Le temps passe... (Time flies...)

It’s good to be back!

We are now ready to enter our third week back at school, and, even though I can’t quite believe how fast time is flying, I do know we have so much to celebrate and be thankful for. Together we are all ensuring that our school guidance is being followed, which is helping to keep everyone safe. All classes are slowly embedding those important routines and developing a sense of ‘our new class, where everyone is important’. The children are continuing to develop that real focus needed to master those key learning skills and already progress is being made. Teachers are slowly gaining a sense of what each child needs and school has that familiar learning buzz; which has been sorely missed. A little bit of normal, at last!

A reminder about our new school start and finish times (see below). Again, a huge thank you for your patience while all of us try to make things work as smoothly as possible.

So, for the first groups the gates will be open just before 8.40am and then close at 8.50am. For the second groups the gates will open before 9am but will close at 9.10am. Try not to bring your child too early as this will only cause congestion . Please remember that these new times have been brought in to try to alleviate ALL families being unable to socially distance when arriving and leaving school and therefore try to separate groups as much as possible. Parents must also try to ensure their, and others’ safety by making use of the yellow footprints to keep a distance of 2m and also by wearing masks to avoid any close contact when larger groups are present.

Curriculum

The children have now got off to a flying start with their learning and teachers are very much focused on childrens physical and mental health and wellbeing. Through our RHE curriculum teachers are enabling children to explore their feelings and begin to build that resilience which fosters both positivity and hope. Alongside this, the curriculum is broad and balanced and children are enjoying all those important aspects of learning. From Monday we begin our structured PE activities with sports coaches leading some of our lessons. The coaches will all be wearing PPE and all equipment used is sanitised after each group following our rigourous PE risk assessment. Most days the sessions will be outdoors. It will be great to see children enjoying their PE sessions outside, keeping them active is so important, and we are taking every opportunity to enjoy the weather which, as we all know can quickly change at this time of the year.

First Holy Communion

We are so fortunate that, as the country again faces further restrictions, our church is able to stay open due to Fr Jim’s diligence and the support of his team of amazing stewards who are following strict guidance to ensure the safety of all. In this way, Fr Jim has been able to hold public mass throughout the week and at weekends. (Times can be found on the church website - the button is on the left of our home page)

Because of this, Fr has kindly organised that for our Sacramental Children of 2020, First Holy Communion will still take place. Therefore following the current restrictions, children can receive First Holy Communion at Mass over 4 Saturday evening masses at 6pm. They will be receiving their Sacrament of Reconciliation this week following all our school safety procedures, so please keep them all in your prayers.

If you have not yet returned to public mass, Saturday evenings are a lovely quiet time when you can bring your child to mass and familiarise them with the beautiful structure and prayers of our Eucharistic celebration.

School Dinners

A huge thank you to everyone for ensuring that dinners are paid for in advance using ParentPay. Our lovely Finance Officer was despairing of us as we had too many arrears in previous years and were constantly chasing for payments but this year we are doing so much better. Thank you everyone. We realise sadly that these are very tough times for so many families and financial worries add such a burden -please don’t hesitate to contact us if you need to check if you qualify for free school meals - in KS2 that £11.50 pw can make a difference. It’s the simplest of forms - the only information we see is your National Insurance number and Pupil Access can run the check and inform us. In KS1 it’s still worth checking as school then receive a Pupil premium payment which helps enormously at this time.

Further COVID guidance

As we all adjust to living with COVID we continue to meet daily challenges. This week we have had a number of children who have been poorly with colds, some of whom have had to take a little time off. but we have also encountered children with further symptoms than simply ‘seasonal sniffles’. I know for parents illness can be difficult to navigate in this present situation; please keep talking to us and asking those questions. Although we may not be able to provide you with a definitive answer we can always signpost you to someone who can. If in doubt, please contact 111 or speak to your family doctor. I have attached here a document which contains questions and answers which you may find useful as you make decisions. Further resources which may help to explain things to your children during this time are available here.

Most importantly we all need to keep being vigilant and the best thing we can all do is to keep updated with the latest guidance and advice. Yesterday, schools were issued with a joint letter from our Director of Public Health for Blackpool and the Director of Children’s Services. They stated…

“We are proposing a low threshold, learning from the successful approach we have taken as a local authority in our care homes and appreciate that this advice broadens the scope and need for testing. The current issues in testing and laboratory capacity are exacerbating the situation. The testing and laboratory capacity has been raised as a critical issue and plans are underway to address and improve swift access, which will support school attendance.

Our Public Health Director’s advice, which I support, is that we follow the World Health Organisations list of symptoms to support keeping transmission low and keep our children, young people and staff team’s as safe as we possibly can (symptoms referenced below). We appreciate that this is a challenging time for all schools and our community, but this approach we feel is the most appropriate to take.”

WHO list of symptoms

Most common symptoms

• fever

• dry cough

• tiredness

Less common symptoms:

• aches and pains

• sore throat

• diarrhoea/severe stomach upset

• conjunctivitis

• headache

• loss of taste or smell

• a rash on skin, or discolouration of fingers or toes

Serious symptoms:

• difficulty breathing or shortness of breath

• chest pain or pressure

• loss of speech or movement

As you can see, Blackpool Council and Education Authorities are ‘erring on the side of caution’ and asking us all to be vigilant for these symptoms and if any are present/develop, ensuring we isolate and seek a test if we (or school) have concerns. Please refer to the advice documents above for information, but please be aware that further symptoms may be things to look out for in your children (WHO - World Health Organisation list of symptoms)

We are all experiencing this together, and for the first time. Remember together we will always be stronger as together we will be thinking about each other and our actions will say a thousand words…

Let’s all help each other to stay safe.

Thank you for your continued patience and understanding.