Week 24 - Friday 13th March 2020

Welcome to our newsletter for week 23 of the school year. This week we have been provided with additional information from Government and the Local Authority with regards to Coronavirus (Covid 19). We are trying to ensure parents are kept up to date with how the school and your child might be affected by any potential closure of the school so we ask that you ensure that we have an up to date email / phone number for you. A number of emails have been sent, if you have not received these please check your spam folder or confirm we have your correct email address. If you need to provide an update to your contact details please use the following form. Contact Details Update form

Update from Mr Thompson (Headteacher)

Today (Friday 13th March 2020) we provided you with a letter from the Director of Education in Bridgend (see below) that set out the position and challenges faced by the Local Authority at this time. I wanted to write to assure you that the school has been working on the matter for a number of weeks, linking in with public health and other bodies to ensure the actions of the school are appropriate and based on national guidance.

At the heart of the schools decision making are the children and staff we serve and the community in which we work. We continue to hold these people and their needs at our core.

Over the next few days and weeks the school will continue to act on this advice and take all appropriate actions. We have been planning for a range of scenarios as part of our business continuity plan (how we kept the school operational and provide education and services to our pupils both if the school remains open or if we are required to close at some point in the future). In addition to this we also have been planning in line with our broader social responsibility as a school as to how we support children and families during and also after the end of this period of turbulence.

We appreciate the high levels of anxiety that currently exist and thank you for your patience and understanding at this time. We will continue to provide updates via the school newsletter on a Friday. Other updates are provided as required via our website and email notifications.

We have also created a dedicated email specifically to manage enquiries around the virus which will ask@oldcastleprimary.co.uk .

Message from Director of Education

Coronavirus (Covid-19)

Bridgend County Borough Council’s primary concern is for the safety of children in our schools and we will continue to act in their best interests.

While the situation regarding coronavirus is developing quickly, please be assured that the local authority is working closely with schools, Public Health Wales and Welsh Government in order to implement any necessary measures to protect pupils, staff and visitors from the spread of coronavirus.

While there are currently no identified cases in Bridgend, your child’s school is following specific advice issued by Welsh Government in relation to the management of coronavirus in schools.

National advice, as of today (12 March 2020), remains very much a case of ‘business as usual’, but I wanted to reassure you that the local authority is closely monitoring developments, both locally and nationally. In this respect, the local authority is currently developing a strategy to ensure that effective plans and resources are in place to respond appropriately to this changing situation.

For information, there is a range of advice available to the public on the Public Health Wales, Welsh Government and UK Government websites in relation to coronavirus.

In addition, more specific advice for parents and carers can be found on the Public Health Wales website and I would encourage you to access this routinely. Further general advice in relation to travel to or from the UK can also be found on the website of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO).

In the meantime, your support as parents/carers is critical to our strategy to fight the spread of coronavirus. I can only reiterate that the best way to prevent infection is to avoid being exposed to the virus through good hygiene.

Therefore, please advise your child to wash their hands:

• before leaving home;
• on arrival at school;
• after using the toilet;
• before food preparation;
• after breaks and sporting activities;
• before eating any food, including snacks;
• before leaving school; and
• on returning home from school.

Please also advise your children to:

• avoid touching their eyes, nose, and mouth with unwashed hands; and
• avoid close contact with people who are unwell.

If you are worried that your child may be symptomatic for coronavirus, please call NHS Direct Wales on 0845 46 47 or 111. Do not go directly to your GP or other healthcare environment.

Please be assured once again that the local authority is taking all possible steps to respond to this situation.

Yours sincerely

L. I. Harvey

Lindsay Iorwerth Harvey (Mr)

Corporate Director – Education and Family Support

Internet Access - Reception to Year 6 children

As part of our continuity planning in relation to Coronavirus (Covid 19), we would like to find out whether children will have access to the internet in the event of a school closure. If we are instructed to close we anticipate providing work to pupils via our website and Google Classroom (for key stage 2 children). Please complete the form to let us know whether children will have access to the internet at home.

https://forms.gle/AGXyWBKLzsmEbsEC9

Infant Fruit / Fruit Tuck shop

From next week we will be altering our infant fruit / junior fruit tuck shop provision so that children will be able to have a whole piece of fruit instead of a cut piece.

Year 6 residential trip

Following advice from central government we have made the difficult decision to cancel the proposed year 6 residential trip to France later this year. We are sure parents understand that this has been a difficult decision to make and we would like to reassure parents that a full refund will be provided in due course.

Infant tooth brushing

We have taken the decision to stop undertaking tooth brushing with our infant children whilst we are in this period of uncertainty regarding coronavirus. We will resume with the programme when we receive further advice.

Schools cross country competition - years 3 to 6

We have received notification that the schools cross country competition to be held on 21st March has been postponed.

PTA Events

Unfortunately due to advice received from central government and the local authority the planned PTA disco and mothers day bake off events have been postponed.

Twitter

Don't forget we regularly use our Twitter account to let parents know what we have been up to in school.

Nut allergy information

Don't forget we strive to be a nut free school. Please do not send nut products into school in your child's packed lunch.

Nursery children thoroughly enjoyed their activity all about the three billy goats gruff today. The children were challenged to plan out a route to cross the bridge and get to the grass and the put the code in to the bee bot.

Year 1 are focusing on the topic - Fairytales around the world - and this week they have been making gingerbread man. They smelt amazing.

Year 2 have been learning about the phases of the moon this afternoon with a little help from Oreo biscuits!

We will not be holding school assemblies for the foreseeable future as we are advised not to hold large gatherings of people.

Diary Dates

• Monday 6th April to Friday 17th April - Easter holidays
• Monday 20th April - Back to school
• Monday 4th May - Inset Day
• Friday 8th May - Bank Holiday
• Monday 25th May to Friday 29th May - Half term
• Monday 1st June - Inset Day
• Tuesday 2nd June - Inset Day
• Friday 17th July - Term Ends
• Monday 20th July - Inset Day

Inset Days 2020

• Monday 4th May 2020
• Monday 1st and Tuesday 2nd June 2020
• Monday 20th July 2020