COVID GUIDANCE

WELCOME BACK

We are aware that during the period of change and school closures, many children have been feel anxious, and have been missing their routines and friends. Ensuring that all of our children feel safe and supported will be a key priority in our return to school .

We look forward to welcoming everyone back to school later this week. We want everyone to enjoy their important first day back at Ashley Road School and we will do all that we can to make the school routines caring, kind, inclusive and respectful for our children, parents and staff. Please read the attached School Plan for full details of our school return arrangements. This page contains important details taken from the School Plan.

RA--Inspection-EducationAshley Rd V11 January 2022 .docx.pdf

FULL RISK ASSESSMENT

See attached full risk assessment.

START/FINISH TIMES

We are required to have a staggered start and finish:

Shift 1 - P1-3 9am -3pm

Shift 2 P4-7 9.15am to 3.15pm

The staggered start and finish times ensure we can support safe movement around school. Families with children starting in shift 1 and shift 2 will be required to drop one child to school and walk away and come back to drop off the second child.

In order to ensure that the stagger start doesn’t alter the end of the school day we have reduced the lunchtime by 15 minutes.

During this period of school return it will not be possible for children to go home for home dinners. All children must bring a packed lunch to school for their first day at school.

Please make sure you know which flag colour your class will be lining up at for their first day at school.

The staggered start will run as described until further notice.

SEE DROP OFF POINT INFORMATION IN THE IMAGES ABOVE

School Drop Off

In the morning primary parents should enter the playground in a physically distanced manner (2 metre spacing) and ‘follow the yellow brick road pathway’. From the yellow pathway parents say farewell and quickly send their child to join their class line. Parents must not leave the designated pathway and should keep walking along the pathway and exit on Ashley Road. If a parent is required to stop and stand (if a child is anxious) we ask the parent to move to the side of the path to allow other parents to pass and to please put on a face covering. Children line up at their designated class flag either in the front (North) playground and in the back (South) playground. Please see diagram below. Older children can and should enter the playground entrance independently just before their school start time. School staff will supervise the playground space from 8.45am. It is important that children starting on ‘shift 2’ do not enter the playground before 9:00am.

School Pick Up

At the end of day of the day, staff will take their class out to the same designated class line area used during drop off. Parents will access the playground from Ashley Park Drive with shift 1 gaining access 5 minutes before 3pm. All parents should again walk along the ‘yellow brick road’ pathway, their child will be sent to them so that the parent can keep moving and walk out of school at the Ashley Road exit. Older children are able to walk home from school alone and we encourage these parents not to attend the playground where possible.

Siblings

Families with two or more children may be required to drop off/pick up children on two different shifts and for this they will have to enter and exit the playground twice. Parents will not be allowed to stop and gather in the playground or drop off/pick up a child on the alternative shift. We have considered all possible arrangements and are unable to support one drop off/pick up time for all families.

Many schools will be not allowing parents into the playground at all. We have considered our entrance and exit arrangements in great detail and in order for the safe running of the system we need full cooperation and support from all parents. Parents must adhere to the school arrangements. We will review the plans regularly. We fully understand there may be some anxious children or parents and we will work individually with families to overcome any issues.

PICK UP/DROP OFF ROUTINES SCHOOL

Important Changes To Routines

1. There will be a one way system from Ashley Park Drive to Ashley Road.

2. Adults/parents should stick to the ‘yellow brick road’ which runs across the playground.

3. Only one adult/parent per family may walk through the playground to drop off. Where possible, e.g. with older children, children should enter on their own.

4. Adults must always maintain social distancing. E.g. physically distanced 2 metre apart.

5. School staff will supervise the lines and direct children to their designated class lining up area.

6. Please do not park your car on Ashley Park Drive. The area will be very busy with pedestrians and we ask that if you really must drive to school, that you park on a different road for the safety of our school children and families.

7. For the first three days that they attend Primary 1 children may have one parent/adult stand next to their child in the line. They will be the only parents standing by their child in our playground. Parents should wear a face covering and retain a social distance from other groups. P1 children will be collected from Ashley Road if going home at lunch time, or using the 'yellow brick road' for full days.

WATCH THE VIDEO BELOW FOR A WALK THROUGH OF THE ROUTES

School Drop Off:Pick Up.mp4

In order to ensure child safety, children should not arrive at school early or play football or other games in the playground before school. Throughout the school day, we are endeavouring to ensure class groups remain static do not mix with other classes where possible, through following an ordered one-way system throughout the school building and using staggered start, break, lunch and finish times. Pick up and drop off routines have been adapted to ensure that there are no large gatherings at one time, and to support families to follow current social distancing guidelines from the Scottish Government.

PICK UP/DROP OFF ROUTINES NURSERY

Nursery Pick Up/Drop Off:

Morning Drop Off 8:20 – 8:40 (Children must be dropped off by 8:40 at the latest)

· Parent enters nursery playground from Ashley Park Drive, drop off child with staff member at first (Earth Room) or second (Sun Room) nursery entrance and exit following nursery path marked along the outside of nursery playground and then join the ‘yellow brick road pathway’ and exit from Ashley Road.

Morning Pick Up 11:10 – 11:30

· Enter from Ashley Park Drive, enter nursery playground and collect child from first door (Earth Room) or second door (Sun Room) and exit following nursery path marked alongside outside of nursery playground and exit from Ashley Park Drive gate.

Afternoon Drop Off 12:30 – 1:00

· Enter from Ashley Park Drive, enter nursery playground and drop off child at first door (Earth Room) or second door (Sun Room) and exit following nursery path marked alongside outside of nursery playground and exit from Ashley Park Drive gate.

Afternoon Pick Up 3:20 – 3:40

· Parent enters nursery playground from Ashley Park Drive, picks up child at first (Earth Room) or second (Sun Room) nursery entrance and exit following nursery path marked along the outside of nursery playground and then join the ‘yellow brick road pathway’ and exit from Ashley Road.

WATCH THE VIDEOS BELOW FOR A WALK THROUGH OF THE ROUTES

Nursery AM.mp4

Nursery PM.mp4

ATTENDANCE

We hope to see all the children back at school for the start of the new term, however, there are important actions that everyone can take to prevent the spread of the virus. Children should not attend school in the following conditions:

If they have symptoms of coronavirus (COVID-19) should stay at home and follow government advice.

- a new persistent cough,

- fever

- loss of sense of smell and /or taste stay at home and arrange for coronavirus testing;

If they are living with someone who has coronavirus symptoms they should stay at home and follow the relevant advice;
If they have returned (or come) to Scotland from a country which is not exempt from the UK quarantine rules, should stay at home following the relevant guidance.

For guidance on isolation periods go to: https://www.nhsinform.scot/illnesses-and-conditions/infections-and-poisoning/coronavirus-covid-19/test-and-protect/coronavirus-covid-19-guidance-for-households-with-possible-coronavirus-infection

HYGIENE PRACTISES

Hand sanitiser will be available at each usable entrance point to the building, all children and staff will access these
Children, young people and staff will wash their hands with soap and water for at least 20 seconds, or use an alcohol hand sanitiser, when:
Entering the building;
Before eating or handling food;
After blowing their nose;
After sneezing or coughing; and
After going to the toilet.

All P1-7 children should carry their school lunch in a rucksack. Children will need to have free hands, so that they can wash their hands on entry to school.
Surfaces are clear to enable easier cleaning and soft furnishings have been removed.
Where possible, windows and classroom doors remain open to ensure there is good ventilation in each room.
Sets of resources e.g. pencils, sharpener, ruler, glue stick etc will be provided to each child and will only be used by them. These will be stored in their tray on days they are not in school.
No additional resources/toys of any kind may be brought in from home.
Toilets and washrooms will be cleaned daily by cleaning staff to maintain high standards of cleanliness, using methods and cleaning products in keeping with national guidance (COVID-19- decontamination-in-non-healthcare-settings). Additional sanitisation of taps and flush handles will be undertaken by janitorial services on a regular basis during the school day.
All other areas will be cleaned by cleaning staff before the start of every day, paying special attention to door handles table/counter tops, bannisters, and other areas touched regularly by staff and children, with additional cleaning during the day.

BREAK TIMES/LUNCHES

BREAK TIMES

To support social distancing children will be encouraged to have their break times with the children from their class 'bubble'. Year groups will be assigned an area of the playground in which to play to discourage mixing between different bubbles. The 'adventure trail' on the black surface will be out of use. Only four groups will be outside at any one time therefore breaks will be staggered as indicated in the table. Breaks in the day will include a 20 minute morning break in the playground. Children should not bring any play equipment from home. e.g. ball/skipping rope etc

LUNCHES

All children from P2-7 should bring a packed lunch to school with them for their each day on week 1. These will be eaten in classrooms rather than in the dining hall to limit mixing of class bubbles in the dining hall. Appropriate hygiene measures will be taken in classrooms to ensure tables are clean before eating. We ask that families not include nuts in packed lunches to reduce risk for children who have allergies.
Week commencing 17^th August lunch service from ACC will be a cold packed lunch, either a ham or cheese sandwich. We are advised that there will be a return to full-service week commencing 24^th August.
Children should bring water bottles to school with them as usual. They should be brought home and washed each day.
Families currently in receipt of free school meals will continue to receive vouchers to purchase food for the packed lunches.
Lunch breaks have been shortened to 40 minutes.

COMMUNICATION WITH FAMILIES

Calls to main school number or mobile number. Phone calls/online meetings with class teachers/the senior learning team may be arranged where appropriate. No face to face meetings will be held. Parents or any other visitors will not be given access to the school building, apart from in a genuine emergency.
We are currently looking to take out a subscription to the Seesaw learning App. This communication tool will supplement and support ongoing communication between the class, teacher and parents in the way that Class Dojo was used previously. We hope to be able to update you on this approach at the beginning of the new session in August as soon as we gain consent from families for their child. Please complete the consent form using this link. CONSENT FROM LINK
Developing use of school website and 'news' page to keep families up to date with school news/events and developments.

DISTANCING ARRANGEMENTS

Following government guidance there is no expectation for children to maintain a social distance from the peers is their class bubble. We will however maintain separation between class bubbles throughout the school day and children will, for the most part, be based in their own classroom.
Where possible, class bubble groups of children will work with same adult throughout their time in school. Where it is not possible to work with only one adult, the number of adults working with a group will be kept as low as possible.
All adults in school will maintain a 2m distance from each other and from children. Where this is not possible for more than 10 minutes, face coverings will be worn.

OTHER GENERAL INFORMATION

· All P1-7 children should carry their school lunch in a rucksack. Children will need to have free hands, so that they can wash their hands on entry to school.

· School will provide every child with an individual stationary pack (pencil, rubber, ruler, pritt stick etc.) Initially, we ask that children do not bring in their own pencil cases and personal items into school.

· Children should wear school uniform and suitable shoes and jackets for outdoor, all weather learning. Children do not bring a PE kit to school as we will not be changing for PE and will do PE in school uniform. We will be encouraging regular outdoor activities and ask that all children have a weatherproof jacket at school every day.

· Adults will continue to adhere to appropriate social distancing guidelines. In line with this we ask that parents remain out with the school building /playground and contact with school can be made through email or phone calls. School staff will be the only adults admitted to the school building except in case of an emergency.

· For the first three days children must bring packed lunches from home which will be eaten within their own classrooms. Children should bring a named water bottle for personal use in the class. Week commencing 17^th August lunch service from ACC will be a cold packed lunch, either a ham or cheese sandwich. We are advised that there will be a return to full-service week commencing 24^th August.

· Make sure your child knows the name of their class teacher – this will help when lining up on the first day.

FULL RETURN PLAN AUGUST 2020

Ashley Road School Return Plan reflects the key principles as set out in the national guidance. See full Plan here:

SQUIP Ashley Road School Return Plan Action Plan 1 170820 FINAL 3.pdf

We are very much looking forward to welcoming all families back to school. Anne Wilkinson

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