Parents are encouraged to visit gov.uk/backtoschool for information and practical guidance about children’s school attendance at this time. This includes the governnment’s latest update to the guidance for parents and carers on what they need to know about early years providers, schools and colleges in the autumn term.
We have established a system of protective measures to keep everyone as safe as possible at school. This is centred round keeping each class as separate from other classes as possible. This is being managed mainly through:
- staggered starts and finishes to the school day
- staggered break times
- no whole-school events, such as assemblies
- no after-school clubs.
All our systems and procedures have been assessed and agreed with Dorset Council via a school risk assessment. Please ask if you would like to see a copy. The main points are as follows:
1. All children are expected to attend school
School attendance is compulsory.
The usual rules on attendance apply, including;
- Parents’ duty to make sure your child attends school regularly and to inform us of any absences
- School’s responsibility to record attendance and follow up absence
- Denial of authorisation for holidays in term-time
- The availability of sanctions, including fixed-penalty notices
2. Minimising contact with individuals who are unwell
Pupils must not come into school if they display any of the symptoms of coronavirus or have tested positive in at least the last 10 days. Children who develop symptoms during the school day will be sent home and will need to be tested. Testing kits are available in school for parents who may find this difficult to organise.
3. Keeping clean
- Pupils are cleaning their hands frequently during the day. To avoid crowding at our limited handwashing facilities, we are also using hand sanitiser and cleaning wipes.
- We actively promote the ‘Catch it, bin it, kill it’ approach in class
Please help your child by reinforcing the importance of good hand and respiratory hygiene at home.
The school building is thoroughly cleaned every day, and we have employed additional cleaning help for this.
Please note that the government does not recommend the use of face coverings in primary schools for children. Face coverings are not judged to be necessary for staff in classrooms or when dealing with children outside of the classroom (taking a small group, for instance) because of a negative impact on teaching.
4. Minimising contact between individuals
- Pupils are part of a class of 30 or more once again, but each class is separate from the other.
- There is no expectation that pupils distance themselves from each other in class.
- Staff aim to keep 2m apart from their pupils where possible.
- Pupils work in small groups with children from other classes for short periods only.
- Staff may work in different classes and children on the same day, and follow clear guidance when doing so
- Most classes are arranged so the pupils will sit side by side and facing forwards.
- There are no physical assemblies or other whole-school gatherings
5. Drop-off arrangements at the start of the day
- There is a staggered start to the day to avoid large numbers of parents waiting together.
- Parents mustn’t gather together anywhere so please time your arrival so you don’t have to wait – children can then go straight into class
- A one-way drop-off route is in operation. Please enter through the front pedestrian gate and exit through the lower playground gate
- There will inevitably be some difficulty for parents of children with different drop-off times: our apologies for this.
Reception 8.45am 8.55am Rec gate
Year 1 8.55am 9.05am Unit 1
Year 2 8.55am 9.05am Unit 1
Year 3 8.45am 8.55pm Unit 2
Year 4 8.45am 8.55am Unit 2
Year 5 8.35am 8.45am Unit 3
Year 6 8.35am 8.45am Unit 3
6. Collection arrangements
- There are staggered finish times to avoid large numbers of parents waiting together.
- We have arranged collection points so that children leaving at the same time exit through different gates.
- Collection points are either the front pedestrian gate or the lower playground gate.
Reception 3.15pm Reception gate
Year 1 3.10pm Front pedestrian gate
Year 2 3.10pm Lower playground gate
Year 3 3.15pm Front pedestrian gate
Year 4 3.15pm Lower playground gate
Year 5 3.05pm Front pedestrian gate
Year 6 3.05pm Lower playground gate
7. Coming into school
I’m afraid we must keep visits into school to a minimum, so parents can’t come to school without an appointment. You are unable to speak to the teacher before school. It’s not how we’d prefer to work with you but, in all cases, we are encouraging the use of email as an alternative – all our email addresses are here:
Class teachers
Reception Mrs Puddick: a.puddick@southill.dorset.sch.uk
Year 1 Miss Curtis: e.curtis@southill.dorset.sch.uk
Year 2 Mrs Murray: smurray@southill.dorset.sch.uk
Year 2 Mrs Clark: j.clark@southill.dorset.sch.uk
Year 6 Mr Prior: t.prior@southill.dorset.sch.uk
Year 3 Mr Price: tobyprice@southill.dorset.sch.uk
Year 5 Mrs Hill: l.hill@southill.dorset.sch.uk
Year 5 Mrs Butler: t.butler@southill.dorset.sch.uk
Year 4 Mr Smith: gns@southill.dorset.sch.uk
SEN questions or concerns
Mrs Trimmer: d.trimmer@southill.dorset.sch.uk
Senior Leadership Team
Mrs Wood cwood@southill.dorset.sch.uk
Mr Mason p.mason@southill.dorset.sch.uk
We hope to revert to being our more welcoming selves soon.
The same restrictions apply to the school office – you must keep visits down to the absolute essential ones only. Our lovely office staff will be readily available on phone or email.
8. Pupils’ equipment
- Pupils must limit the amount of equipment they bring into school each day
- Reading books should be brought into school and will be swapped daily
- Pupils can take other resources home, when necessary
- Bags are allowed
- No toys please
9. Uniform
Children should attend in normal school uniform.
10. Curriculum
We are teaching a curriculum of catch-up for the first term as we get to grips with gaps in children’s learning. There will also be an increased emphasis on personal, social, health and emotional lessons. As well as reading, writing and maths, the pupils follow the Cornerstones curriculum topic for the term, please see the relevant class website page for more information, or read about Cornerstones under our ‘Learning’ tab.
11. PE
There are some significant rule changes for PE which will sadly mean we’re not doing as much as we’d like at the moment:
- PE is outdoors only. Our hall is too small to cope with a whole class’s strenuous breathing!
- PE kit should be in school everyday. We fit PE in around the weather so it may not always be the same time each week
- Contact sports are not allowed
- Equipment is cleaned after use
- We continue to take part in the Daily Mile as it encourages both exercise and social distancing!
12. Breakfast Club
This is open to all children from 8am as required.. Children are kept in separate class groups and enjoy various games at their tables, before breakfast is served by Mrs Sharpe and Mrs Harris. Please book through SCOpay if you wish to reserve a place.
13. After-school clubs
We are not running any clubs after school at the moment. This is because clubs normally comprise children from different classes – and this isn’t possible under the guidance.
All school sporting fixtures have been suspended for the term.
14. Lunches
Hot school meals are available to all parents as normal and are free to children in Reception, Year 1 and Year 2.
Local Food Links have their own online ordering system and parents are asked to contact them directly about meal orders. Please ensure that you order meals (7 days in advance) for your child’s return on the first day of term. If you have any queries regarding the new system, please telephone Local Food Links on 01308 420269.
15. Behaviour Policy
Below are the additional points to our Behaviour Policy which have been written to help keep children as safe as possible. It’s important that children abide by these rules so we’d be grateful if you discuss them with your child.
Children must:
- consistently follow new routines for arrival and departure
- always follow school instructions on hygiene, such as hand-washing and sanitising
- stay in class groups at all times, following instructions on who they can socialise with
- move around the school as per specific instructions, following designated pathways and avoiding areas that are out-of-bounds – such as where they can or cannot play
- Following instructions for playtime games (eg no contact – especially football)
- follow guidance for sneezing, coughing, tissues and disposal (‘catch it, bin it, kill it’)
- not cough or spit at or towards any other person
- try hard not to touch mouth, nose and eyes
- tell an adult if they are unwell
- follow class rules about sharing any equipment or other items including drinking bottles
- use only the designated toilets and ask staff before going (so that numbers using the toilet can be monitored)
16. Contingency Plan
Should there be a local lockdown resulting in a school closure, we will revert to online daily tasks set by teachers on our website (in the same format as when we started the lockdown in March).
If there is another lockdown, we expect to continue to stay open for the children of key workers.
Any questions about our operating procedures?
Please contact the school office or Mr Mason directly on p.mason@southill.dorset.sch.uk
Department for Education coronavirus (COVID-19) helpline
The Department for Education coronavirus (COVID-19) helpline is available to answer questions about coronavirus (COVID-19) relating to education and children’s social care. Staff, parents and young people can contact this helpline by calling:
Phone: 0800 046 8687
Opening hours: Monday to Friday from 8am to 6pm