3^rd March 2021

Welcome back to school

Dear Parents and Carers,

Firstly, we are delighted to be planning for the school to be fully open from next Monday 8^th March, we have missed the children very much. Please be assured that we are doing everything we can to make sure our pupils can return to school safely. From 8^th March attendance is mandatory and the usual rules regarding attendance will apply.

Routines and measures will be very much the same as those in place from last September, during the autumn term. Children should come to school in full school uniform and must bring their PE kit in on the first day. The reading scheme book routine will resume.

Dinner arrangements remain the same. Junior children are allowed to bring in a piece of fruit for break time and the infant children will have their usual fruit distribution. Milk options will once again be available, please register online via Cool Milk.

We sincerely hope that we will now have the children back in full time continuous education for the rest of this academic year. We look forward to putting our recovery plan into action, including assessing every child’s emotional and learning needs. To do this over the first few weeks we will take time to ‘reflect, rebuild and renew’ within the curriculum as we support the children returning to the routines of school life, enabling them to be secure and ready to progress with their learning. Teachers will of course continue to conduct assessments in a range of forms. The intention of this is to identify any gaps in learning and knowledge and to consolidate key skills in preparation for the following academic year.

Orchard childcare will be resuming their before and after school provision from the 8^th March.

We are hoping that external After School Clubs/activities will restart in the Summer Term and details will follow in due course. Individual Peripatetic music lessons will commence from Monday and you will receive further communication from the relevant teachers.

Measures and risk assessments have once again been carefully considered to ensure maximum protection for the children and staff of St. Mary’s, as well as the pupils who attend St Philomena’s and our wider family groups. It is really important that we respect all who share the school sites.

To repeat the previous polite requests:

• Only one adult is allowed on site with their child
• Arrival should be on the entry and dismissal times only. To prevent a buildup of numbers within restricted areas please do not arrive early. This will allow for parents to circulate safely, making for a better flow with consideration also for the students of St Philomena’s so they can enter their school without being in larger crowds (government guidance emphasis’s this).
• No adults are allowed to wait on any playground, these areas need to be free for the purpose of those passing through.
• Adults should obey signage as to where to wait or keep moving.

• All adults must wear a fitted face mask or make prior arrangements with the school Senior Leadership team if unable to wear a mask.
• All children and adults must remain on the pathways. (No children or adults are allowed within the area of the Water Tower, situated in front of the junior school – this is not school property and has a preservation order, which we all need to respect)
• No cycling or scooting is allowed on any part of the school grounds.
• The lakebed is very full – please supervise children around this area.

Please let us continue to pull together to make this work for all involved and please be the one who sets the best examples especially to our children.

A further and very important reminder, your child should self-isolate and not come to school if they:

• Have coronavirus symptoms or have tested positive.
• Live with someone who has symptoms or have tested positive.
• Is a close contact of someone who has tested positive.

In line with the latest government guidance, pupils who are clinically extremely vulnerable should not attend school they should continue to learn from home until further notice. If your child is in this group, please contact a member of the Senior Leadership team to discuss.

There has also been some reporting about testing for children and families at home, information can be found on the link included below;

Rapid lateral flow testing for households and bubbles of school pupils and staff

The drop off and collection times will be those used in the autumn term: -

Please accept our apologies for a very lengthy letter but it is important that we communicate as much as possible at this point. If you have further queries, please include these in an email to the school office and we will do our best to answer them prior to the start date.

Wishing you all a healthier few months ahead and hoping that the children soon relax back into the school routine.

May we all join our prayers asking for the good Lord to look over us as we once again come together in our holy learning community.

With kind regards

Mrs Hulme MA, NPQH

Executive Headteacher

Dear Parents and Carers,

I hope the half term gave everyone something to enjoy - a walk in the sunshine, time to sit quietly with a book or just not to have to rise to the alarm clock.

As we move towards the Easter season we still have some major hurdles to overcome though.

The first one is tonight, anticipating what the government announcement will bring regarding children returning to school.

For your information, as a school we have no prior knowledge of what will be said. Therefore the leadership team be working together tomorrow to digest the news and see what plans need to be put into place in response to the announcement. We are asking you to be patient in the coming days as we prepare any new risk assessments. We will not be able to give you any information until those are completed and we may also have further guidance to consider from Sutton Local Authority too.

These are anxious times for everyone but hopefully we will see brighter times ahead.

Well done to everyone, working at home, keeping to more difficult routines and those who are doing the schooling at home. Congratulations one and all.

We will communicate again as the week progresses. Thank you all for your patience and understanding.

With kind regards,

Mrs Hulme

Mrs Hulme MA, NPQH, NLE

Executive Headteacher

Sadly, Fr Paul, Parish Priest at Holy Cross Church, Carshalton, passed away on Friday evening 29th January. Fr Paul was very supportive of St Mary's schools , as a School Governor, on his frequent visits, celebrating Mass with us and we know he enjoyed seeing the children at play. Fr Paul will be hugely missed by us and many others. He was a sincere presence who was always quietly with us.

We are grateful to God for giving him to us as a spiritual friend. We know that he is now with Our Lord.

May he rest in peace.

Amen.

Websites to support online learning

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1goQHN324bRrJCGvTsv_rCrXYSW2FEFvT/view?usp=sharing

Please find a list of websites below that we hope can assist you if you need it when helping your children with their learning at home. We have tried not to include any that require you to sign up to anything but have provided a password and login where needed.

Please use parental guidance for the Youtube links as per their age rating.

REMOTE EDUCATION: INFORMATION FOR PARENTS

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1q7PcU2HJKw5P7aY7SfJP1j6ZEP8TXRKf/view?usp=sharing

This information is intended to provide clarity and transparency to pupils and parents/carers about what to expect from remote education in the event of local restrictions or  entire cohorts /bubbles to remain at home.  Please also see the list of useful website links to support online learning.

When implementing strategies to support pupils’ remote learning, or supporting parents to do this, key things to consider include:

• Teaching quality is more important than how lessons are delivered

• Different approaches to remote learning suit different types of content and pupils

• Supporting pupils to work independently can improve learning outcomes

This information is intended to provide clarity and transparency to pupils and parents/carers about what to expect from remote education in the event of local restrictions or  entire cohorts /bubbles to remain at home.  Please also see the list of useful website links to support online learning.

When implementing strategies to support pupils’ remote learning, or supporting parents to do this, key things to consider include:

• Teaching quality is more important than how lessons are delivered

• Different approaches to remote learning suit different types of content and pupils

• Supporting pupils to work independently can improve learning outcomes