"He's got the whole world in His hands..."

We are so grateful that Our Lady of the Assumption school family is back together and we give thanks that God is holding us all in his hands!

This has been another week of amazing learning and of embedding our ‘new normal’ of our super hygiene regimes to ensure we always have Healthy Hands not Horrid Hands!!! The children are really taking this on board and are trying to ensure that, even in their own class bubble, they are trying not to touch anyone else’s equipment with their nice clean hands and, most importantly, (and this is the hard one for our younger children) trying not to touch each other - especially each other’s faces!!!!!! PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE, can you try to keep reminding your children that doing this will only spread those nasty germs from others - to us!

Further COVID guidance below…..

COVID UPDATES

Over the past 72 hours we have heard of further changes and restrictions being enforced in our locality, meaning we will have to be extra vigilant that we try our best to ensure that we continue to keep ourselves and our community safe.

Blackpool’s director of public health has urged Blackpool’s residents and businesses to stick by the rules – or risk the introduction of the same lockdown restrictions imposed on the rest of Lancashire. Dr Arif Rajpura strongly advised the public to comply with the COVID guidelines, such as wearing face coverings, social distancing and the newly-introduced 'rule of six' – or face the consequences. 

Dr Rajpura said yesterday:

“I have said repeatedly that this virus has not gone away and there is absolutely no room for complacency here or anywhere else. 

“The special measures that have been announced by the government across large swathes of the north of England over the past 48 hours illustrate that nowhere is immune to this sort of intervention. 

“It is absolutely critical that residents and businesses adhere to the new 'rule of six' restrictions and follow all COVID guidelines around social distancing and wearing of face coverings. 

“The same advice goes to all those in our resort. The only way to stop the spread of the virus is to respect the rules which are there for a reason.  

“We have already seen a slight increase in positive cases in Blackpool over the past couple of weeks and it is essential that we halt this trend if we are to avoid the sort of restrictions being imposed in other areas.” 

Again, a huge thank you to parents and families who are really trying to adhere to the guidance and really considering when your child is unwell and may pass germs on to others. In school we are ensuring that children and staff from different class bubbles are not mixing in order for us to minimise risk. Please be cautious of your children mixing outside of school with those in other classes/year groups as this may mean that, in the case of any positive cases of COVID, we may have to shut more than one class/year group meaning that all contact households would need to isolate for 14 days.

Please click on poster below which may answer some of your questions about when to/not to send your child to school:

Click on image to open

Leadership in action

Next week our Year 6 children are applying for their roles of responsibility; some are currently making a video to present to everyone in school to state why they feel they should be a leader this year. We know this year will be very different and all roles will have a large virtual aspect but we know these children will rise to the challenge and make us all incredibly proud. We look forward to appointing these special roles to the children over the next couple of weeks.

We look forward to another exciting week….

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.

A new year... a new beginning!

Welcome Back to everyone!

It has been wonderful to see everyone again and a delight to be able to open school to all pupils for a new school year. The children have all grown so much since we last saw many of them. Last week’s ‘part-time week’ was been a lovely way for the children (and staff) to get a chance to familiarise themselves with the new safety measures in school and to get to know each other - and of course, to find out lots about experiences during lockdown!

This week, as you know, we are welcoming everyone back to their year groups and having lunch in school as we usually would.

Breakfast & After School Club

Breakfast and After School Clubs are now open but spread across 3 settings: At After School Club, Key Stage 1 children are the only bubbles in the club building, Years 3 & 4 are in the dining hall and Years 5 & 6 are in the main hall. Children are dropped off and collected at the dining hall through the Thornhill Close gates (opposite presbytery).

Thank You

I also wanted to say a huge thank you to parents for your patience and understanding as we try to get things running as smoothly and of course, as safely as we can, to drop off and collect children from the building. I do completely understand your frustrations, and we are trying to help as much as we can by having family groups drop all siblings and collect them all at the same time and from the same entrance. I am aware that it is hard for parents to socially distance as they arrive to collect and drop off children; however we have painted yellow feet on the pavement on Thornhill close and are also reminding you that wearing masks at this time would be safest for all.

We are trying our very best to try to make our start and end of day run as safely as possible. We know there will have to be ‘tweaks’ along the way so your patience is really appreciated!

Our Lady’s Birthday

Normally today, on the Feast of Our Lady’s birthday, we would be celebrating with a school mass to ask for Mary’s blessings on our school at the start of a new year. It is sad that we cannot gather together in this way - but a huge thank you to Father Jim who has recorded a mass with some of Year 6 reading. The children have watched and celebrated in this way today.

Our whole school wishes Mary a ‘Happy Birthday’ and prays that she walks with us on our difficult journeys this year.

Fr Jim is also saying mass for the intention of all of Our Lady’s School Family this evening at 7pm in church - a lovely way to start our school year!

Please do let us know if you are unsure/unclear about any of our current arrangements. Phoning school is the best and safest way for us to discuss anything rather than coming to the office.

A reminder that on Friday school closes after lunch, (see times below)

Again thank you for your understanding while we get arrangements running as smoothly as we can.

The sun shines not on us, but in us; the rivers flow, not past, but through us...

Thank you so much!

I would firstly like to take this opportunity to say a heartfelt thank you to everyone in Our Lady of the Assumption family.

I can honestly say that the past few months have proven beyond a doubt what an absolute privilege it is to be the Headteacher of such an amazing school.

When we started school in September, our Year 6 children stepped seamlessly into their leadership roles, whilst our new Reception children blended into school as if they had always been here. There was excitement as we began to work together into becoming Learned and Wise, our first two virtues of the year, our learning journey commenced. We began to celebrate our special ‘Year of the Word’ together.

Entering our spring term, in January, we were all hopeful and had set such high expectations for ourselves and each other. Together we explored how to become Curious and Active by taking greater responsibility for our thoughts and actions, and by the end of February, again, we had achieved so much.

But then came the sudden change; for certainties to be replaced with uncertainties as children were sent home from school, we were all left feeling deflated but at the same time hopeful that in a few weeks we could pick up where we left off. How wrong we were!

Now looking back over the last sixteen weeks, I can only thank you all for your support, patience and sheer determination. You may not realise this just yet, or you may not be in a place to appreciate it just yet, but you have done more than you will ever know. Your kind words, your encouragement, your thanks, have left staff feeling a true sense of appreciation.

You have made us all feel valued and I cannot thank you enough for that. You have spurred your children forward, helped them to keep going, and have clearly become those pop up teachers, trying your very best to teach the online lessons gifted from your class teacher. Your success has shone through the work we have received and your wonderful family photographs, thank you.

Yourselves, the children, staff and Governors have all worked exceptionally hard and supported each other through this most challenging of times.

Every child will have left a little bit of themselves behind in the hearts of the teaching staff they have worked with this year, and once again we thank you for entrusting them into our care, both in school and online!

We have been delighted to be able to welcome back some children and families since the 8th June and are so proud of how well the children have adjusted to the new routines and procedures. They are an absolute credit to our school and their families.

I would like to wish our Y6 pupils all the very best for High School. I really cannot believe it has come to the time for them to spread their wings and move on to the next stage of their lives. They really have led us well in this year which has so cruelly been cut short! I am so upset that they did not have a chance to see through the year and lead the whole school in the way that I know they were so capable of! I pray that their transition is smooth and that they can really soar when they begin their high schools. I am so proud of each and every one of them! It is so unfortunate that we have not been able to celebrate their end of time at Our Lady’s as we would normally do but I hope they have managed to enjoy their last week in school seeing their friends and teachers. We wish them every success and happiness for their futures.

We are now fast approaching the end of the Summer term and are looking at planning and preparing for the new academic year.

God’s blessings on you all.

‘Virtual’ Pop Idol & Musician of the Year 2020

Huge congratulations to all of our finalists in these competitions. Megan and Alana for Pop Idol and Claire and Reuban for Young Musician.

Mr White, head of Blackpool Music Service, informed me that the standard was particularly high this year (obviously all those hours spent practising in lockdown) and he was absolutely ‘bowled over’ by the entries.

A 3rd place in 2020 Pop Idol was won for Alana’s rendition of Lily Allen’s “Somewhere only we know” Well done Alana!

Here at Our Lady’s we are so, so proud of all our entrants. You made us all so emotional with your wonderful performances. There are certificates which have been sent by BMS for all finalists. We will endeavour to get these delivered to you - alternatively you could call in to the school office to collect them.

‘CONGRATULATIONS’ & A HUGE ‘WELL DONE’ TO YOU ALL!

SEPTEMBER 2020 INFORMATION

As you may be aware the Government have issued new guidance for schools to prepare to welcome all children back to school in September. (Issued on the 2nd July)

As with all the previous government guidance documents the Department for Education recognise;

‘There cannot be a ‘one-size-fits’ all approach… School leaders will be best placed to understand the needs of their schools and communities, and to make informed judgements about how to balance delivering a broad and balanced curriculum with the measures needed to manage risk’.

The Government expect school leaders to put in place proportionate protective measures for children and staff, which also ensure that all pupils receive a high quality education that enables them to thrive and progress.

We are being asked to minimise the number of contacts that a pupil has during the school day which supports the key aim of minimising the risk of transmission in school.

The government also expect schools to plan for the possibility of a local lockdown and how we will ensure the continuity of education.

As you can imagine the preparation and discussion needed to make decisions moving forward are both complex and challenging.

With all that in mind the Leadership team and Governing body of Our Lady’s have prepared an opening plan to be implemented in the Autumn Term. This plan is to be assessed before the end of the Autumn Term as we try to bring our school back to our new ‘normal’ as safely as we possibly can.

I think it is important to remember that we are still learning how to live with Covid-19 and the plans we have put in place are intended to minimise the risk for everyone and to hopefully sustain the provision for as long as possible. The decisions taken have been made following government guidance and with everybody’s health, safety and well-being at the centre. That has very much been mine and the Governing body’s core principle throughout this situation and will remain so.

Please see the separate documents for details about September arrangements.

NB: It has been extremely difficult to organise a safe way to open any out of school provision following the new guidance, however we will open both Breakfast and After School Club from Monday 7th September. As we are still finalising (and trying to limit) numbers of children on safety grounds. These details will be posted on the website as soon as is practicable. A text will be sent to parents regarding current places.

May I wish you and your families all the very best for a happy and safe Summer break.

We are very much looking forward to welcoming you all back in September.

Miss M Haggerty

Proposed Plans

Click on links below to read proposed plans for Our Lady’s opening in September.

SEPTEMBER REOPENING PLAN - OUR LADY OF THE ASSUMPTION

'Some days there won't be a song in your heart. Sing anyway!'

I can hardly believe we are almost at the end of this academic year…. I don’t think we’ll forget 2020 in a hurry!!!! I am still saddened by the fact that we have been unable to welcome all classes back to school until September; we miss you all. For those classes still at home teachers will provide online learning for these final three weeks, but there will be a few special editions…

Next week Monday 6th - Wednesday 8th July we hope families will all join us to participate in our home/school ‘Sports Event’ for 2020. Miss Dixon has designed and published instructions for a range of different events AND a score sheet so that everyone can take part in at least some of the activities! (I do hope parents can also participate and send us some photos of your achievements too!) You can find the details on the Parents tab on our homepage under the PE & Sports section.

Also on the week beginning 6th July, your child’s next class teacher will be posting an activity for your child to return to them ready for September. This will be a great way for your child to let their next teacher know about their ambitions, anxieties and aspirations for their next class; so this is a lovely way to ‘virtually meet’ your next teacher and let them know something about yourself before you return to school.

Some sad ‘Goodbye’s’…

In the midst of all the changes and adaptations during this past few months, it seems even harder that we should be having to say goodbye during these strange conditions; but unfortunately we have to say farewell to 2 wonderful staff members!

I can’t quite believe it myself, but after more than 20 years of music teaching to (dare I say it..) a few generations of Our Lady’s staff and families, our amazing Mrs Bird has announced her retirement. This I know, was a very difficult decision for her as she has thoroughly loved every minute of her playing, directing, singing, composing, conducting (and many, many other aspects of music teaching!) Mrs Bird will be HUGELY MISSED by every single one of us here at Our Lady’s - in fact - school certainly will never be the same without her!

I know you would like to join me in thanking her from the bottom of our hearts for the love, support and most of all, musical inspiration, she has given us through the years. You will never be replaced in our hearts or our minds Mrs Bird. Thank you for sharing your love and passion for music with all of Our Lady of the Assumption through the years! We will miss you more than words can say…

We also bid a fond farewell to Mrs Cunningham-Kay. As you will know, Mrs Cunningham-Kay is only at the start of her teaching career and has a lifetime of adventures and wonderful experiences ahead of her! She is taking up a new post at a school in Preston from September. It has been our privilege to be part of the start of someone’s teaching journey, and I know that Year 4 will miss her very, very much; but everyone in our school community want to thank her for the time she spent with us and the cheer and exuberance she has brought to our school. We will all miss you and send you our very best wishes for every success in your future teaching career. If you make everyone as happy as you made our Year 4 class, then you will have a glittering career ahead of you!

Goodbye and Good Luck Mrs Cunningham-Kay!

More Music News!

Pop Idol & Young Musician of the Year 2020

This year, the Pop Idol and Young Musician competitions have become virtual ones! For the first round of Pop Idol we received lots of auditions of a very high quality, so as you can imagine the competition was fierce! 

The judges were very impressed with all the performances received. It was obvious that each candidate had put a lot of thought into the choice of song and how it was presented. The judges had the extremely difficult task of choosing just 2 performances to go through to the final and they struggled to come to a decision. But finally, they have made their choice.

After much deliberation our 2 pop stars to go through to the final are: Alana - Y6 and Megan - Y5

The 2 Young Musician finalists are Reuban - Y5 and Claire - Y5

Thank you to everyone who took part in this round of auditions. You make us very proud at Our Lady’s. Good luck to our successful applicants! The Pop Idol Final 2020 will be judged by adjudicators for Blackpool Music Service (as will the Young Musician) and the winners will published before the end of term - so watch this space…

And remember…keep singing AND playing!!!  

Blackpool Catholic Schools Cluster Mass

A word of thanks to Fr Jim from all of the Blackpool Catholic schools for his wonderful mass which brought together readers, music, art and dance from each of the Blackpool Catholic Schools for a special mass for the Solemnity of Saints Peter and Paul. Fr Jim spent much time collecting, editing and collating an array of contributions from children across the Blackpool Catholic Family to put together into a beautiful mass celebrating these wonderful saints. (This lockdown has certainly highlighlighted Father Jim’s technical expertise and kept our Catholic family together by supporting us as a prayerful community. Well done Fr Jim!)

You can see the mass by clicking on the ‘Church’ tab on our home page. The mass can be found on the church ‘Children’s Page’ or you can click here…

Finally… I know this has been a challenging time for us all, a time when everything we have taken for granted seemed to disappear overnight. However, I do want to thank you for everything you have done to support your children during this difficult time. Please don’t underestimate just what you have achieved in your makeshift classrooms where tables have become desks and gardens science treasure troves waiting to be explored. You have all inspired me and I know your children will look back at this time with fond memories; a time they shared with their families, a time when the world seemed to change.

Thank you for your support and your patience and for engaging with us at every turn. You have made me smile so much this week with your wonderful photos of your work and friendships. You should all feel very proud!

I look forward to your sports day pictures - I know how competitive you all are!

1st Class Kids

Just a short message to share some information from 1st Class Kids for parents and carers who need to purchase school uniforms. Here is their letter about how the shop is reopening and the ways you can order uniforms.

Together, anything is possible!

Our plans for wider opening of school…

At Our Lady’s we are missing the children of our school family so very, very much. Although I am encouraged to hear about how hard many of you are working at home, your teachers are desperately missing you and wish that we could be together to celebrate the end of the school year together. Unfortunately, as we have now heard from the government, that is not a possibility.

However, at Our Lady’s, we are continuing with our plans to safely welcome further children where it is safe to do so. All our guidelines are being carefully implemented and the staff team have been working hard over the holiday meeting to ensure there is complete clarity in our approach. We are very mindful that the safety of everyone in the building is paramount. It is essential that we all continue to develop safe hygiene practices that can be modelled and taught daily to the children as they get used to school operating in this new way.   

Next Steps…

From this Monday 15th June we will be opening for Year 1 pupils.(NB you have been sent a text to confirm your survey response and whether your child has a place from Monday) This has been done in consultation with the Local Education Authority, our Director of Public Health and of course with the full support of Our Lady’s Governing Board. I know this has not been an easy decision for parents to make, but please know that we go forward having taken every step to strictly adhere to current local and national guidance.

Staff have been in school putting our detailed risk assessment guidance in place, reorganising classrooms and key areas of school to welcome more groups back alongside key worker children. Together we have created learning bubbles, based on our survey results and have planned key learning alongside essential well-being activities, which we hope will develop excellent hygiene practices. We know going forward, as children return, it will be essential to embed these hygiene practices into our daily lives so that they become second nature to us all, to ensure that we all take shared responsibility for keeping each other safe.

We have had to ensure that we have enough space to be able to adhere to the social distancing rules but also that we have enough staff to be able to support the children in this new way of working.

Our guidance remains the same and can be accessed below.

Reception & Year 6

Currently we feel we are only able to safely open for Year 1 children and then following this, Year 6 children. After much planning we feel that we could not safely provide provision for Reception at this time, but will keep you informed of any changes.

Year 1 will begin from Monday 15th June and will be in school each Monday and Tuesday 9.30am - 2.45pm until 7th July. Mrs Hollinghurst has put some photos and further information on the Year 1 page on the website.

We are currently planning on Year 6 joining us in school week beginning 13th July for the final 5 days of school before the holidays: 9.30am - 2.45pm

Pop Idol 2020

We have just had an announcement from Blackpool Music Service that the Pop Idol Competition for 2020 WILL go ahead but will be a ‘virtual competition’ this year.

To participate in the first round heat for Our Lady’s, we will need each entrant to…

1) choose an appropriate song

2) practise singing the song with a backing track

3) make a video of yourself performing the full song (along with the backing track)

4) send your video to admin@our-lady.blackpool.sch.uk by Wednesday 24th June

Please ensure:

That the track is a backing track only and not the actual song.

That the recording is a single recording of the full song. (Not edited)

That the length of the recording is approximately 2-3 mins only.

That the performance is lively and animated.

The competition is open to children from Years 4, 5 & 6 and we must have full agreement from your parents in order to ensure safeguarding measures are fully met.

The entries will be judged by Miss Benson, Mrs Bird, Mrs Burrows and Miss Haggerty. If your entry is successful, you will then be put through to the ‘virtual final’ against successful entrants from across Blackpool. We will let you know if you will become the entrant to represent Our Lady of the Assumption by Monday 29th June.

Good Luck!

Thank you

I know this is a challenging journey for everyone and as ever, we are here if you need us. For now, we continue on the journey we are on, to once again bring our school family back together as soon as it is safe to do so. I would just like to say those two little words….

Thank you… I can’t tell you how much we have all appreciated every kind word of support, leaving us feeling such a great sense of community and a true belief that we are ‘all in this together’. I know you have found this time difficult, and for some of you, faced with making a decision about your child’s return to school, there has been much to consider. Please know whatever decision you have made has always been yours to make and will be fully supported. Every family situation is different.

For now, we will wait, and as we always do, walk hand in hand, placing our prayers in the loving embrace of Jesus Christ our Saviour.

'I know as long as we're on this journey together, there's nothing we cannot do...'

There are moments in your life when the task you are being asked to take on and the responsibility attached to that task are overwhelming and seem too difficult to bear, and this has been such a time.

I have found this last week, following the Prime Minister’s announcement, almost impossible and I have found myself questioning every suggestion or possibility put forward as in school we have tried to make sense of what we are now being asked to implement. Government advice has changed over the week which has presented further barriers to the planning process. There have also been such varied reports in the news, many of which have been unhelpful.  

Throughout this whole process I have been guided by one simple question,                                                ‘What is the safest possible route to follow to begin to welcome more children into school?’ 

As the expansion of the school was initially to involve three year groups I felt it was very important to ask those groups of parents for their thoughts. I thank you all for your honest and kind comments. I appreciate that like us, your first concern is to keep everyone safe. Your concern for the staff as well as your children was humbling. Your responses have been critical in helping to shape our planning.  

After much discussion, evaluation and intense risk assessments, governors and myself have eventually developed a plan to deliver what we consider to be the safest possible environment we can offer for the gradual increase in child numbers. We have thought carefully about the children returning and have produced four sets of guidance which can be accessed by the four buttons below.

Alongside these, we have also produced more specific risk assessments for all shared areas around the school which will impact predominantly on staff.  

Please have a read of these documents so that you can begin to get an understanding of how the school will start to operate in June if we are able to open for pupils other than children of critical workers.

Proposed Plan

We already have a large number of Critical Worker children attending school which is currently increasing. We have therefore made the decision that we definitely need to begin any reintegration process very slowly and so we will be dividing these last six weeks into two.  

From 15th June, we are hoping to invite our Year 1 class back to school for two days. The children will be taught in very small groups, which we are calling learning ‘bubbles’ (on a Monday and Tuesday). This will ensure that we can implement all our guidelines fully and can support the children as they get used to a different way of working. For the final week we are then hoping to invite only our Year 6 class to return. The same protocols will be in place during this time. You can help us with this by reading the children’s guidance to your child. Each learning bubble will be led by two members of staff who will be with them all day.

Children and staff from each of the bubbles will not be mixing.  

Planning Survey

We now need to know possible numbers so that we can review if we can safely accommodate any further learning bubbles. Therefore, after you have read the documents please can you complete a very simple survey below by clicking on your Year Group button. This time you will only have two options.                

I know this is not an easy decision for anyone but please know, whatever decision you make, I will support and understand.

I have put a comment box just in case anyone wishes to add anything extra. It would help us greatly if you could complete this straight away.  

YEAR ONE PARENT SURVEY 

YEAR SIX PARENT SURVEY 

 Critical Worker children.

As more children will be attending school our Critical Worker group will also be following the same guidelines and therefore their time in school will now feel slightly different too.

Please read the Critical Worker guidelines above.

In order to move to further reintegration it is imperative to keep the numbers of this group as consistent (& low) as possible.

In order to keep everyone safe, we would urge all critical workers to explore all other avenues of childcare before requesting this service.

The form to request Emergency Childcare for the first two weeks can be sent to you by contacting our school office. 

Please complete the form and return to admin@our-lady.blackpool.sch.uk as soon as possible so that we can confirm numbers and evaluate whether or not we have enough staff to accommodate pupil numbers.

Texts to confirm places will be sent out by school before June 4th. 

Please also be aware that we are unable to accommodate children moving around in ‘learning bubbles’. Therefore, if your child is part of the Critical Worker bubble they cannot also be part of their year group bubble. It is imperative that we reduce the risk of increasing the rate of transmission and take considered steps to ensure we are keeping the risk as low as we can. 

Online Learning and shared activities

For all the other children who will not be attending school, online learning will continue; we miss you all! Please keep those lines of communication open and let us know if you do need support. We will try our very best to keep meeting the needs of our children from afar. Again we know how difficult it has been trying to work from home as well as supporting your child’s learning, but we truly thank you.   

On Friday school will be closing for two weeks so that teachers can write reports and the school can be organised to hopefully welcome other children safely. This will be a complex task. During these two weeks you will be invited to share activities linked with the great Feast of Pentecost and on your class pages you will find a plethora of activities which will help you to explore these areas, (not forgetting Fr Jim’s children’s pages on our church website!) We hope you will find this helpful to keep your child engaged. These will also provide information and valuable RE materials for the whole family.

Conclusion

I am in no doubt that I want the whole school family back together and I have prayed and prayed that this would happen before the summer. However, in the current situation, I know that this is not possible at present as the safety of every person in the school building has to be prioritised.  Please know that every decision has been made with the safety of everyone at the centre. However, all these plans will be constantly evaluated and monitored and may be subject to change depending on how the national and local situations change.   

We know that whenever and however we begin to open school, there will be anxiety and indecision as you are all trying to consider what is best for your whole family. Your children are your precious gifts from God and you need to know that they will be safe. Whenever you choose to begin this process we will be here to support you at every turn; we are a community of Christ and together we will find a pathway which will eventually lead each one of us back to a thriving, exciting school where we can all learn and grow together in the safest way possible.  

Thank you for your understanding, patience and support. Together we are, and will continue to be, stronger… We are Christ’s body in the world today.  

God bless…. 

Miss Haggerty