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COVID-19

At South Lee, our priority during such a difficult and unusual time is the wellbeing, health and safety of our students, staff and parents. As a school, we have been following government guidance throughout the coronavirus pandemic and will continue to do so.

ATTENDANCE

The Government are keen for all children to return to school as fully as possible and as such, attendance is now mandatory. We want to reassure you that the arrangements we have put in place have been thoroughly assessed to consider how we can minimise any risks from COVID-19 by maximising the control measures we are taking.

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At the core of everything we are doing in this regard is putting into place layers of protection that ensure that while mixing of groups is kept to a minimum, it will be possible for us to run after school clubs etc. and to operate a normal school day. Our one-way systems, hygiene precautions and management of movement of the children around the site will all continue as part of these measures.

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From September 2021, we will return to full school uniform. The guidance from the government states that it is no longer advised that children’s clothes are washed at the end of every school day.

DROP OFF

Drop off and pick up will happen via the green gate onto the lower playground.

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Parents are asked to remain in their cars (wherever possible) and children will have their temperatures taken before being directed to enter the school site.

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The only exceptions to this will be for those arriving on foot, or from the Victory Ground car park, when parents will need to escort the children to have their temperatures taken. For children in Nursery, or who may be anxious about separation initially, please do accompany your child to the green gate. If you have any concerns, please speak to your child’s form tutor so that we can make arrangements for them to be met at the gate.

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Breakfast club will operate from 7.30am and this must be booked prior to attendance through the Engage portal. Breakfast club staff will check temperatures on arrival at the green gate, so for this drop off, please accompany your child to the gate.

THE SCHOOL DAY

Throughout the school day, the Government guidance is that we operate as normal a timetable as possible. We will therefore be operating our full timetable with children moving between classrooms and having specialist teachers as indicated by their timetable (available via the Engage portal).

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We have a number of measures in place to minimise the risk this movement may introduce, including cleaning down teaching spaces and any shared equipment, as well as handwashing or sanitising between lessons. In class, children will be facing forward wherever possible and for the older children, social distancing will be maintained and encouraged as much as possible. The Government acknowledge that social distancing is more challenging with our younger children and will not be required in our lower year groups.

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We will be offering a full programme of before school, lunchtime and after school clubs. Please contact the office if you are unable to access the Engage Portal.

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While we are in a position to offer these clubs, the children attending these sessions must be kept as consistent as possible.  We therefore ask that you go through the bookings with your child and that once they are registered, they consistently attend clubs. The same applies for after school care.

FACE COVERINGS

After following the Government guidelines carefully, children in Year 7 & 8 and staff are to wear a face covering whilst moving about the school. We will monitor this closely.


We understand parents may want their child to wear a mask, so do please contact Mrs Macfarlane if you have a worry, or you feel there is a reason for your child to wear a mask.

SMALL GROUP TUITION & 1:1 SESSIONS

ID sessions, small group work, sessions with visiting therapists and peripatetic teachers are all now able to resume with appropriate measure in place.

CONTINGENCY PLANNING

As part of our preparations, we have a plan in place in case another school closure is required. We all hope this won’t be the case, but if it is, we will continue to teach a full timetable online via Teams. While we hope this scenario is unlikely, the more plausible cause of pupil absence will be due to the requirement for self-isolation.

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Webcams have been set up in each classroom and the timetable set up on Teams so that in the event of individual pupil absence, children will still be able to join lessons, but remotely from home with any work uploaded onto Teams and submitted to teachers via Assignments. Obviously, physical attendance is preferable, but where this is not possible, and has been prearranged with the school, this should mean that those children will not have to miss out on too much curriculum content.

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