The School Day Will Work for Them
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Nursery and Pre School Seniors Melville Avenue, South Croydon, CR2 7YN Old Palace Road, Croydon, CR0 1AX t: 020 8688 2027 t: 020 8688 2027 Preparatory Sixth Form Melville Avenue, South Croydon, CR2 7YN Old Palace Road, Croydon, CR0 1AX t: 020 8688 2027 t: 020 8688 2027 Mrs Jane Burton, Head [email protected] Dear Parents www.oldpalace.croydon.sch.ukwww.oldpalace.croydon.sch.u Re: Full Reopening of Senior School and Return for all Year Groups I am writing to confirm arrangements for the full reopening of the Senior School from Thursday 3 September when we will look forward to welcoming pupils back on site full time. As I am sure you are aware, now the prevalence of coronavirus has decreased and the NHS Test and Trace system is in place, it is the government’s plan for all pupils, in all year groups, to return to school full-time from the beginning of the autumn term. We have been following the most recent government guidance to help us to prepare for this, adapting our existing protective measures that have been in place since June thereby reducing the risk to the lowest reasonably practicable level. As part of planning for the full return of all pupils in the autumn term, we have fulfilled our legal requirement to revisit and update our risk assessments, which are located on our school website. As a reminder, Year 7-12 start on Thursday 3 September. Year 8 – 12 are welcome to arrive on site from 8am, while Year 7 are welcome to arrive from 8.40 for a 9am start. On Friday 4 September, Year 13 will attend School for form time and have meetings in the morning, going home at lunchtime. Year 6 will come to Senior School on the afternoon of Friday 4 September for an afternoon of induction and can be collected from their allocated gate listed below. Year 6 will start lessons on Monday 7 September. Preparing before School Starts All staff will be trained in the processes and procedures we have put in place to keep all members of our community safe from Covid. We will ensure that training and information is provided to pupils as they return to school – including a video for them to watch at home before School starts which will explain how the school day will work for them. We will also take them through key points on their first day in School. We will also make sure that there are visual and verbal reminders of the key methods of staying safe: washing hands regularly for at least 20 Seconds, the ‘Catch it, Bin it, Kill it’ method and keeping socially distant. The School Day Year Group Bubbles Each Year Group will be treated as a discrete ‘bubble’ and as such, during the normal School day, they will be kept as separate as possible from other year groups. Year groups have been allocated form rooms or common rooms for their exclusive use at break and lunchtime and, where possible, have also been allocated an area of outside space. In Years 6 & 7, pupils will be taught in their form groups for all lessons. The majority of their lessons will also be taught in their form rooms with movement being restricted to those lessons that need a specialist teaching space. continued... Old Palace of John Whitgift School is part of the John Whitgift Foundation, registered charity number 312612. continued... In Years 8 & 9 pupils will be taught in their form groups for the majority of their subjects with exceptions being made for those in which they are already in a set. Again, the majority of their lessons will also be taught in their form rooms with movement being restricted to those lessons that need a specialist teaching space. As in Years 10, 11, 12 & 13 pupils are following individual GCSE or A Level programmes of study, they will have lessons with different groups of students within their own year groups. They will also be moving around the site and must therefore use the hand sanitiser provided by doors and wear their face coverings during transitions. Movement around the school In order to ensure movement around the school site and passing in the corridor or playground is kept to a minimum, we have introduced one-way systems around particular areas of the School. Students who are moving to a lesson or going to lunch should follow the signage or the one-way systems. These are in operation in parts of the Cathedral, Jubilee and Main buildings. In the Shah building, students must stay on the indicated side of the stairs. Students will also need to wear face coverings when moving between lessons. Arrival Procedures We will be using a range of entrances to keep student social distanced as they arrive at school. These gates will be opened at 8am and have a staff member on duty to ensure hands are sanitised on arrival and public transport face coverings removed. If a student arrives before their gate is open from Friday 4 September, they should go to the Shah building, where a staff member will be on duty from 7.30, and attend the before school provision. Parents are reminded that if they are dropping their child at school, that they should remain in the car or, if walking, say goodbye a good distance from the gate. Entry points and times are listed below: Year Group Entrance Gate Open Year 6 Church Road Gate 8am Year 7 Chestnut Gate 8am Year 8 Chestnut Gate 8am Year 9 Fire Exit on Old Palace Road 8am Year 10 Visitor’s Gate 8am Year 11 Jubilee Door & Visitor’s Gate 8am Year 12 Shah Building 7.30 Year 13 Shah Building 7.30 If a student arrives before their gate is open from Friday 4 September, they should go to the Shah building, where a staff member will be on duty from 7.30, and attend the before school provision. Year 6 Parents: Please note that the Church Road gate is behind the Shah building and not near the Visitor’s entrance. This entrance is clearly labelled as a Year 6 entry and collection point. Late Arrivals If a student is late to School, regardless of their year group, they should come to the Visitor’s Gate and buzz reception to be let in. They will be asked to sanitise their hands and then registered, before proceeding to their classroom. continued... Departure Procedures To allow a greater stagger at the end of the day, Years 9-13 will leave from their last lesson rather than return to afternoon registration. Details are listed below: Year Group Exit Gate Departure Time Year 6 Church Road Gate 15.45 Year 7 Chestnut Gate 15.45 Year 8 Visitor’s Gate 15.45 Year 9 Depart from Gate Nearest to Lesson 15.40 Year 10 Depart from Gate Nearest to Lesson 15.40 Year 11 Depart from Gate Nearest to Lesson 15.40 Year 12 Depart from Gate Nearest to Lesson 15.40 Year 13 Depart from Gate Nearest to Lesson 15.40 For Year 6 -8, while they are awaiting collection, they will stay in their playground until they are aware of parents arrival in order that the teacher on duty can help with social distancing. If a student is attending the after-school provision, a student should make their way to the Guard Room Traveling to and from School by Public Transport Although students are encouraged to walk or cycle to School, if they are using public transport, it is now compulsory for secondary age children to wear face covering. These face masks must be removed and placed in a plastic bag on arrival at School to prevent the risk of contamination, Minibuses We will be resuming the minibus service and families using this service will have already been contacted by the School. Safety measures will include: • where possible, seating of pupils to reflect the bubbles that are adopted within school • use of hand sanitiser upon boarding and disembarking • additional cleaning of vehicles • organised queuing and boarding where possible • distancing within vehicles where possiblehe use of face coverings will be compulsory for Senior School Pupils A full minibus risk assessment can be found on the school website. Before School Provision From Friday 4 September, before School provision will be available from 7.30 and will be held in the Dining room. Students in the provision will be sat in their year group bubble separated from other year groups. All students making use of this provision must wear a mask. The breakfast facility will still be available. Please note that the Before School Provision will not be available on Thursday 3 September. After-School Supervision A separate letter asking parents to sign their daughter up to the after-school provision will be sent to parents Tuesday 1 September to allow us to make sure that students are given space to socially distance and be fully supervised. Those who take the School minibus do not need to complete the form. continued... After-school provision will continue to be offered from the end of the school day till 5.30 pm. Students will be required to wear face coverings during this time. Students will be sat in their year group bubbles and separated from other year groups. This will take place in the Guard Room but will also include other rooms to allow for appropriate distancing. Academic Lessons All Year groups will be taught the full range of subjects in their normal curriculum including practical subjects and swimming.