Dear Parents
I am sure that by now you will have heard that the Prime Minister is closing all schools. This means that from tomorrow we will only be able to accept children of key workers and children classed as vulnerable into school between 8.50am and 3pm. All other children MUST stay at home. Children will be able to attend school if one of the following is true: · A social worker is currently supporting your family · Your child has an EHCP · You are a key worker who must attend their place of work and are therefore not available to care for your child at home To arrange for your child to attend school, you must send an email to: office@ivjs.school Please include all of the following information: Name of child Class of child Your name Days and times of required attendance Please remember, even if you are a key worker, if you can keep your child at home, please do so to help us keep the numbers low in school. There is a list of key worker categories at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-maintaining-educational-provision/guidance-for-schools-colleges-and-local-authorities-on-maintaining-educational-provision If you feel you fit these criteria, please email the school office as soon as possible, but no later than 8am tomorrow morning. Children will not need to wear uniform to school but will need to wear warm layers as we will still need to have doors and windows open for ventilation. Tomorrow morning, we will put on our website lessons for years 3 and 4 (years 5 and 6 will continue as planned with their online lessons). From Wednesday we hope to be in a position to offer live lessons for years 3 and 4. We will contact parents regarding provision for free school meals this week. Kindest regards, Miss Digweed Dear Parents,
Re: Years 5 and 6 moving to remote learning/ Years 3 and 4 return. As I said in my earlier letter, we have been looking carefully at the number of staff we have available in the current difficult situation. After consulting with staff and with the Chair of Governors, it is with regret that I need to tell you that Years 5 and 6 will move to online learning from Tuesday 5th January. Years 5 and 6: From tomorrow the majority of children in Years 5 and 6 will need to stay at home to complete remote learning. We will still be able to offer a place at school for children who are vulnerable and for those who have parents who are key workers. There are details at the bottom of this letter that explain how to go about arranging for your child to attend school if you feel they need to. Please do contact us if you have any queries about this. This change to plans has come about as a result of developments over the weekend. We now feel we do not have enough upper school staff to open safely to years 5 and 6 due to a combination of staff acting on the advice of their union, shielding or isolating. The situation will be reviewed weekly, but it is likely that Years 5 and 6 will be learning remotely for the next two weeks. Remote education will be on Microsoft Teams. Please contact us with any technical queries or issues and we will do our best to assist. Years 3 and 4: Children in Years 3 and 4 can come to school as normal tomorrow. Please be assured that we are doing all we can to ensure that school is as safe as possible, with detailed and robust procedures to reduce risk. A number of parents have already informed us that their child will not be attending school at the moment due to safety concerns and I completely understand their point of view. We will do our utmost to provide learning packs for those lower school children who are at home. If you intend to keep your child at home and have not already told us, please do so ASAP by email (office@ivjs.school) or by phone (please leave a message if you are unable to get through). Conclusion: I know that this letter will be met with relief from some families, but with concern and upset by others. It is regrettable that this decision has had to be made at such short notice, and I am very sorry for the inconvenience that it will cause to some families. Local infection rates are extremely high and I understand that this is making people very nervous. This has been an incredibly difficult decision for staff, all of whom have put their own anxieties aside to deliver the very best education to your children in the Autumn term. Our staff have been incredible and they have my full support in the decisions that each of them has made. Please do not hesitate to get in touch if you have any questions. Best wishes, On site teaching for children who are vulnerable or who have key worker parents (Y5 and 6 children) Children will be able to attend school if one of the following is true: · A social worker is currently supporting your family · Your child has an EHCP · You are a key worker who must attend their place of work and are therefore not available to care for your child at home. To arrange for your child to attend school, you must send an email to: office@ivjs.school Please include all of the following information: Name of child Class of child Your name Days and times of required attendance for this week only
Dear Parents,
As you will be aware, there has been discussions as to whether primary schools should be open or not. This has put families and schools in a very difficult position. A number of parents have already emailed us to say their children will not be attending school for at least the next two weeks. If you are intending to keep your child at home, please let us know ASAP by email (office@ivjs.school) or by phone (please leave a message if you are unable to get through). We are also looking at the number of staff we have available due to a number of different reasons:
Kindest regards, Miss Digweed and Mrs Gooch Dear Parents/Guardians,
I am sure that you will be aware from the television and radio that a ‘Major Incident’ has been declared in Buckinghamshire amid fears the number of Covid-19 cases could overwhelm the county's health services. We are currently faced with a rapidly deteriorating situation in Buckinghamshire which is fuelled by the new, far more transmissible COVID-19 variant. Taking all this into account, I wanted to take this opportunity to contact you all. Firstly, infant and junior schools in Buckinghamshire are staying open, and we will be welcoming children back on Tuesday 5 January 2021. Even if you live outside Buckinghamshire in an area where schools are closed, your child is still allowed to come to school in Buckinghamshire at present. Secondly, we urge you to be vigilant. Covid-19 can present itself in many different ways, especially in children. Some children may seem to have a cold or have stomach pains/an upset stomach. Please, if your child is ill, keep them at home. If they have a high temperature, new continuous cough or loss of (or change in) taste or smell, get them tested and keep them at home until the result comes back. Tests can be booked at www.gov.uk/get-coronavirus-test or by calling 119. Thirdly, it is very important that we all remember the restrictions for Tier 4 areas: - Residents should stay at home, unless they have a "reasonable excuse" such as work or education - You cannot meet other people indoors, unless you live with them or they are part of your support bubble. We know this is a very worrying time. We will do everything we can to try and keep everyone safe. Undoubtedly there will be more cases in school so please be prepared in case year groups need to isolate. Some of the precautions we are taking in school are: - Children will be kept in year group bubbles at all times. - Windows and doors will be kept open at all times. You may want to send your child with extra layers as classrooms will be cold. - Children will be asked to use hand gel at different points during the day. Please do not send your child with their own hand gel as many of the ones children had last term did not have enough alcohol in them to be effective. - As much as possible children will not share resources. - Staff will only be working in one year group to ensure bubbles are maintained. It is also vital that at pick up and drop off times you remember to maintain social distancing and use the in/out gates. Please do not use these times as a social event. Staff will be outside at the start and end of the day. However, to try and keep everyone safe, we would ask if you need to speak to someone you call the school. As we still haven’t yet seen the impact from moving into Tier 4, these numbers may continue to increase swiftly and we cannot relax our behaviours just yet. It’s vital that we all continue to play our part in helping to reduce the transmission of the virus by strictly following the current Tier 4 guidance. So, for the coming weeks please take all the precautions you can. Yours sincerely, Miss Digweed |
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March 2024
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