Dear Parents and Carers

I hope that you managed to enjoy some quality time with your family during the past two weeks.  I would like to wish you a Happy New Year and hope that 2022 will see a return to a more normal way of life for all of us.  Clearly the infection rate is cause for concern and we must do everything that we can to try to keep this outside of our school environment so that our children will be able to benefit from the high-quality face to face teaching that all our teachers deliver on a daily basis.

We shall continue with our current arrangements with regard to accessing the school and can I ask that you wear a mask if at all possible when dropping off and picking up your child.  Although it is much safer being outside I am concerned that if we talk to each other without any protection then we are increasing the chance of inviting the virus to spread amongst us.  Both myself and the governing board are concerned that if a teacher picks up the virus within the classroom that teacher must be asked to self-isolate for a minimum of 7 days and this will clearly have a negative impact on your children’s learning.   Having said that I am pleased that our teachers are currently fit and well which is a good place to start and we are all delighted that Mrs Bretherton will return to teach our Year 6 children on Monday. 

Thank you to the families who have already contacted school to inform us that they have covid within their family and feel the best thing to do is to keep their child at home for a few days and test them at the weekend before returning to school if they remain negative.  Clearly this will be a very difficult time for many of us but we have a responsibility for the whole school community to do the right thing and I simply ask that you keep your child at home if they are unwell and test them if they develop any symptoms or indeed when they seem better to ensure that they remain negative prior to returning to school.  

We shall continue to teacher our children in discreet classes and continue with separate lunches for infants and juniors.  We will ensure that all children wash their hands properly before entering the building and will maintain the best ventilation that we can, given that we are now well into winter. 

We all accept that it is impossible to prevent young children mixing but we must ensure that any sickness is kept out of the school building and I would like to thank you in helping us achieve this goal.  I remain hopeful that we shall succeed if we all play our part but I am also aware how fragile the situation is.

Can I remind all Year 6 children to come in their PE Kits tomorrow as their PE Day has now changed.  This will remain in place for the rest of this term. 

School will finish at 3.15pm for this week and the following week in order for teachers to assess the developing situation.  It is hoped that we will be able to resume after school clubs the week beginning Monday 17^thJanuary and I will inform you of this towards the end of next week. 

I am sure that your children are looking forward to returning to school and I too look forward to welcoming them tomorrow and ask that you continue as you have done throughout the previous months to be extra vigilant and contact the school office if your child needs to be absent.

Yours sincerely

Mr D MacAreavy - Headteacher