thank everyone involved.

We understand that this is a difficult time for parents and Leeds recognises the urgency in returning children to education.  This urgency should not overlook local level factors, nor should it be done until these points have been addressed.  Safety of staff and pupils should be at the heart of all decision making and decisions should be kept under constant review.

We’re starting today’s message with some plans for the next week or so.

The situation we’re in right now is changing all the time, so please be aware these plans aren’t set in stone: we have to work through them in more detail; our governors will scrutinise them; and advice and direction from the government is due to be updated, too.

All along the way, we’ll have to keep reviewing numbers coming in and balancing this with lots of other considerations, like staffing and the spread of the virus.

Up until now, the numbers of children of key workers at St James’ CE Primary have been quite low, and so they’ve been attending Moortown Primary or Scholes (Elmet) Primary, our sister federation schools.

Next week

Pupils from St James’ CE Primary can continue to attend Moortown or Scholes, as arranged. This is except for Monday when all three schools will be closed for Bank Holiday.

Week commencing 01 June 2020

On Monday 01 June, Sphere Federation schools will not be open to any children. This is so staff can prepare classrooms and learning resources for children.

We will re-open from Tuesday 02 June to accommodate children of key workers and children who may be vulnerable in some way.

For the rest of that week, we’re expecting the number of children to rise. This prediction is based on your survey responses, which indicate that more and more key workers will be required to be back at work.

We’re determined to accommodate these children in line with all safety guidance we’ve received.

Week commencing 08 June 2020

This week is open to some review based on the numbers we’ve had in school in the previous week. Our current aim is to open school more widely to additional Year 1 and Year 6 children. There are various criteria that we’re considering, such as criteria around free school meals, which seems a fair way to do this.

As before, we can and will accommodate these children in line with all safety guidance we’ve received.

Week commencing 15 June 2020

This week is open to a lot of review based on the numbers coming in to school. We have three broad options that we’ll continue to review:

1. to continue to open school more widely to limited numbers of Year 1 and Year 6 children (two of the year groups identified by the government as a priority)
2. to invite children from other year groups where we know there are exceptional circumstances and/or there is a real need
3. to consider opening for children in Reception where the families qualify for free school meals

Our preferred options at this stage are Option 1 or 2, or some sort of combination. Option 3 is less likely based on survey responses and our capacity to make sure provision is safe for the youngest children, and – importantly – provision is appropriate (since we can’t safely offer an Early Years learning environment which the children will be used to).

As we said at the start, these plans are subject to change. We’ll continue to update you when we can.

We’re still planning for how we might open up our schools more widely. As we said to you yesterday, the process of opening up will be slow and safe.

Heads of School are working through a very helpful document produced by Leeds City Council – this provides lots of prompts to make sure our plans are comprehensive and robust. Once this is produced, our governors will scrutinise the plans.

All this means that a dramatic re-opening on Monday 01 June isn’t realistic. It’s even more challenging because there remains a lot of uncertainty about the best course of action. The government updated its guidance for educational settings yesterday (frustratingly, they don’t indicate what or where the updates are), and this advice is due to be updated again:

This guidance is applicable to 31 May 2020 and will be reviewed before 1 June 2020.

A separate government document presenting actions for schools was also updated yesterday. The introduction to this documents does make clear that schools re-opening is not definite (we’ve added the bold):

As a result of the huge efforts everyone has made to adhere to strict social distancing measures, the transmission rate of coronavirus has decreased. We therefore anticipate, with further progress, that we may be able, from the week commencing 1 June, to welcome back more children to early years, school and further education settings.

We will only do this provided that the five key tests set by the government justify the changes at the time, including that the rate of infection is decreasing. As a result, we are asking schools, colleges and childcare providers to plan on this basis, ahead of confirmation that these tests are met.

This uncertainty is frustrating and unhelpful for you – we’re sorry about that. However, you can hopefully appreciate the difficulties we’re facing.

In the longer quote (above), please note the reference to social distancing. Thanks to those of you who emailed us to support the strict approach we’re taking, as outlined yesterday: If we have reasonable grounds to believe a family is not following the government’s message, we will ask you to collect your child and remain away from school for a period of time. We’ll continue to do this after half-term, too.

Moving on…

• Did your child wake up at a good time this morning to get going for the day ahead?
• Is your child having regular meals and drinking enough water?
• Has your child enjoyed some reading in a quiet space?

These prompts, and more, are in a really nice checklist for your child which promotes healthy routines. We’ve mentioned it before, but this is one of our favourite resources because it’s so simple, so we thought it was worth a second mention.

Finally today, we’re approaching the Summer half-term. Just like at Easter, we’ll take a break from the daily home learning tasks and instead present a menu of activities – these are all optional, so your child can do as many (or as few) as you like -make this work for you all. Look out for that later in the week.

We hope you had a nice weekend, perhaps enjoying a walk or even – since it’s now allowed – two walks! That’s provided you maintain social distancing guidelines, of course.

Our first message of the week has three parts…

Lockdown

The government’s message about who you can have social contact remains as it was before: you should only have contact with members of your own household:

You must continue to stay home except for a limited set of reasons but – in line with scientific advice – can take part in more outdoor activities.

In nearly all situations, this means you should not visit friends or family, and it means friends and family should not visit you.

Although St James’ CE Primary is currently closed, some St James’ children are going to Moortown Primary or Scholes (Elmet) Primary. Our staff are working in those schools to keep it open for children of critical workers and for those children who might be vulnerable. The following message is for you if child is currently coming to Sphere school:

Opening schools more widely

Thanks to all of you who completed the survey about opening schools more widely from 01 June 2020. Your answers have been really helpful to enable us to plan ahead. Based on your answers, for example, it’s clear that St James’ CE Primary will open again for certain children after half-term.

However, it’s possible that some of the following will apply (and this isn’t an exhaustive list):

• just one of those year groups returns to school
• the school day isn’t a full day and/or the school week isn’t a full week
• the whole year group does not return together
• your child will be taught by a different teacher and in a different classroom
• the curriculum is reduced
• school dinners would be different

All the Sphere Federation leaders met this morning and we’re all agreed: we will open our schools to more children in a safe way, and this will mean it’s a slow, secure way back to full opening.

Leeds City Council have helpfully provided a risk assessment that we can work through to help us to continue to plan ahead. This document alone contains well over 225 points to consider or actions to take. However, it’ll help us to make sure that the plans we put in place will be thorough and keep our children’s safety at the forefront of our minds.

(You can also keep our children’s safety at the forefront of your mind by remembering to socially distance, of course.)

Living and learning during lockdown

Living and Learning is the name for all the teaching and learning we do around Personal, Social, Health and Economic Education (PSHE). Each week in school, we’ve a Living and Learning statement. I make choices about my money… is our statement this week. One of the Sphere Federation Health Leaders writes:

This Living and Learning statement helps to consider different money choices. You might want to ask your child what they would do if they were given £5. They might say spend it, save it, buy a gift for someone, give it away, lend it to someone? Would they do the same if they: Found it? Earned it? Were given it as a gift? Had more money or less money?

If you’d like to cover this subject further, watch MoneySense Mondays and use the MoneySense home learning bundles to explore key money topics while learning at home.

Remember, this could be an addition or alternative to a home learning task that your child’s teacher sets for them each day.

Yesterday, we sent two messages to you. The first set out a chronology of events of the week and presented to you some of the possibilities about how our schools might begin to re-open. To help us with this, we sent a second message, which contained a link to a short survey. Please complete this survey – we need your responses by 5pm on Sunday 17 May.

The survey asks three main questions:

Are you a key worker whose child will definitely be attending school after half term?

We don’t want to start making plans to re-open for particular year groups and then discover we have more children of key workers needing a place. This wouldn’t be safe.

We need to know this because we need to be able to prioritise the children of key workers. 

If you think your child is vulnerable in any way, will you send your child to school after half-term if we can offer a place?

The government has a definition of what ‘vulnerable’ is. However, if you feel like you’ve a genuine concern about your own child, please tell us. We can’t guarantee we can support your child more, but we will try.

We need to know this because we will try in some way to meet the needs of children (in any year group) who might be particularly vulnerable, especially in the current situation.

Please note we can’t guarantee this and we may have to assess each individual circumstance and always with the goal of staying safe for everyone.

If we’re able to offer your child a place, will you send your child to school?

This question is open to everybody – not just key workers or parents of children who may be vulnerable, and not just parents of children in the years groups the government has set out as a priority.

We’re asking this so we can try to plan ahead.

We really do need as many people as possible to tell us this information – thanks for helping us to help our children and our staff to stay safe.