Gwersyllt CP

Dear Parent/Carer,

You will be well aware, the Welsh Government announced on 3^rd June that schools are to partially reopen on a ‘check in, catch up and prepare’ basis. The original announcement stipulated that this would be for a period of four weeks from 29^th June. The Council is very grateful for all the hard work being done in schools to prepare for the 29^th and to you as parents/carers for your perseverance, cooperation and patience in assisting schools prepare for the reopening.

Over the past weeks there have been on going discussions nationally relating to the week commencing 20^th July. It is our understanding that the Welsh Government and the trade unions cannot reach a common position on the fourth week and that on Thursday 18^th June, via the BBC website, Welsh Government stated that “schools and councils will have the final say on whether the summer term is extended for an extra week”.

We are all acutely aware of the difficulties this uncertainty will be causing you in your decision making as to whether or not your children will attend school this term and any childcare arrangements you would need to make.

This has put schools and the Council in a very difficult position as there is no contractual obligation on staff to work the extra week, and this effectively puts the onus on head teachers and individual staff members which would be unfair and potentially lead to inconsistency across the County Borough as there is no guarantee that all schools will be in a position to adequately staff provision in the fourth week on a voluntary basis.

It is the view of the Council that schools require immediate clarity so that they can plan on a fixed basis to receive as many pupils as possible during this period; parents and young people in order that they can approach the few next weeks with confidence; and for parents to have the opportunity to make alternative childcare arrangements as required in the fourth week. This is not something that can be left to the last minute and the Council is very mindful of its statutory responsibilities both as an employer and in the context of the safeguarding of children and young people.

Our position is that we want all schools, maintained by the local authority, the diocesan authorities and federation schools, to be adopting the same position. We are proud of our partnership approaches as a team, and work as one.

A consistent approach is deemed essential and the Council would have much preferred to have seen these issues resolved on a national basis at the outset, prior to the original announcement.

Taking into account all considerations, it has been decided that the original term dates will be adhered to and that the Council does not propose to ask teaching and other school staff to volunteer and, therefore, schools in the County Borough will close for the summer holidays on 17^th July.

It is appreciated that the above decision will result in additional work for headteachers and governing bodies in planning provision for the three week period and that there is a significant possibility that your child’s school will need to contact you to inform you of amendments to any arrangements they have currently made. There is a possibility that schools will need to reduce the number of days your child is able to go to school this term.

Can we emphasise that schools are not in any way responsible for the positon that they now find themselves in.  It is understood that the removal of the fourth week may cause you as parents/carers inconvenience and concerns. We assure you, the decision that  schools should not reopen for the week commencing 20^th July has not been taken lightly but for the reasons outlined above.

Cllr Mark Pritchard                         Cllr Phil Wynn

Leader to the Council                     Lead Member for Education

Ian Bancroft                                    Ian Roberts

Chief Executive                              Chief Officer; Education and Early Intervention

Dear Parents/Guardians,

Today you will have received a text message informing you of your child (or childrens) allotted 3 day block of sessions. If you have not received a text or there is any confusion, please don’t hesitate to ring the office.

First of all an apology, try as I might, it was impossible to have all siblings go in on the same week. We have to adhere to a strict limit on numbers and, therefore, have had to stagger the weeks classes come in to school. With multiple siblings across multiple classes, and with several sheets of paper torn up, crossings out and hours of the clock running by, I had to except it was unmanageable. Again, apologies for any inconvenience.

I will write to you again next week with an information page on how to drop off and pick up your child. What the expectations are for clothes (before you worry that they have grown out of their uniform, own clothes will be fine), lunch and resources and expectation on the continuation of online learning.

Alongside this, I hope to post pictures to highlight certain procedures so you all have a better idea on what you may expect upon your return, albeit briefly, to school.

Until then I hope everyone keeps safe, we will spend the interim preparing the school and we will look forward to seeing the children from the 29^th June.

Kind regards,

Mr J Moore

Dear Keyworker parents,

There has been a lot of information flying around over the last few days but the following is pertinent to those pupils of Keyworkers.

As you may be aware, the school is only allowed to accommodate a maximum of one third of the pupils at any point in the day when school reopens. This number includes the Keyworker provision who, from the 29^th of June, will be based in the hall and the playmates area.

Because of this, it is particularly important that we have a good understanding of the numbers over the four week period and that the provision is accessed only by those with no other options of child care.

This being the case, can I request that parents inform us as soon as possible about the dates they will require for the provision and have paperwork (letter or rota) for the adults a the home to show these requirements. This advice has been given by County in order to allow all pupils to receive check in sessions.

Secondly, there has been regional discussion about the keyworker group and whether they will be able to access the class groups when it is their turn. There have been a mix of answers varying from no to yes and everything inbetween. One of the options is that the parents will have the choice of the class group or the keyworker group for that week but will not be allowed to access both. We will let you know when we have a more definitive answer.

Thank you, it has been a pleasure being in the company of your children for much of this long period.

Mr J Moore

Dear Parents/ Guardians,

Thank you for the questions and queries that are coming through with further information that is being released. I will do my best where possible to answer it. I am sure you understand that we are asking questions of the county provisions as well as the wider Welsh government to get the answers that we require.

From the information I sent out yesterday a few questions sprung up. The final point will hopefully answer the query that we have had most.

• Lunch- We are awaiting a decision on catering for lunch provision. Some counties in wales have stated that all children will be provided a lunch on site and pupils are not to bring anything in. Other counties have requested all pupils bring in lunch as it will not be provided on site. I promise as soon as we know more we will let you know.
• Siblings- It has become clear that many parents would like their children, where possible to come in on the same day. We will try our best to accommodate this. However, this will come with its only problems, we have been told to stagger start times for classes. This could lead to one child being dropped off at 9.15am and another child of the same family being dropped off at 10am. Unfortunately, this scenario is out of our control and safety must come first over convenience.
• IMPORTANTLY- Breakfast club, Playmates and Little Chicks will not be available to any pupils coming into their class group. These wrap around provisions are only available to those pupils in the Keyworker group. The pupils who are re-entering school for their block of three days will be given a drop off and pick up time which must be adhered to. They will then remain in their small group for the whole day. To allow wrap around provision either side of the school day would cause cross contamination with several other groups and negate the point of this. Please note that I have been informed that unfortunately Little Chicks provision has had to temporarily close for the next three weeks. Also, I must impress that these 3 days allocated are for a check in for the pupils and the teacher. I understand the frustration but this is the advice we have been given.

These are not easy messages to relay but I hope you understand our reason for them. I have no doubt that they will raise more questions, which I will attempt to answer in due course. We are hoping to get the times of the scheduled sessions out to parents by the middle of next week. After which we will give you more information about the expectations upon return.

Many thanks,

Mr J Moore

Dear Parents Guardians,

I hope you are all well during this very difficult time. Last week I wrote to you with the details that the Education Minister, Kirsty Williams had announced the reopening of Schools for a ‘Check in, Catch up, Prepare for Summer and September.’

The full guidance will be out in the middle of this week that will help school plan and prepare for this next phase. However, I write to you now asking you to make a very difficult decision for you and your child by the end of this week.

Before I ask this of you I think it is right to inform you, best that we currently can, how school will be for your child upon their proposed return. At least with the following information you will feel more confident making a partially informed decision.

1. It has been made clear that school should have no more than one third of the pupils in at any one time. This includes the Keyworker group that provision has previously been arranged for. This, along with social distancing, well limit class sizes and therefore the amount of time your child will have in school. It is extremely likely that your child will only have a block of 3 or 4 days schooling prior to the end of the summer term.
2. Online learning platforms will continue to be the main form of learning. The pupils time with the teacher will not necessarily be curriculum based and will focus largely on the wellbeing of the child.
3. The classrooms will be set up for social distancing and therefore will look very different to normal. Staff will be at the front and will not be able to approach the children.
4. Though it is likely that pupils will be with a small amount of their class it will not be a given that they will be with their friends for the short period of time in school. There will be no interaction between classes and the children will remain with the same group in the same class for the sessions they are in school.
5. Break times and lunch times will provide some opportunity to go outside but again small numbers and social distancing will be expected. Lunch will be taken in the class room.
6. School will likely be open for four days of the week, with one day being put aside to deep clean classes in preparation for the next set of sessions. The school times will be staggered (e.g. 9.10am to 2.50pm) and classes will be given a very small window to drop off and pick up their children. If this window is missed they will have to wait until the all other classes are finished to pick up or drop off.
7. Movement around school will be kept to a minimum (for example toileting) and visitors will only be allowed by prior appointment. Further information regarding travelling around the site will be communicated nearer the time.
8. SOCIAL DISTANCING- The school will do all it reasonably can to ensure social distancing. However, it is very clear that many pupils, particularly younger pupils, understandably struggle to adhere to social distancing and will interact with friends at less than 2m despite reminders.

The guidance for schools will not be out until Wednesday, after which I hope we will be able to obtain a clearer picture of the set up moving forward. It is important to remember that the choice on whether your child should return to school is yours. The Welsh Government have said that they will respect this decision (as will the school).

However, in order to plan the timetable for pupils to return and the logistics of pupil numbers and classrooms we do now need to ask you to contact the school to let us know if you wish your child to be allocated a place prior to the Summer break. We require this information by Friday 12^th June 3pm via the school phone or email (mailbox@gwersyllt-pri.wrexham.sch). Please be aware that if the answer is no or we do not get a response before 3pm on Friday we will not be able to allocate a place to your child for the four week period. We will not be able to make exceptions for this.

My most sincerest apologies for asking you to make this decision, for the sparse information that I can currently give you and for the short timeframe. In order to ensure safety as much as possible we need to rigorously look at timetables and pupil/staff numbers.

Once we know that you wish your child to be allocated a place to return to school we will endeavour to work out the timetable over the four week period and communicate this to you as soon as possible.

Many thanks for your understanding.

Mr J Moore

Firstly, can I thank you for your on-going efforts with home schooling since 20 March when schools closed for educational purposes. I understand the pressures that families are under and the importance of ensuring that children are able to return to school when it is safe to do.
On Wednesday 3 June, Kirsty Williams, Minister for Education, announced that schools will be reopening on Monday 29 June 2020 and will remain open until Friday 24 July 2020. The purpose of reopening is to provide pupils with an opportunity to “Check in, Catch up and Prepare for Summer and September” whilst emphasising that not all pupils will attend everyday, that there will be no more than up to one-third of pupils in a school at any one time and that depending on the context of the school, it could take schools some time to reach this level. This is to ensure that the health and safety and well being of pupils and staff are protected.
Welsh Government will next week be providing guidance to schools on implementing the reopening, and schools will consider this guidance to ensure as smooth and safe return to school for the pupils as possible. In addition, risk assessments are being carried
out in all schools across the Borough.
Each school will be assessing its own situation and it may be that there will not be an uniform approach across all schools and that not all schools are able to offer the same level of provision, due to factors such as building capacity and also staffing availability. In all considerations, the main principle will be to keep children and school staff safe as
possible.
Our schools have already started to plan on which days your children will able to attend school. Please bear with your school whilst they develop the arrangements.
Please be assured that your child’s school will contact you to notify you of the arrangements with sufficient notice ahead of 29 June. There is no need for you to contact the school at this point.
In addition, you will be provided with information in respect of home to school transport for qualifying pupils and school dinner arrangements as soon as possible.
Can I thank you for your efforts and perseverance in continuing to provide home
schooling to your children.

Your Sincerely Ian Roberts

Dear Parents/Guardians,

I hope you are all well and have had the opportunity to enjoy the lovely weather we had over the half term week (even if there was a limit to where you could go and what you could do).

You will probably be aware that, currently, there is no official statement on the return of schools in Wales and what that phasing in process will look like. Therefore, as things stand, the school will continue to provide provision for those that require it and cannot access any other child care. Again, thank you for understanding that we are endeavouring to keep numbers as low as possible for the safety of all involved and that this provision is provided as a last resort.

The staff at Gwersyllt will continue to spend their working time between staffing the school provision and providing work for the majority of pupils at home. Because of the nature of these rotas, teachers are sometimes not available for the days they are staffing the school provision to aid with questions or feedback on work.

Hard copies for all year groups have, again, been made available for the next two weeks (some of these came out prior to half term) and the next pack will be out on Friday 12^th June. These packs are for those that are struggling to access the content that is being made available on digital platforms and hopefully gives those families an opportunity to work through some sessions at a pace that suits them.

Just a quick reminder that much of the work for pupils will be made available on the many different digital platforms such as – Google Classroom, My maths, Hwb and See Saw. Your child’s teachers will be able to point you towards which platform (s) are being used and what is available. Mrs Jones is also using the Facebook page to point families towards ideas and activities that are less subject based but equally as important.

You can also access work on websites such as White rose maths, BBC bitesize, the create PE webpage (please see post on school webpage for more on this) etc.

Finally, school reports will start being made available as of tomorrow. The reports are due to come out on Friday 3^rd July. However, with the situation being as it is we will be staggering the weeks in which they become available. You will receive a text when your child’s class is ready for pick up. There is no expectation to pick them up from the reception and those that remain in school will be kept safe and given to the pupils to take home on their return to education.

I will hopefully be in touch soon with some further information about the school moving forward. Until then stay safe.