The school will be open to pupils on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays.

The school will be closed (except for emergency childcare) on Tuesdays and Thursdays, for deep cleaning.

Each year group will be split into thirds.  One third (Group A) will attend school on a Monday, another third (Group B) will attend school on a Wednesday, and the final third (Group C) will attend school on a Friday. 

During week 1 (week beginning June 29^th); only Key Stage 2 classes will attend school.  On the second week (week beginning July 6^th); only Foundation Phase classes will attend school.  Having smaller numbers in school on these weeks, will allow better opportunity for the children to become familiar with the new environment and increased expectations of safety.

On weeks 3 and 4, pupils from both Foundation Phase and Key Stage 2 will attend school.  (NB This will depend on current climate, staffing capacity, and efficacy of safety measures).

If achieved, this will have allowed each child to be offered three opportunities to be in school, over the four weeks.

All siblings will attend school on the same day.  Unfortunately, due to logistics, parents will not be able to choose which group their child is in, and pupils will not be able to move between groups.

Parents will be notified which group their child/ren will be in, when we have a clearer picture of the number of children that will be returning.

There will be no more than 10 pupils in a class, each day.  There will be two members of staff in each class (this will typically be the ‘normal’ class teacher and teaching assistant for that class).

School start times, finish times, break times and lunch times will all be staggered.  Parents will be asked to drop off / collect all siblings at the same time.

Clear social distancing expectations and frequent hand washing opportunities will be consistent across the school.

When in class, the main focus of sessions, will be to address the emotional wellbeing of every child.  Activities will involve looking at the impact that this crisis may have had on children.  Pupils will also have opportunities to briefly visit basic language and maths concepts. 

Where possible, learning will take place outdoors.

Pupils will be given their own set of equipment (e.g. pencil, pen, rubber, etc).  Resources will not be shared between pupils.

Break times will be different to ‘usual’.  Unfortunately, no shared resources will be able to be used.

The main means of education will continue to be home learning.  We will continue to provide online learning opportunities for every child, and will also be looking to develop further processes to re-invigorate learning, over the final few weeks.

(Teachers will now focus their attention to home learning on Tuesdays and Thursdays).

All parents will be asked to sign a new ‘Parent/School’ agreement, which will clearly establish agreed processes and procedures. (More information will follow).

No school lunches will be provided.  All children must bring their own lunch, snacks, drinks for the day.

Unfortunately, there will be no Breakfast Club, Wraparound or After School Club provision available, until at least the end of July.

All processes will be evaluated and reviewed constantly.  They will be dynamic, and subject to change, in response to this turbulent situation.  The safety of our children, staff, and families will always remain our main consideration.

Emergency Childcare Hub (ECH):

The Emergency Childcare Hub will continue to run, at the school, up until Friday July 24^th.  As yet, we have had no guidance as to what will happen after this time, however we have been told that the provision will not be run by schools.

From June 29^th to July 24^th, the ECH will run from Monday to Friday between the hours of 8.30am and 3.30pm.

As has always been the case, this provision should only ever be used as a ‘last resort’, and is only to be accessed by the children of key workers and by our most vulnerable children.  Parents are strongly advised to consider their usual childcare arrangements first.

As of June 29^th, all parents using the ECH (whether new parents to the service, or existing parents) will be asked to provide a letter to certify that they have key worker status.

Available capacity will be dependent of available staff and room space.  Should demand for the service increase above available capacity; measures of priority would need to be followed.  These will be made clear, when clarified by the local authority. 

If you believe that you will require use of the hub (either before, or once we return to school, then please do let me know).

Will your child/ren return to school?

I fully understand that there is a lot of information within this document, and you will inevitably still have questions that you would like to ask.  By following this link, you will be directed to a Frequently Asked Questions section on our website, where I hope you will find more information to help inform your decision (https://primarysite-prod-sorted.s3.amazonaws.com/mayals-primary-school/UploadedDocument/8dc8e2e074ee41d58032a0eb4fd6deae/mayals-faqs.pdf).

VERY IMPORTANT –

When you have had the opportunity to read and consider the information, please could you complete the very short questionnaire:  https://forms.office.com/Pages/ResponsePage.aspx?id=Ug4_TzS3ZEGUCRtgHRR5k5OU8z2vx7ZBmyGr8Gr9zEFUM0c2OFBON0I3Q09YOVpEU1pLVjVEQVRJVC4u

Within the questionnaire, you will be asked to give a definitive answer as to whether you intend for your child/ren to return to school during the first two weeks of opening (KS2 29.06.20 or FP 06.07.20). 

We ask that this decision not be changed, so that we have a clear idea of the number of children to expect. 

All pupils that we do not receive a response for, we will regard as ‘Not Attending’, and unfortunately, your child/ren will not be permitted to attend during the first two weeks.

You will need to complete a separate questionnaire for each of your children. 

Parents must respond to the questionnaire by 6pm on Thursday June 18^th. 

Parents will have the opportunity to review their decision, after the first two weeks.  Another questionnaire will be sent out before Week 3 (week beginning 13.07.20).