Booker Avenue
Junior School
Best Always
Coronavirus and School Opening Information
Covid 19 Risk Assessment
Information for Parents and Carers About Wider Opening and Measures Taken
1. Key worker and Vulnerable Children
The school is open to vulnerable children and children of key workers.
Parents in this category must consider carefully and only ask for a place if they have no alternative means of childcare. These children have been identified through an online survey or parents have notified the school.
They will be organised into four groups of up to 10, in which they will remain throughout the day.
Children may not attend if the school has not been notified.
The parents of these children will receive further information about our provision directly via email.
Children who are unwell MUST NOT attend school.
Children with a medical vulnerability should not attend school or only after consultation with their GP.
Unless they are in Year 6, siblings will be kept in the same group; this to reduce risks of transmission.
2. In the longer term, when planning for the wider return of nominated year groups, the following arrangements have been put in place according to our risk assessment:
Year groups will return in a phased manner following the advice of the city council.
Year 6 will be first and other year groups will only follow according to capacity and measures that can be put in place. It is very unlikely that any other year groups will return before September at the earliest.
On June 15th Liverpool City Council indicated that schools may welcome Year 6 children back to school from June 22nd subject to it being safe to do so
The numbers of children able to attend depends on the school’s capacity. This is decided by a number of factors, including:
Staffing availability
Numbers of key worker and vulnerable children attending
Physical space within classrooms and other areas
Entrances and exits
Cleaning, hygiene and toilet facilities
As of June 22nd, the school has calculated that it has capacity for 97 children.
From June 22nd, the school will be able to operate:
4 groups or bubbles for key worker / vulnerable pupils (max 10 in each bubble)
6 groups or bubbles for Year 6 children.
Parents of children in Year 6 have been surveyed or contacted to ascertain the numbers wishing to attend as from June 22nd.
57 Year 6 children out of the cohort of 90 will attend. Those opting to stay at home will continue to receive home learning activities.
It is not compulsory for children to attend and parents will not be fined for non-attendance.
If a year group returns, siblings in other year groups that have not returned will not be permitted to attend.
The school week:
The school day will involve a staggered start with different starting and finishing times for groups of children. A timetable will be issued to parents of those children who will attend.
We plan to maintain the 8:45am – 3:15pm routine for vulnerable and key worker children and may have later start or finishing time for other groups in order to support social distancing in and around the school site.
It may be necessary to introduce a slightly reduced school day on one day eg finishing earlier on a Friday to allow for a thorough cleaning of the school.
We cannot offer breakfast / after school provision through Kids Club at the moment, as this would mean the potential of groups mixing. This will be kept under review.
At Booker Juniors, we will work with children in groups of up to 10. Our classrooms can support this size of group with desks arranged 2m apart in each direction. We do not feel it is possible to support groups of 15 as per the government announcement at this time.
Groups will have a specific entrance to use and be will be given different times of arrival and departure. They should not arrive too early to avoid too many coming at once and should not arrive late.
Our initial focus when children return is around routines and hygiene alongside their mental health and wellbeing.
Breaks and lunchtimes will vary for different groups, as may start and finish times.
Junior parents should use the Junior gate and Infant parents should use the Infant gate. If they have children in both schools they should use the gate that provides the shortest and quickest way in and out to prevent too many people on Booker Avenue crossing.
Entry will be via the pedestrian gate with parents then leaving via the vehicle gate. The external vehicle gate will be half closed to prevent vehicle access.
2m distance markings and signs will be on the floor / playground at arrival points and throughout the school. Children and parents must observe these when preparing to enter the school.
Parents will be asked to drop their child off at their designated area and not linger around the gates in order to support social distancing. They should drop off or pick up quickly and return home to minimise risk.
We would ask that parents and staff do not conduct other activities on their way to school such as shopping or fuelling their cars.
Only one parent per child should attend to drop off or collect.
If a parent needs to talk to a teacher this should be done by phone or email.
Provision:
Children will work and play in their self-contained groups or ‘bubbles.’ There will be no flexibility in the groups and groups will not mix at any time. Children may not change groups. This will support the safety of the children and staff who work with the group.
The school will endeavour to keep children in a group with others from their usual class but this cannot be guaranteed.
As far as possible, the same members of staff will stay with each group.
Children may not necessarily be with their own class teacher or be in their usual classroom. eg A number of teachers from other across the school will be needed to teach Year 6 in smaller groups.
As children get used to the new setting and routines, we will allow them to access more structured learning. This will mirror the learning which children at home will be accessing and will focus initially on Maths and English.
Children will use resources which will remain solely for their use and will stay on their own desk. This will include one book in which they can record all their work and a school iPad. The iPads will be cleaned at the end of every day before charging.
Weather permitting, activities will take place outside wherever possible, observing social distancing. Transmission is reduced significantly outside.
Sports and games activities will be structured to maintain social distance and avoid the use of shared equipment.
Teachers will not take books home for marking. Children will be able to share their work with teachers via the Seesaw app and receive verbal feedback.
Teaching will be done at a safe distance. This will involve modelling and explaining from the front of the class and using the interactive screens installed in every room.
Children should bring a packed lunch.
Lunches will be taken in the room where the children are based so that ‘bubbles’ do not mix in the dinner hall.
Packed lunch bags / boxes will be kept with children and must be washed each day.
Free school meal children will receive a packed lunch provided by school.
Corridors will have a one-way system with markings dividing them. Children and staff will walk at the edges of corridors to maximise the distance between them and others. Our corridors are 2m wide and so social distancing can be maintained.
No visitors will be allowed into school unless absolutely essential. Remote working should be used instead.
Surfaces will be cleaned throughout the day in addition to the usual cleaning regimes.
Children and staff should wear fresh clean clothing each day. In order to support this, we will relax the uniform policy and allow children to attend in their own clothes until further notice. Trainers are acceptable and will be appropriate for outside activities
Children will be guided and encouraged to wash their hands throughout the day and there will be ample supplies of soap and hand sanitiser. This will include both in the classroom and around the school at key points. We have installed a number of sanitiser dispensers.
All unnecessary furniture will be removed from classrooms as well as soft furnishing and toys. These items are harder to clean.
No items should be brought from home with the exception of a coat and a water bottle clearly labelled with the child’s name. Water bottles must be washed thoroughly on a daily basis.
Mobile phones must not be brought to school.
First aid trained staff will be on site. If they have to administer first aid to a child, they will need to wear PPE to protect both themselves and the child. The school has adequate supplies of this supplied by the city council. This includes masks, aprons, gloves, goggles and hand sanitiser.
If any child is unwell, or showing any signs of symptoms, they will be immediately isolated in a designated room which has been cleared in advance. We will call parents asking them to collect their child immediately.
All staff and children are able to access a test if they display any symptoms of Covid-19 and would be encouraged to do so. Where this test proves negative, they can return to school. Where the child or staff member tests positive, the rest of the group or ‘bubble’ will be sent home and advised to self-isolate for 14 days.
No resources, such as reading books, will be sent home and children must not bring a bag to school.
Children must continue to follow the school’s behaviour policy. One of our golden rules at Booker is “Follow instructions at the first time of asking.” Children will be expected to follow staff instructions on social distancing and hygiene. If a child deliberately decides not to follow such instructions parents will be informed and the school may need to assess whether their need can be supported on the school site.
Parents and carers are requested to follow all social distancing guidelines at all times to minimise the risk of transmission.
Our arrangements will be reviewed on a bi-weekly basis. It may be necessary to close parts of the school depending on circumstances. This may be due to staff absences or shortages, numbers of cases or any other factors.
For clarity, there is no obligation for children to attend this term. Parents will not be issued with fines for non-attendance.