Lydgate News

Dear Parent/Carer

 

You may be aware that Sheffield City Council issued a statement at 10am this morning confirming that school settings in Sheffield should not re-open more widely to pupils until Monday 15 June at the earliest, following advice from the city’s Director of Public Health that it is not safe to accommodate more pupils in school settings at this time.Please find a copy of this statement here and a letter from Sheffield City Council’s Cabinet Member for Education and Skills here.

As previously communicated, Lydgate Infant School had planned to re-open more widely to children of Critical Workers from 2 June onwards.However, following the above instruction that it is not safe to welcome more pupils into school settings at this time, the school is no longer able to do so as originally communicated and the school will not be re-opening more widely in any planned way until Monday 15 June at the earliest.

As noted previously, the school would like to thank all parents and carers for their understanding and patience during this exceptionally difficult time, and to again assure you that further wider re-opening and other information will be shared as soon as is possible.Should you require any further information at this time, please do not hesitate to contact the school.

Best wishes to you all, and many thanks for your continuing support.

 

As you will be aware, the government has stated that subject to a planned statement next week indicating that appropriate Covid-19 conditions have been met, schools should widen their re-opening to eligible pupils as soon as possible from Monday 1 June, 2020, focussing upon ensuring that Vulnerable Children and the children of Critical Workers (who have now been urged to allow their children to attend school rather than to keep their children at home), and pupils within F2, Y1 and Y6 are able to attend in priority order.The school has therefore been working urgently to plan next steps in liaison with other local schools, LearnSheffield and Sheffield City Council to comply with this requirement whilst ensuring that the health and safety of pupils and staff is not compromised.

If the government statement, expected on 28 May, indicates that it is not safe to re-open schools more widely due to the Covid-19 situation from 1 June, the school will continue in its current opening arrangements, providing care for Vulnerable Children and the children of Critical Workers who have no alternative but to send their child to school.

If the government statement indicates that it is safe to re-open schools more widely from 1 June, the school will:

• On Monday 1 June - continue in accordance with its current opening arrangements above, providing care for Vulnerable Children and the children of Critical Workers who have been regularly attending since 23 March only.

  

• From Tuesday 2 June - open more widely on the basis of prioritising the attendance of Vulnerable Pupils, and all children of Critical Workers whom the government recommend should attend (please find Critical Worker definition here – there are currently over 150 pupils with at least one recorded Critical Worker parent within school).

 

• The school will then prioritise the wider attendance of children in the F2 and Y1 year groups as soon as is safely possible.

 

Please note that in the event of the Covid-19 situation allowing the wider re-opening of the school from 2 June onwards for the children of Critical Workers, the provision offered by the school to the increased numbers of attending pupils will have to change significantly.More information regarding these changes will be distributed to parents and carers prior to 2 June, as it will be important to prepare attending children for these changes before they re-start at the school. However, please note the following information that will apply from Tuesday 2 June onwards:

 

• In accordance with DfE requirements, attending pupils will be accommodated in small consistent groupings whilst at school.This means that it may unfortunately not be possible to place attending pupils with their usual teacher in their usual classroom.

 

• It will be necessary to implement significant alterations to the structures and routines of the school day to offer provision safely for children who may be attending school from 2 June onwards.Further information will be provided in this regard, but these alterations will include:

 

- Re-configuration of classrooms, with specific pupil places where appropriate and individual resources established in order to reduce potential transmission risk

 

- The observance of 2m physical distancing whenever possible (for example when moving around the school pupils will be expected to form small lines standing apart from their peers)

 

- Significant quantities of learning and other resources will need to be removed from the classroom and will therefore no longer be accessible to attending pupils

 

- Staggered drop-off and collection times for pupils at the start and end of each school day will be instituted which will alter usual session times

 

In response to already received enquiries from parents and carers regarding expectations of pupil attendance if wider re-opening of the school does take place from 2 June onwards, the school can communicate that attendance by pupils will be a decision that rests with the child’s family (please find here a letter from Greg Fell, Sheffield City Council Director of Public Health for more information).Although in the first instance children of Critical Workers are encouraged to attend, the school understands that many parents and carers may not wish their child to attend school at this point.The school would like to reassure parents and carers in such situations that the Department of Education has confirmed that non-attendance by children of Critical Workers and subsequently eligible pupils will not result in future attendance action or penalty notice due to the unprecedented nature of the current situation.

 

The school would also like to state that it is acutely aware that current government guidance does not focus upon provision for Y2 pupils, despite the deep focus which the school gives to the transition and other processes which this year group usually undertakes within the Summer Term.As such, the school is actively pursuing the interests of this year group at local and city level, and is liaising closely with its sister setting, Lydgate Junior School, to identify a range of options to support transition in the coming weeks.

 

As noted previously, the school would like to thank all parents and carers for their understanding and patience during this unprecedented time, and to again assure you all that further wider re-opening and other information will be shared as soon as is possible.

 

Best wishes to you all, and many thanks for your continuing support.

 

Dear Parents and Carers,

As you know, the school has been open for the children of keyworkers and for otherwise vulnerable pupils since the start of the UK’s lockdown. After listening to the government statement last weekend, many of you will have been following the latest information emerging nationally with regard to the potential wider re-opening of schools from Monday 1 June to F2, Y1 and Y6. This is envisaged as being in addition to existing eligible pupils, subject to appropriate Covid-19 conditions being met. In this respect, government guidance states that such wider re-opening to year groups should prioritise F2 pupils in the first instance. A final decision from DfE as to whether it is safe to re-open schools more widely from 1 June on this basis is expected next week (alongside a decision as to school opening over the coming Spring Bank half-term holiday to eligible pupils), but in the meantime the school has been working urgently to plan next steps in liaison with our sister setting, Lydgate Junior School, other local schools, LearnSheffield and Sheffield City Council.

Please be assured that the starting point for all planning and consideration over re-opening of Lydgate Infant School has been and will be the health and safety of its young pupils and staff. As such, both the structure and timescales of any re-opening will reflect this over-riding health and safety imperative. The school will be in a position to provide more information in this regard to you next week, but please note that it is likely that any potential re-opening will be carefully staged and will be focused upon the school’s youngest pupils (ie. F2) in the first instance.

The school would like to thank you for your understanding and patience during this unprecedented time, and to again assure you that it is trying its level best to support both yourselves and the local community whilst ensuring the health and safety of your children and its staff.

Best wishes to you all, and many thanks for your continuing support.

Dear Parents and Carers,

Many of you will have listened to the government statement yesterday evening concerning planned developments in the context of the Covid-19 situation.The school would like to reassure you that we will plan next steps carefully and in liaison with our sister setting, Lydgate Junior School, other local schools and Sheffield City Council in line with Department for Education guidelines and the latest information received.We will also communicate everything with you as quickly and as clearly as possible when appropriate.For the time being, however, the school will continue to provide provision for key worker and vulnerable children and to provide home learning each Friday for other children.In this regard, please could we ask that you do not contact the school about future opening arrangements until further information is shared about next steps, unless you have urgent or pressing concerns which may require further guidance or support.

Best wishes to you all, and many thanks for your continuing support.

 

Please click here for an update for parents and carers about the school's developing offer of home learning.  Also, the school's well-being partner 'Healthy Minds' have produced some well-being materials for pupil use, some of which may be useful for younger pupils - please click here to take a look...