Please read on for information about procedures that will apply in the event of a confirmed case or an outbreak of Covid-19 in our school community.

Please see the Remote education news item for full information about how remote education will be offered for any Saltford School children who are required to remain at home because of Covid-19.

For general guidance for parents about children's education during the autumn term, please see the gov.uk document 'What parents and carers need to know about early years providers, schools and colleges in the autumn term'.

There is a free children's book that is designed to explain all about coronavirus to children aged 5 – 9. It is available to read online, as a download or as an audio book and is illustrated by the popular Gruffalo illustrator Axel Scheffler. See nosycrow.com/blog/released-today-free-information-book-explaining-coronavirus-children-illustrated-gruffalo-illustrator-axel-scheffler/ for more information.

Any updates in the form of letters to parents will be posted here.

• Letter to parents 24th November 2020
• Revised procedures for KS1 collection point and time 18th November
• Letter to parents 16th November 2020
• Letter to parents 10th November 2020
• Letter to parents 5th November 2020
• Letter to parents 4th November 2020
• Letter to parents 20th October 2020
• Letter to parents 9th October 2020
• Letter to parents 8th October 2020

Letters from Public Health England.

• Letter to parents 21st October 2020 from PHE
• Covid-19 A quick guide for parents from PHE

Lockdown updates

School sports wear: the Harvem shop in Keynsham is required to close its shop as a retail premises during lockdown. However, there is now a click and collect function on the online ordering system. 

You can pay online and choose the click and collect option at checkout. You can collect goods at the shop door on production of the receipt. See harvemschoolwear.co.uk.

If your child develops symptoms at school

1. They will be taken out of class and a parent or guardian will be contacted to discuss the next steps
2. The school will follow the guidelines from the DfE as set out in this action list.
3. The child must stay at home and follow the government's guidance for households with possible Coronavirus infection: www.gov.uk/government/publications/covid-19-stay-at-home-guidance
4. They must arrange to have a test. See also www.nhs.uk/conditions/coronavirus-covid-19/testing-and-tracing/ 
5. If your child receives a positive test result for Covid-19 please complete the positive Covid-19 test reporting form here.

If a pupil or member of staff at Saltford School tests positive

1. They will already be out of school, self isolating and have been tested
2. The school will inform the Department for Education (DfE) and Public Health England (PHE) who will advise the school on a course of action based on latest public health advice.
3. The advice service will rapidly assess who has been in close contact (within two metres for over 15 minutes) with the confirmed case during their infectious period.
4. Children who have been in close contact with the positive case, will be required to self-isolate according to the government's guidance. School will text and send an email letter to parents of all affected children giving relevant dates of close contact and isolation period.
5. Parents of children who are not required to self-isolate will also receive a letter to let them know that there is a positive case in school and the class/year group affected. The case will not be named because health information is confidential.

If my child is sent home to self-isolate because they were in contact with someone with a positive test

1. Your child will be provided with remote learning. See the Remote education news item for full details.
2. Parents do not have to self-isolate unless the child who was sent home develops symptoms.
3. Any other children in the family who are in other classes or year groups at Saltford School will not have to self-isolate as they will not have had close contact with the positive case.
4. If a confirmed case has had contact with others outside their class, those individuals would be contacted and required to self-isolate.

If there is an outbreak of Covid-19 at Saltford School 

Saltford School has planned for a potential outbreak of Covid-19 at school and would work with PHE and the Wellsway Multi Academy Trust to implement that plan. Plans include communications and remote learning provision.

If my child usually has a free school meal

1. School plans to support children who would normally receive a benefit-related free school meal. Individual families will be contacted by the school where this is applicable.
2. Children in Reception, Year 1 and Year 2 who receive a 'universal free school meal' will unfortunately not be eligible for extra support.

If my child is self-isolating and it is difficult for me to get other children to school

1. Parents, carers and guardians are responsible for ensuring regular attendance and that includes making sure that their children can still get to school. This case is treated the same as a sibling being ill under normal circumstances.
2. Please check the government guidance relating to household bubbles.  This might enable a parent living on their own with children aged under 18 to ask an adult from their ‘bubble’ to take their children to and from school.
3. Families with children aged 13 and under are able to form a childcare bubble with another household which allows for an informal childcare arrangement that might be helpful.
4. If you are having difficulties, please contact the school to discuss your circumstances.
5. Work will be provided only for the child who is self-isolating. See the Remote education news item for full information. Siblings are still required to attend school as normal to access their education.

If there is a local lockdown

All parents will be contacted by school with details of how local lockdown measures will affect our school. These measures will be taken following guidance from PHE or the Dept. of Health and Socal Care.

Thank you

We would like thank families for their understanding and continuing support as we all work through these changes. Throughout the planning process the safety of children and adults has been our overriding concern. For further information please see the operating procedures document here.

All our planning has been done in conjunction with the other primary schools in our trust and we have followed the Wellsway Multi Academy's Trust’s risk assessment process in doing so. Our risk assessment has been reviewed and approved by the trust board and is available on the WMAT website.

We know that a positive relationship between our families and the school is the very best foundation for your child's school experience. We encourage the children to work and learn together and, in the same spirit, we actively seek to engage with parents in order to continue improving our school.

Parent governors

We have recently had three vacancies for parent governors and we are grateful to the five parents who would like to stand for election. All candidates have prepared a statement that has been sent to all parents and every parent has the right to vote in the ballot.

Our document on the role of a parent governor helps to define the special role of parent governors.

Parent governors are required to bring a parental perspective to the issues raised in meetings. In all other respects they participate as other governors in the running of the school. See our Governors section for full information.

Parent voice group

This new initiative for 2021 seeks to reintroduce a scheduled opportunity for parents to join discussions with governors and the Headteacher about a variety of ideas. This is to replace the Parents' Forum which has seen dwindling participation recently.

In the Parent Voice Group (PVG) the focus will be around social and academic issues specific to our school.  Termly meetings will include issues/questions brought by parent epresentatives.  It is also an opportunity for us to seek parental response to any new developments.  We might also, for example, express our appreciation of parental help and involvement, and parents might tell us what things they like, what is going well and areas to develop. We envisage that meetings would last about an hour and a set of agreed minutes would be circulated to all parents.

We are currently seeking two parent representatives per class to join the new PVG.  Initially these representatives would serve for the rest of the academic year.  If you have children in different year groups, please state which class you would like to represent or whether you do not mind representing either. If you are interested, please fill in this online form by Friday 11th December.

Children in our Reception classes were invited by Bath & Wells Church Diocese to take part in a special nativity event organised by South West Carols.

Our Reception children were ready, willing and able to act out part of the nativity story to a narration. This was produced and filmed in the school hall by Mrs Browne and the Reception teachers and staff, following all covid-related safety procedures.

This first ever such event is a celebration of all the good things that take place at this wonderful time of year and the reasons why we celebrate. It includes a great selection high quality musical performances from diverse artists and participation from schools all over the South West. It also promises interviews, stories and fun moments to make you laugh out loud.

The nativity will be streamed between 7 and 8pm on Saturday December 5th and Sunday 6th. Settle in and watch it live using any of the links below:

The South West Carols website: www.southwestcarols.com/
Facebook: www.facebook.com/southwestcarols
YouTube: www.youtube.com/channel/UCmg0ZDvWPbYbRkp8YH6SvNQ

You can also sign up for an email reminder at www.southwestcarols.com.

The children are looking forward to getting out in the school garden for a special Advent nature trail which will be led by Reverend Daile.

Years 3 and 4 welcomed SG Forest school to Saltford at the end of November to give the children a hands-on experience of life in the Stone Age.

The children had the opportunity to strike flint, build dens, grind wheat and make pots as they discussed the key question, "Were the people living in the Stone Age super-heroes?"  After the experience, they decided that yes, to be able to survive without any of today's luxuries, they were!

A huge thank you to Tim and Jane from SG Forest School for bringing the Stone Age to life for us.