Oak Field School
Letter to families
Dear Parent/Guardian(s)
Thank you for all you have continued to do this term to keep your children and families safe and well, and to limit the spread of COVID-19 (Coronavirus). As we go in to the summer holiday, here are some brief notes which we hope will support you to prepare your child for coming back to school in September.
When is the first day back at school?
For nearly all pupils, this will be Wednesday 2nd September.
For the pupils who may require chest or oral suctioning, this may be slightly later. Over the last few weeks, in response to new NHS guidelines about aerosol generating procedures (AGPs), we have been in discussion with the LA and NHS commissioners and service managers about suction room provision and ventilation, and about specific PPE (and training/fitting for this) for identified staff. These discussions will be ongoing for the next few weeks, and at the moment sadly this matter is out of our hands. We would like to reassure you that we and the LA have been doing, and will continue to do, everything we can to enable these pupils to access school. For these pupils, we will therefore contact you in the last week of the holiday (week beginning Mon 24th August), to update you.
If for any reason your child is not able to return at the very beginning of September, we will discuss with you the ways in which we will support your child’s learning at that time, for example through weekly contact and personalised learning packs.
What about LA Transport?
City and County Transport Services are currently planning to transport the pupils in their Key Stage pod ‘bubbles’, so in vehicles alongside pupils in their own age group. But Transport are still working on this. This might mean that pick-up and drop-off times are different from before. Transport will contact you towards the end of the holiday, but if you need to contact them before then, the contact details are:
Nottingham City Transport Services: 0115 876 1780 (Patricia Bennett)
Notts County Transport: 0115 977 3493 (Linda Blaney)
What if I transport my child myself?
We will ask you to bring and collect your child at the same time as the LA Transport for your child’s ‘bubble’. We will confirm this time in the week beginning Mon 24th August.
We will ask you to wait with your child outside the school entrance, along the 6th Form pod wall, in a socially distanced way.
What measures are school putting in place in September to protect my child?
We will be publishing our risk assessment on the website as soon as the draft has gone through due process. We have already discussed this in detail with the LA Schools Health and Safety Manager and Governors, and have taken in to account some of the questions you have been asking in your weekly phone calls with class teachers. In brief, in addition to the transport arrangements, the key measures are:
- Pupils will stay in their class and Key Stage bubbles as much as possible – this includes at lunchtimes, when they will be eating in their classrooms, and outside time is staggered. Other than for PE, the pupils will be in their class base throughout the day, including eg for Art and Music sessions. They will also be using our outdoor spaces as much as possible. Assemblies will be ‘online’, transmitted from the Hall.
- Pupils will have their own sets of equipment/resources as far as possible, and we have timetabled regular transition/cleaning times between sessions.
- Regular and frequent hand-washing.
- Staff will continue to wear their usual PPE for personal and intimate care tasks, and (unless the guidelines change) more specialised PPE for oral suctioning.
- For those pupils on the Complex Health Team caseload, the NHS staff will be wearing ‘full’ PPE for chest suctioning.
- Staff will socially distance from the pupils and other adults as much as possible.
- Vistors on site will be kept to an absolute minimum – meetings will continue to take place online.
Will NHS Health staff be in school?
The Complex Health Needs Team will be in school. Our understanding is that Physios and OTs will be working with pupils in school in a clinical capacity, and SaLT if a specific need for face-to-face intervention is identified. Here is a reminder of some important phone numbers for NHS Health staff:
- Community paediatrician hub: 0115 840 4848
- SPA – for Community Nurses, Physios, OTs, SaLT: 0300 123 3387
- Rosscare – for wheelchair repairs: 0115 684 8275
How can I best prepare my child for September?
- Share with them (often!) the Oak Field ‘Back To School’ booklet we delivered with with your child’s last personalised learning pack, with the class number and staff team detailed at the back. If they have sent you a ‘welcome’ video, please watch this with them.
- In the week beginning Mon 24 August (or earlier!), start to get your child back in to their normal school routine by making sure they begin to wake and get up at a time which is gradually closer to when they will need to wake and get up for school.
- Remind your child about school by looking at the website videos, and talking to them about how exciting it will be for them to learn alongside their friends again!
What if I have any questions?
- Senior Leadership Team staff will be in school next week, and in the week beginning Mon 24 August – the best time to catch us will be in the mornings, or you can leave a message and we’ll get back to you.
- If your child is new to the school, we will phone and check in with you in the week beginning Mon 24 August.
I appreciate that this time continues to bring many challenges for families, and hope that you find helpful the attached/enclosed flyer from Nottingham City Council about support for children, young people and families over the holiday period. In September, the School Meals Service will be up and running for school dinners again.
Once again, thank you so much for your continued support. As I said in the assembly this morning, we are all really looking forward to seeing the pupils again in September!
Yours sincerely
Patricia Lewis (Headteacher)