March 2021 High Legh Primary School Procedures for opening school to all pupils - This document has been written to support the school community ...

March 2021
High Legh Primary School
Procedures for opening school to all pupils
This document has been written to support the school community
after lockdown which started in January 2021

Introduction
This document is to support the High Legh Primary School community to
make their best endeavours to ensure the safest possible return to school for
all children and staff from 8th March 2021. We have updated our procedures
in light of the DFE document ‘Schools Coronavirus Operational Guidance Feb
2021’

We all have a moral and civic duty to do all we can to reduce risk from
Covid-19 and play our part in ensuring that no further lockdown will be
needed. The impact of school closure on children’s wellbeing and education
is undisputed. We hope that this is to be the last time we plan for children to
return to school after a lockdown.

There is one good reason for hope; the vaccination programme rolled out by
the NHS means that the most vulnerable have already received their first
vaccination. However we should remember that vaccination alone will not be
effective. Vaccines are effective against the current strains of the virus. The
more a virus spreads, the more it can mutate and the risk of a mutation
being resistant to the vaccine increases. Therefore minimising infection rates
and following preventative measures goes hand in hand with vaccination.
It should be noted at this point that none of the teachers in school have been
vaccinated and this will not happen for all staff until the end of July. All
children and staff are vulnerable to the virus as are parents and
grandparents.

It is good to see that infection rates and deaths have declined. We will
continue to keep an eye on local and national statistics and keep in mind
that current statistics (February) show that young children’s infection rate
has not declined but has remained level. It should also be noted that recent
data (w/c Feb 25th) shows infection rates in both Cheshire West and Cheshire
East has risen slightly since the previous week.

Due to the national drop of rates of infections all schools in England will be
opening fully; whilst we will be loosening restrictions in terms of opening to
all children, all our other restrictions and preventions will remain in place
and we will continue with our strict measures.

Louise Tottle
Headteacher

Preventative Measures
Ventilation
As the virus is airborne it is crucial that we have fresh air moving in all rooms.
Therefore all occupied rooms and toilets will have a window or door open
allowing fresh air. This is open no matter what the weather or temperature
outside. We have the heating on and encourage children to wear warm clothes
for the well ventilated but chillier classrooms.
Distance
Maintaining a distance of 2 metres with everyone (children and adults) and
reducing the amount of time they are face to face lowers transmission.
Therefore classes will stay in their class bubbles and will not mix with other
classes.
Staff are required to follow all guidance of restrictions in school. Parents and
carers are asked to keep 2m distance and get in touch via phone or e-mail.
Classes are kept separate whilst in the hall eating.
The playground has been split into 2 areas an area for infants and an area for
juniors. When the field is dry we will split the field in 2 so that children can
play their in larger bubbles of infants and juniors.
Equipment
Any equipment that is to be shared by other classes – such as iPad and laptops
will be thoroughly wiped down after use with alcohol disinfectant wipes.
Sports equipment at playtime – infant and junior children have their own
separate equipment that are kept in separate sheds. With regard to sports
equipment at lesson time this will be wiped down after use. Some equipment
which is only to be used by one class can be kept within the classroom and
then put for general use after it has been cleaned.
Children in Years 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 &6 have been given their own pencil case with
equipment in. Children are not to bring in any items from home other than
their bag, reading books and water bottle and anything specifically asked for
by the teacher, this will be quarantined for 72 hours before use - Children will
be sat next to each other facing the front of class. Reception, Y1 and Y2
children will be allowed to free flow and will not be sat facing the front of
class. Reading and phonic books are either wiped down on arrival with an
alcohol disinfectant wipe or put into quarantine for 72 hours.
PPE Equipment
PPE equipment will be used as stated by government guidance. Supplies are
checked weekly and ordered as necessary. PPE is stored safely away from
children in the office. PPE equipment will be used when a child or member of
staff is ill, for intimate care, for cleaning and if a child or member of staff has
symptoms and the person looking after them will need protection.

Cleaning
Since Covid-19 we do extra cleaning throughout the day as well as at the end
of the day.

•   Extra cleaning hours have been put in place. Children support cleaning of
    classrooms by cleaning down their desks, light switches and door handles
    before lunch and before going home.

•   We deep clean rooms/areas with normal cleaning products after someone
    with symptoms of COVID-19 has left the room/building to reduce the risk
    of passing the infection on to other people. The person cleaning will be in
    PPE, all items will be double-bagged, stored securely for 72 hours, then
    thrown away in the outside bin.

•   We ensure that sufficient handwashing facilities are available. Outside
    every classroom is a full hand sanitiser, these are also outside key rooms
    such as the staffroom, hall and library. Each class has 2 hand sanitiser
    bottles and up to 4 sanitisers for wiping down tables. Every room also has
    a tub of alcoholic wipes to wipe down electronic equipment.

•   We will clean surfaces that pupils are touching – such as toys, desks,
    chairs, doors, sinks, toilets, light switches – more regularly than normal.

•   We will ensure that all adults and pupils: Frequently wash their hands
    with soap and water for 20 seconds and dry thoroughly.

•   Everyone is to sanitise/wash hands on arrival at the setting, before
    eating, and after sneezing or coughing as well as after using the toilet.

•    Children and staff are encouraged not to touch their mouth, eyes and
    nose; and to use a tissue or elbow to cough or sneeze and use bins for
    tissue waste (‘catch it, bin it, kill it’)

•    We will ensure that help is available for pupils who have trouble cleaning
    their hands independently.

•   Those who cannot use sanitiser are welcome to wash their hands or bring
    in their own sanitiser or soap to help.

•   Bins are pedal bins with lids and these are emptied at the end of the day.

•   All toilets are cleaned twice a day.

Masks
Staff and adults are encouraged to wear masks when in communal
areas in school. Staff are also asked to wear masks if meeting with
other members of staff or adults. Parents, carers and older siblings
are asked to wear masks when they are picking up or dropping off
children. Primary aged children do not need to wear masks.
We respect those who cannot wear masks due to medical reasons.

Tests
Staff have access to Lateral Flow Tests which give a reasonable guide
as to whether or not they have Covid-19. All staff are testing twice a
week. Currently primary school children do not have to test in
school; however recently (28th February) the government has
announced that Lateral Flow Tests will be made available to families
with primary aged children.
You can find out how to obtain tests here:
https://www.gov.uk/guidance/rapid-lateral-flow-testing-for-
households-and-bubbles-of-school-pupils-and-staff

We ask that anyone who thinks they have symptoms or tests positive
or has two void tests in a row with a Lateral Flow Test goes for a
Polymerase Chain Reaction test which has more accurate results and
is the current guidance by the government.

If you cannot get an appointment for a PCR test we have a number of
postal tests that we can give out in exceptional circumstances. I
would advise going to the test centre as results are back in 12-48
hours, whereas the postal test can take up to 5 days.

If your child or someone in the household tests positive please inform
school straight away. If a child tests positive school contacts
Cheshire East Triage and work out who needs to isolate. Parents and
staff will be informed immediately via EeZeeTrip if it is the full class
or individually via EeZeeTrip and via a phone call as to whether they
need to pick up their child and will be told how long the isolation
period will be.

Coming and going
Adults must adhere to social distancing on site, keeping 2m from each
other and school staff. As before, only one parent or carer should come on
site to bring or collect their children. We ask that high school children do
not accompany their parent to pick up. If a sibling who is at high school
picks up, they cannot bring their friends on to the premises.
Other than for S4YC Breakfast Club there must not be children on site
until 8:45am.
Mornings
We will continue to use the one way system at the front of school (in
through the bottom gate and out through the staff car park gate) and all
children will be dropped off at the main door. If there is a queue please
stand on the green dots which are spaced 2m apart.
To ensure that we have an efficient start to the day we have changed the
starting times and made them earlier. The time is based on the start of
your child’s surname.
Afternoons
Children will be picked up from the playground. All adults /older siblings
coming to pick up must stand on a green spot. Children will come out at
the allotted time. Please take your child and walk round the one way
system past the hall and kitchen, so that we do not have a bottle neck of
entering and exiting through one gate. Do not allow your children to play
on the play equipment as this will be mixing on equipment and will then
need to be cleaned. Please do not stand around chatting to other parents
either in or outside school.
If your children have different surnames please pick one time and drop
them all off at the same time. Pick up times remain as before.

      Surname             Drop off Time           Pick up Time

         A-F                    8:45                   3:15
         G-L                    8.50                   3:20

         M-Q                    8.55                   3:25

         R-Z                    9:00                   3:30

Points to note
Attendance
Attendance is mandatory that means all children need to attend school.
The only reason for a child to be absent will be if they are unwell. We ask
all parents and carers not to send in children with symptoms that may be
coronavirus and respect the 48 hour rule for sickness or diarrhoea.
Research shows that children are mainly asymptomatic or have differing
symptoms to the three main ones of high temperature, persistent cough
and loss of smell and taste.
Please look for these symptoms as well: shortness of breath, muscle or
body aches, fatigue, sore throat, headache, nasal congestion or runny
nose, diarrhoea, nausea or vomiting. With all illnesses we advise a
principle of caution.
Please get in touch with school if your child or a member of the household
is going for a test or tests positive.
Please e-mail head@highlegh.cheshire.sch.uk
Illness
If your child is off sick please inform school straight away either by phone
m01925753713 or e-mail admin@highlgh.cheshire.sch.uk
If your child is ill in school we will be sending them home. If your child has
Covid-19 symptoms we will ring home and asked they are picked up
straight away. Your child will be sat outside in the courtyard area with Mrs
Tottle. Siblings will also be sent home if we think it is covid-19.
Medication
We are happy to continue to follow our medicine policy and provide
medicine to children- this is for prescribed medicine which will have a
label ensuring child’s name and dosage. A request form need to be filled
in. Please see our medicine policy on the website for more details.
Uniform
We expect all children in school uniform and to wear PE kit on PE days.
Your child’s class teacher will inform you of which days those will be.
Please remember it is plain unbranded black joggers that may be worn as
PE kit. All shoulder length hair or longer should be tied back at all times.
Children should be encouraged to wear a fleece or gilet (body warmer)
over the top of their uniform in the colder classrooms- these rooms are
sometimes colder than outside.
First Aid
We will continue to administer first aid as necessary. This will be done
outside with the member of staff wearing a mask.

S4YC- Our before and after school club
This will be running from 8th March and will be in the hall as normal.
Arrangements will be half of the hall for junior children (Y3,4,5 &6)and
the other half for our infants ( Reception, Y1 & Y2) children. All S4YC
children will be sent to classes at 8:45am and children will be sent to
S4YC from 3.30pm. They have their own private Covid-19 risk
assessment which can be obtained from them.
More information can be found here: www.s4yc.co.uk
Playground areas
At lunch and playtimes children will be in larger bubbles of either
infants or juniors. EYFS Y1 & Y2 will be allocated the right hand side of
playground near the Reception area. Y3,4, 5 & 6 will be allocated the
left hand side of play area, including the woods and gym equipment.
Tyres will remain in place to split the playground into the 2 sections as
a simple visible divide.
In addition, each group will be given a bag of play equipment that they
can use.
Morning Breaks
Snacks are to be brought in from home. The kitchen will not be
providing snack. Please do not allow your child to bring in fizzy drinks,
nuts or crisps. Healthy snacks only.
Water Bottles
Your child should bring in a water bottle(which has their name on) that
contains water every day. This is because all our water fountains are
switched off. This is for water only, not juice or fizzy drinks. If there is
a medical reason as to why this should be juice please get in touch
with Mrs Tottle.
Lunch
Cheshire East Catering will continue to provide meals and our cooks
Mrs Topping and Mrs Worswick will be providing hot meals and 3
choices each day. If your child is on packed lunch please continue to
follow our policy of no crisps, no chocolate bars and no nuts. Infant
children will go to the hall for lunch starting at 11.55am –classes will
be staggered going through and they will sit on tables with their own
class. At 12.25 infant children will go out to play and the Junior
children will start coming into the hall to eat, they will have been
playing outside from noon.

Children will take their coat to the dining hall and leave it on an allocated
coat trolley, following lunch they will exit the hall via the rear doors and
gain access to their allocated playground area. This procedure will stop the
amount of travelling around school through corridors and will provide a one
way system. Lunchtime will end for all children at 1pm. Reception and Year
1 will go into class via their doors and classes 3,4,5 and 6 through the
locker area- each class will have to wait for the locker area to be clear
before they can go in-we do not want lots of children in the locker area at
once.
Afternoon breaks
Infant break: 2pm, for 15 minutes, free fruit will be provided for KS1
children, children will remain in their designated area.
Junior break: 2:40pm for 10 minutes, children will remain in their
designated play area.
Woods
Weather permitting – as long as not too muddy. This can be used for lesson
activities. Junior children can use during their break times and lunchtimes.
Infant children can use in their afternoon breaks.
Lost Property
We will do our best to relocate named items so please make sure that your
child’s items are all named. Weather permitting we will put items on the
table tennis table on a Friday after school, if items cannot be relocated
easily or picked up they will be disposed of. Please make your best
endeavours to make sure that your child’s items are named and that your
child learns to take responsibility for their own belongings and clothes.

Curriculum
In the first instance, teaching staff will prioritise the classroom
emotional climate and culture, sharing the importance of
respect, kindness and care towards one another, learning, sharing
and just being back together .
We all have an important part to play in creating a useful and
kind culture for themselves and others. We will be supportive to
all who find settling back into school an anxious time.
As our teachers have followed our curriculum so closely, children
will continue to work on the topic that they are on, follow White
Rose maths planning and continue to follow the three week plan
for writing.
Staff will be constantly assessing children informally to see gaps
in knowledge and will plan work to ensure all children make good
progress.
Special Educational Needs and Disabilities
We will continue to support all our children with SEND and those
children who have 1:1 support will continue to have this. We are
open to any outside agencies that need to work with our children
as long as they follow our preventative measures. We will
continue to ensure that every child’s provision is delivered to the
best of our abilities.

Staff Specific
We have changed our normal plans to support staff staying in the same
classroom bubble as much as possible and less mixing of staff in different
classes. We have changed timetables to suit; in particular we have changed
PPA for each teacher from being half a day a week to being a full day every
fortnight.
Staff must follow the preventative measures of ventilation, distance and
cleanliness that are in place. We ask that they treat everyone as if they
have the virus.
To further stop the transmission of the virus we ask that staff follow the
guidance:
• Offices no more than 2 in the office- stand in the doorway do not go in.
• All occupied rooms to have external window and internal door open
• Masks to be worn in all communal areas and any conversations with
    others who are not in your bubble
• Meetings of up to 3 adults indoors with all preventions in place;
    otherwise use zoom or meet outdoors with preventions in place
• No more than 3 in the staffroom this includes the small kitchen and
    continue to use 2m distancing
• Main staffroom to be on a rota system of junior teachers 12-12.30pm
    and infant teachers 12.30-1pm.
• No more than 1 adult in the small kitchen which is set up for hot drinks
• No more than 2 people in the photocopy room
• If there is more than 1 adult in class they should try and maintain a 2m
    distance at all times.
• Staff should take note of any person (adult or child) with whom they are
    a close contact -closer than 2m for a period of 15 minutes throughout
    the day
• All staff to make their best endeavours to avoid close contact with
    children and endeavour to keep 2m distance particularly those teachers
    who are in different classes should be more vigilant
• Staff are asked to leave the school premises as soon as possible at the
    end of the school day and work from home during their PPA (planning
    preparation and assessment) time
• Staff meetings will continue on zoom
• Staff to follow government information regarding socialising
• Staff to follow all cleaning and quarantining procedures of school
    equipment anything brought in from home and ensure they are cleaning
    shared areas such as water geezer, microwave etc. after use.
• Resources brought in from home either by staff or children must be
    quarantined for 72 hours or wiped down.
• Staff must read and follow the risk assessment

How to contact us

To keep our school safe we will be asking that parents do not come into
school.
 Please do not go to the teacher at drop off and pick up time to pass on
messages.
 Please e-mail the teacher directly or e-mail the office or Mrs Tottle,
alternatively you can phone the office on 01925 753713.
From 8th March if you wish to have a meeting with the class teacher or
member of staff we ask that you get in touch and a zoom meeting or
phone call can be set up.

Mrs Louise       Headteacher   head@highlegh.cheshire.sch.uk
Tottle
Mrs Jo Price     Deputy Head   deputy@highlegh.cheshire.sch.uk
                 & Y6
Mrs Tracie       Y5 teacher    tsouthward@highlegh.cheshire.sch.uk
Southward
Miss Charlotte   Y4 teacher    cbloor@highlegh.cheshire.sch.uk
Bloor
Miss Georgie     Y3 teacher    gsaddler@highlegh.cheshire.sch.uk
Saddler
Miss Hannah      Y2 teacher    hstobart@highlegh.cheshire.sch.uk
Stobart
Mrs Caroline     SENCO         cdempsey@highlegh.cheshire.sch.uk
Dempsey          Y1 teacher
Mr Matthew       Reception     mwaters@highlegh.cheshire.sch.uk
Waters           teacher

Mrs Sue          Office        admin@highlegh.cheshire.sch.uk
Harold           administrator
Ms. Hayley       Bursar        bursar@highlegh.cheshire.sch.uk
Johnson

Please stay informed
Read your emails and look for information on the website before
calling the office. We will try to keep you up to date with both
national and local information.
We want our attention to focus on our core business of keeping
everyone in school as safe as possible whilst providing the best
education we can for all our children.

If you need to get in touch regarding a positive test result then
please e-mail Louse Tottle as she is monitoring this regularly:
head@highlegh.cheshire.sch.uk

Letters can be found on the front of our website or please get in
touch with admin who can e-mail them to you.
We send lots of messages and reminders via EeZeeTrip.
Office contact Mrs Harold:
admin@highlegh.cheshire.sch.uk