Stay Safe - COVID 19 Parent Information September 2021 Gosford Park Primary School - Version 6
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Stay Safe – COVID 19
Parent Information
September 2021
Version 6
Gosford Park Primary SchoolFull re-opening of school September 2021
The underlying principles to our plan for September are to keep everyone safe and to ensure as best we
can that all children have a ‘normal’ education, free from disruptions. We feel far more positive about
approaching a ‘normal’ year and we really hope that this comes to fruition.
We must also be realistic. Whilst we are in a much better position with regards to covid, there are still
individuals who become very poorly with the virus and preventing transmission in a school can prove
challenging. We have had several members of staff over the summer who have family members who have
ended up quite ill with covid. Even though there are less people being hospitalised, there are still people
dealing with illness and long covid.
In addition to putting some steps into the general covid risk assessment, schools are required to have an
‘outbreak plan’. The plan includes extra actions and restrictions – the plan would be implemented if a
school has a number of linked positive cases in school. It therefore makes sense to put some of these extra
measures into the general risk assessment from the beginning of September so that should an outbreak
occur we don’t have to then change too much for the children. The basis of our risk assessment is as
follows:
Prevention of transmission of the virus
• We will maintain enhanced cleaning, including cleaning frequently touched surfaces often, using
standard products such as detergents.
• We will keep occupied spaces well ventilated whilst also ensuring staff and pupils are comfortable in
the colder months.
• We will ensure everyone is advised to clean their hands thoroughly as regularly as possible. (If you
can send your child with small hand sanitisers clipped onto bags/belts etc then this will help)
• We will ensure good respiratory hygiene for everyone by continuing to promote the ‘catch it, bin it,
kill it’ approach. Tissues will be readily available but pupils having pocket tissues in bags will be
helpful.
• We will minimise contact with individuals who are required to self-isolate by ensuring they do not
attend the school. If your child is symptomatic then he/she must not be in school until they get a
negative PCR test. Tests results come back quickly now. Symptomatic pupils will still have to be
sent home from school. We will ask you to ensure he/she has a negative test result before returning
to school.
• Face coverings and PPE will be used in certain circumstances.
• We will promote and engage in asymptomatic testing (LFT), where available. Staff will take two
lateral flow tests per week and we would be very grateful if pupils do these at home too. We cannot
insist on them, but they do help us to keep covid out of school.
Response to any positive cases in school
• We will engage with the NHS Test and Trace process if contacted.
• We will work with the council and public health to contain any outbreak by following local health
protection team advice as set out in the school outbreak plan.
How will school operate from September?
1. As before, most of the time pupils will be based in their own classroom learning with their class.
Classes will use other areas in school, including the other year group classroom. Our previous year
group ‘bubbles’ will widen generally to key stage groups which is much closer to how we operated
before the pandemic. Year 1, 2 and 3 may sometimes mix for learning in groups. The children will
however, maintain separate break and lunch times, each having their own designated are. It will work
the same for Years 4, 5 and 6. Nursery will predominantly stay within their setting for their learning.
Reception will initially but they may then mix with Year 1 and 2 later in the autumn term.2. Classroom layouts will return to ‘normal’. Pupils will not be in rows facing forward, unless this suits a
certain lesson.
3. Most pupils will be allocated a zip wallet which will hold all of their equipment. Pupils told us that they
preferred this to sharing everything before the pandemic anyway.
4. Equipment, such as lego will be cleaned regularly.
5. We will have a ‘keep to the left’ approach as pupils and staff move around corridors inside school.
This helps with general organisation.
6. Regular handwashing and use of hand gel will be in place. All pupils will wash their hands carefully
on entry to school and during other key times e.g. before lunch. Your child will be used to hand
washing by now but it would be a help if younger children in school become skilled at washing hands
thoroughly for 20 seconds. Counting to 20 will help with maths too!
7. Toilets will be cleaned regularly. The staff will ensure there is plenty of soap and paper towels
available. Cleaning of commonly touched areas e.g. door handles will take place as much as possible.
8. Each classroom will have a supply of cleaning products. The adults will use the products when they
feel they need to clean down areas in the classroom or resources if they need to throughout the day.
9. Some playtimes will be still be staggered. At other times our large playgrounds/fields will be divided
into sections to enable more year groups to play outside at the same time.
10. All pupils in school will receive the offer of a healthy snack at each morning break. If there is any
fruit that is left over at the end of the school day, children are welcome to take it home.
11. We will provide each child from Year R to Year 6 with a water bottle. The children are responsible
for taking the water bottle home each day, washing it, filling it and returning it to school the next day.
This is quite an expense for the school but we do believe it’s important that our children remain
hydrated throughout the day, if your child loses their bottle a replacement bottle can be purchased
for £1 from the front office.
12. Your child should have a sunhat/cap and be wearing sun cream on hot days.
13. Inhalers will need to be brought into school and handed into staff. A form needs to be filled out at
the front office so that this can be administered when needed.
14. Staff will still be encouraged to use the outdoor area of Gosford Park school much as possible, as
this is a great space to learn but also where the risk of transmission lowers. It is important for your
child to have a waterproof coat and sensible shoes as staff will be encouraged to take children
outside when they can for various subjects. The children will still play outdoors and have PE
lessons outside in light rain and on colder days, so appropriate clothing is necessary.
15. We are going to continue to allow children to come into school on PE days already dressed in their
PE kit. This removes the need to change in school time and therefore increases the time children
have for PE lessons. The rules for PE kit will be strict – no designer names/sports brand logos are
to be worn.
PE kit is available to buy from the school office and is very well priced. Pupils must wear:
• Royal blue T shirt with or without school logo
• Plain black shorts or joggers with or without logo
• Royal blue hoodie with or without logo
• Trainers or pumps should be black or dark in colour and good for sports – eg: running. Some
trainers on the market have thick hard soles and are not suitable for sports. These are more of a
fashion trainer, these should not be worn.
Should your child not follow the rules on PE sports kit they will lose the privilege of wearing sports kit
to school and will be required to bring their kit to school and change into it. A letter will be sent home
to parents to communicate this.
16. We will be serving hot and cold school meals. All meals will continue to be ordered on the day as this
will allow the kitchen to cook and prepare the correct amount of meals and have a speedy service.Here are the set days for PE:
(Some days have changed this year so read carefully)
YEAR GROUP Week 1 Week 2
Year 6: Thursday Thursday &
Friday
Year 5 Tuesday Tuesday &
Friday
Year 4 Tuesday Tuesday &
(Swimming) Wednesday
&
Wednesday
PE
Year 3 Friday Thursday &
Friday
Year 2 Wednesday Wednesday
& Friday
Year 1 Thursday Wednesday
& Thursday
Year R Monday Monday &
Wednesday
17.Our new PE schedule will run on a two-week rota, some weeks your child will access PE twice in one
week. On these weeks they will need to come into school in their PE kit on both days. The above schedule
will let you know the days that your child needs to wear their PE kit.
18.Children who are bringing in a home packed lunch must try to ensure the box or bag is not oversized.
The packed lunch will need to ideally fit into your child’s bag. On warmer days an ice pack is helpful to
keep food cool and fresh. Sweets in packed lunch boxes are not permitted. Children must bring their
own cutlery if it is needed eg: a spoon for their yoghurt.
19. Your child will be bringing home a reading diary and reading book to share and enjoy at home.
Instilling a love for reading at an early age is fundamental for your child's education; reading with them
for fifteen to twenty minutes a day, five times a week will benefit them greatly and help to nurture a love
for books. Every time you read with your child, please add a short comment about their successes or
areas they found challenging. Your child's class teacher and teaching assistant will keep a record of the
number of times reading at home has taken place as part of our exciting Rainbow Reading Challenge.
For every twenty five times your child has read and had their diary signed, they will be awarded a
certificate from red all the way to violet, to celebrate their reading achievement.
20.Children must not bring anything else in from home, for example ‘show and tell items’ unless staff
ask for items to be brought into school.
21.When acting with regard to Covid cases, school is guided by the Local Authority Outbreak
Management Plan. This is designed to support school leaders in developing their responses to single
cases, clusters and outbreaks of COVID-19 from September 2021 onwards.
Attendance
School attendance is mandatory for all pupils of compulsory school age and it is a priority to ensure that
your child regularly attends school. We understand that you may have some concerns about this,
particularly where your child has come into contact with someone who has tested positive. We want to
reassure you that we are continuing to do everything in our power to minimise transmission in schools.
The usual rules on attendance now apply, including:• parents’ duty to ensure that their child of compulsory school age attends regularly at the school
where the child is a registered pupil
• schools’ responsibilities to record attendance and follow up absence
• the ability to issue sanctions, including fixed penalty notices, in line with local authorities’ codes
of conduct
• the duty on local authorities to put in place arrangements for identifying, and to follow up with,
children missing education
Year 4 Year 6
ONE WAY SYSTEM
Year 5
Year 3
ONE WAY SYSTEM
Year 2
Year 1
YR ONE WAY SYSTEM
YN
ONE WAY SYSTEM
ONE WAY SYSTEM
WAY OUT OF SCHOOL
WAY INTO SCHOOL
Parents and Pupils entering and exiting school site
• We are returning to our typical opening and closing times – 8.45am and closing at 3.15pm. Any
children that arrive after 8.55am but before 9.30am will be recorded as late. Any children arriving after
9.30am will receive a ‘u’ in the register for an unauthorised absence.
• Try to stay socially distanced from others and avoid congregating in groups. If a queue develops,
please keep 2m apart.
• We would prefer you to wear a face covering on site but we cannot enforce this, we understand some
parents may want to and this will help keep one another safe.
• Ideally one parent should drop or collect in order to minimise numbers of adults on site.
• Bikes and Scooters are permitted on site but pupils and adults must get off them before entering
school site and walk them to the best bike/scooter parking pod.
• Dogs are not allowed on site.COVID VIRUS
If a member of staff or pupil has COVID symptoms, then they must stay at home in isolation until they get a
PCR test. If a child becomes unwell with COVID symptoms in school the child will be moved sensitively to a
designated space where they will be monitored and supported until they are collected by their parents or
carers.
If a child has a positive PCR test then they must isolate for at least 10 days from the day after the
symptoms started. They can return at the end of the ten days providing that they are well and do not have a
temperature.
Members of a child’s household and close contacts who not exempt from self-isolating must also continue
to self-isolate for 10 days, counting from the day after contact with the person who tested positive)
Close contacts or household members of a positive case are exempt from self-isolating if
any of the following applies:
• They’re fully vaccinated
• They’re below the age of 18 years and 6 months
• They’ve taken part in or are currently part of an approved COVID-19 vaccine trial
• They’re not able to get vaccinated for medical reasons
COVID Symptoms
New, continuous cough; high temperature; loss of, or change in, normal sense of taste or smell. Almost all
cases of COVID 19 have at least one of the symptoms above. There are other common symptoms and if
we have positive COVID cases in school then we may request children with other symptoms get tested too.
If the test is negative, the child can return to school providing they are well, including being fever free.
Defining a new cough
We fully appreciate that some children will develop a cough along with a cold and for other reasons that are
possibly non-COVID. However, this is not guaranteed, and a new cough must be treated as a potential
COVID symptom to protect the school community. If your child has a new cough and is coughing ‘a lot’ over
the course of an hour or three times or more in 24 hours, then you and we should treat this as a COVID
symptom.
Children will be poorly for other reasons as they typically are eg: sickness or sore throats. Parents should
contact the office vie phone or email to notify school of the absence. However, it is of the highest
importance that parents are very clear as to the reason for the absence so that school can rule out COVID-
19 symptoms. If parents do not contact the office or are unclear as to the reason, then the office or senior
team will need to contact parents. A number of unclear reasons for absence every day will take up a lot of
school time so communication and clarity from parents will help us immensely.
Travel
If your family have travelled there is strict guidance in place with regards to quarantine and isolation. This
needs to be adhered to. Please notify us of any travel and we will support you as a family with regards to
sharing necessary information.Lateral Flow Testing – for pupils and staff who are not symptomatic and having been in close
contact with a positive case.
Coventry council have established a number of lateral flow test sites. These sites enable adults and
families who do not have symptoms of covid to be tested. The results are shared within the hour usually.
We support the council in encouraging as many of our families as possible to use the testing sites to help
identify a child or adult that may have COVID without symptoms. 1 in 3 have non symptomatic COVID
therefore regular testing will help us keep COVID out of school.
Close Contact
Whereas before if a child had come into close contact with a positive case they would have had to isolate,
the guidance has now changed. Now we will identify all parents whose child has been a close contact or
possible close contact of a positive case. Parents of these children will be asked to get their child tested
using a PCR test. They will not be required to isolate and can therefore still come to school unless they too
test positive for Covid.
Further Information
• The office area will open for visitors/parents to drop in, but this should only be if necessary. Please
phone or email if possible.
• School Number – 02476223281
• Email office@gosfordpark.coventry.sch.ukRemote Learning
At Gosford Park Primary School, we understand the need to continually deliver high quality education,
including during periods of remote working – whether for an individual pupil or many. We recognise the
importance of maintaining high expectations in all areas of school life and ensuring that all pupils have access
to the learning resources and support they need to succeed.
Children responsible
Scenario Teachers responsible for Parents responsible for
for
A. • Will be sent the • Engaging with the • Ensuring their child is available to
equipment to join in with lessons that the teacher learn remotely during school hours
Children lessons going on in has set 9:00am – 3:15pm. Children must
having to school. • Completing work to the have breaks throughout the day see
isolate due best of their ability timetable in table 2.
to a positive •
• Sending completed Ensuring their child uses the
test result equipment and technology used for
work back to the
teacher digitally and on remote learning as intended.
B. time • Ensuring that children are completing
• Working in school to
deliver live lessons on • Ensuring they are the work set and is returned to the
Based on Google classroom. available to learn teacher in a timely manner to allow
bubble • If needing to isolate but
remotely for feedback.
lockdown • Reporting any technical • Reporting any absence of remote
well, to deliver these
issues to their teacher learning in line with usual school
from home.
as soon as possible. absence procedures.
• Exercise books/pencils
• Ensuring they have • Reporting any technical issues to the
sent home where
access to remote school as soon as possible.
possible
learning material and
• Feedback
notifying a responsible
C. As all of above
adult if they do not have
Based on • Live lessons access.
full, whole • Feedback • Notifying a responsible
school • See timetable adult if they are feeling
closure unwell or are unable to
complete the
schoolwork they have
been set.
• Adhering to the
Behaviour Policy at all
times.
We fully appreciate that there is a lot of information within this booklet. It is intended to give you as
much detail as possible. This booklet may be updated and changes will be communicated to
parents. We are looking forward to seeing our families return to school.You can also read
