Welcome

Welcome to all our new starters who will have received their school place this morning (16th April 2021). Please contact school on 01226 754336 or through h.spurr@upperwoodacademy.com to confirm your place. Our main method of communication is through our school Facebook page 'Upperwood Academy Official Page' you may wish to join us sooner rather than later to get a feel of our everyday school life. See you all soon, Mr Budd (Principal)

Dear Parents and Carers,

School reopened from Monday 8th March. Please see our plan for reopeing below.

School opened to all pupils 8 March 2021

School attendance is mandatory from March 8 2021 and the usual rules on attendance apply including school responsibilities to follow up absence and fixed penalty notices.

This plan will be reviewed and any amendments made for after the Easter holiday.

KEY POINTS: No child should be in school if they, or anyone in their household displays symptoms of Covid 19. All children in all year groups to attend. Staggered start and end times to the day – check your child/ren’s class times. We will text all parents with your child/ren’s start and end times on Thursday 4th or Friday 5th March as a reminder, however, please see the times in this document below. Siblings to arrive at the earliest class time and be picked up at the latest class time, as previously. Children must arrive at school on time – see their class allotted time. No ties or book bags. Reading books will go home in smaller plastic wallets. No PE kits, school bags or stationary are required. Please just bring a carrier bag for trainers, children will do PE in their uniform for the next three weeks until Easter. Bring a water bottle and packed lunch if needed. School is offering a selection of hot and cold lunch options. Children will wash hands frequently. Children’s hands will be sanitised at the door on entry to school. Children will be in a bubble of up to 60 pupils. Parents who have no other alternative and require breakfast club or after school club, contact the school office to book your place – spaces are limited. Covid 19 is still prevalent in our community and as such you must be aware that bubbles within school may well close at short notice should a positive case of a member of staff or pupil occur.

 

Public health advice to minimise Covid 19 risk:

• Staff and visitors are asked to wear a face covering in all situations where social distancing is not possible, including all communal areas and classrooms. In classrooms, staff are asked to wear visors to assist communication with children who rely on lip reading or facial expression to communicate.
• Asymptomatic testing – staff test with Lateral Flow tests twice weekly to support the return to face to face education by helping to identify people infectious but do not have coronavirus symptoms. Pupils are not required to test. 
• Robust hand and respiratory hygiene. Handwashing/sanitising on entry to school facilitated by staff. Handwashing/sanitising at each break time.
• At lunchtime, every child will go to the toilets to wash their hands. This will need to be timetabled with the adjoining class and supervised.
• Tables and door handles will be wiped at each break and lunchtime with an antibacterial. There is no requirement for toilets to be cleaned in the school day.
• Enhanced cleaning arrangements. Cleaners will be in at the beginning of the day. All surfaces need to be clear. Additional cleaning of frequently touched surfaces including door frames and handles as well as desks will be wiped down at each break. At lunchtime, tables will be wiped after use.
• Children to be grouped in bubbles of up to two classes (60 pupils).
• Classrooms to be organised with forward facing desks.
• Staff to maintain distance from pupil and 2 metre distance from other staff as much as possible. Staff moving between classes e.g. PE need to keep a 2 metre distance as much as possible.
• PPE to be used in specific circumstances. i.e. first aid and intimate care.
• Any child with symptoms to be kept isolated in First Aid room until their parent collects them.
• Staffroom is not in use to staff. We will continue to use the hall to store lunches and prepare drinks.
• Staff and pupils to have their own set of frequently used equipment i.e. pencils and pens.
• Any resources shared between bubbles must be cleaned before being used. Every effort is made to not share resources with other bubbles.
• Pupils must limit the amount of equipment they bring to school. The only items pupils need to bring to schools are:
  • a packed lunch (if required)
  • a water bottle
  • a change of footwear for PE on the field. The trainers can be brought in a carrier bag and stored in the cloakroom.
  • Mobile phones for children who walk home alone are permitted but must be left with the class teacher to store.

Staffing

 

• After school clubs will resume 4 nights weekly, initially targeted at Upper Key Stage Two to support pupil wellbeing and mental health through exercise and interaction with peers. These will be delivered by our sports coach, Megan Higgins.
• Our Catch Up tutors will continue to offer tutor sessions in the afternoons. The pupils to be targeted are to be arranged.  Parents will be informed if their child is to benefit from additional tutoring.
• Alison Merrills will continue with her role in engaging pupils in home learning for any pupils absent due to Covid.  
• The office will be manned daily until 4:30pm. Admin staff are first aid trained.

Class groups:

• Classes to be in bubbles of up to 60.
• Class 1 (26 pupils) and Class 2 (30 pupils) will be a bubble.
• Class 3 (29 pupils) will be a bubble.
• Class 4 (30 pupils) and 5 (27 pupils) will be a bubble.
• Class 6 (27 pupils) and 7 (30 pupils) will be a bubble.
• Class 8 (30 pupils) and 9 (30 pupils) will be a bubble.
• Class 10 (26 pupils) and 11 (25 pupils) will be a bubble.
• Bubbles are not to mix with other bubbles.
• The paired bubble classes can mix at playtimes.
• Staff can go to another bubble if necessary, but should maintain a 2 metre distance from staff and a distance from pupils. Staff to wear face coverings where it is not possible to social distance including the use of a visor classrooms.

Entry and exit:

• A member of staff will be at the front and side gates alongside class teachers to welcome children to school. Please note if you have a message for the teacher, it is better to contact the school office than to try to pass this on at the gate. Please see the table for your child’s entry and exit time.
• Siblings should arrive at the earliest sibling’s allotted time. These children will be supervised by the TA whilst the teacher collects the rest of the class at the beginning of the day if they arrive earlier than their class time.
• For families with more than one child in school, bring both/all siblings to the front school gate at the earliest class’s arrival time. At the end of the day, collect all children on the one-way system through school at the latest child’s time. Your child will wait for you on the playground with staff.
• At the end of the day, children will be taken to the grid at their allotted time to be released at the end of the day by the class teachers. Children who are leaving at a later sibling’s time will remain in class with the teaching assistant until the time.
• Childminders should drop off all children at school at 8:40am and pick up all children at 3:20pm.
• Alistair Budd plus Liz Woodward/Megan Higgins will supervise the front gates.
• Alison Merrills will supervise the side gate with class teachers/TAs.
• Class teacher will supervise children on the entry to their classroom.
• Children attending breakfast club will be brought to class by admin staff at KS1. KS2 children will walk to classrooms at their class start time.
• Children attending after school club will be escorted to the hall by the class TA at the end of the day. Children will be supervised out to parents at the main school gate by admin staff.

 

School dinners:

• A school meal costs £2.00. Free School Meals are available to those eligible as well as all children in Key Stage One.
• The dinner hall will not be in use for pupils, however the kitchen is fully open and dinners will be set up in the dinner hall for Joanna Beaumont and TAs to collect for each class at the allocated time.
• Children on school meals will be offered a choice of the following to be varied on different days: a hot sandwich, a cold cheese or tuna sandwich, a hot meal including jacket potato, pasta and chicken nuggets.  
• Children to eat in classrooms at the allocated time, tables to be wiped after use.
• The school kitchen is open. Lunchtime staff are not required to move food to classrooms.

 

Curriculum expectations:

• We are expected to prioritise phonics and reading, increasing vocabulary, writing and mathematics.
• We are expected to offer a broad curriculum to that the majority of pupils are taught the full range of subjects over the school year.
• PE lessons will take place with a 2 metre distance between staff and pupils. Ur sports coach will deliver PE throughout the day. Each class will receive 2 sessions of PE per week, however this will be weather dependent. PE will take place outside. The use of any PE equipment will be minimised but will be cleaned before it is used by another group. All contact sports will be avoided.
• Specialist music lessons will resume with appropriate risk assessment.

Classroom expectations:

• Classrooms to be arranged with rows of forward facing desks. Pupils must be seated appropriately to their needs, so that they can see the board. Placement of pupils with SEND and particularly those with visual difficulties to be carefully considered by class teachers.
• Resources for each child (e.g. pencils and rulers) to be kept in own individual drawer/pot.
• Resources shared between bubbles needs to be limited as they must be cleaned when passed between groups.
• Small intervention groups may take place outside the immediate classroom areas, however children from different bubbles will not mix. Tables should be wiped down between different groups of children.
• Teachers are expected to mark pupils’ books and assess learning as they usually would, reflecting the marking and feedback policy. Teachers must consider infection control whilst handling books.
• Specialist teachers and external agencies are allowed in school by prearranged appointment but are expected to keep a 2 metre distance from adults and wear a face covering in classrooms.
• Homework will be on Seesaw and reading books will go home in a zip wallet.

PPA

• Megan Higgins, sports coach, to release class teachers by covering 1 or 2 sessions of PE per week. Class teachers will register their class prior to PE. If, due to inclement weather, a class PE slot cannot take place it may take place on an alternative day in the week.  
• In the first instance, Mrs Merrills will not be teaching PSHE lessons, this will be taught by class teachers.

Mental health and wellbeing

• Class teachers will be delivering our PSHE curriculum as a priority in the remaining Spring and Summer term.
• All staff will be supportive in addressing children’s thoughts and issues linked to the Coronavirus pandemic. Staff will be mindful of children’s moods, thoughts and feelings and recognising symptoms in pupils that could require additional support.
• We will use extracurricular activities, initially in Upper Key Stage Two to support the development and rebuilding of friendships and to engage children in social activities.
• We will continue to offer pastoral support to pupils requiring additional help to improve their mental wellbeing, and will continue to address the requirement for this as the term progresses.

Playtimes:

• At playtimes, children from the paired class bubble can mix.
• Children will be encouraged to respect each other’s personal space on the playground.
• Class Teachers and Teaching Assistants to carry out playground duty for their class.
• Dinners to take place in classrooms and tables to be wiped down after eating.
• Dinner staff/support staff to do lunch duties from 12:00pm – 1:30pm. All teachers will get a 1 hour lunchbreak but children will need to be taken to and brought in from the playground during this time. TAs will also get a 1 hour lunch break unless they have opted to work through half of their lunch hour.
• No afternoon break times will take place as before the school closures.

 

 

Dinner duties

	12:00 – 12:30pm	12:30 – 1:00pm	1:00 – 1:30pm
Class 1		Eat lunch (T Cutting)	Playground (K Kohut/A Buckley)
Class 2		Eat lunch (A Walker)
Class 3	Playground (L Hanson)	Eat lunch (C Frid)
Class 4	Eat lunch (K Kohut)	Playground (K Kohut/ A Buckley)
Class 5	Eat lunch (A Buckley)
Class 6	Eat lunch (E Gledhill)	Playground (E Gledhill/ G Bainbridge)
Class 7	Eat lunch (G Bainbridge)
Class 8		Eat lunch (S Connell)	Playground (E Gledhill/G Bainbridge/ M Lee/A Turnbull)
Class 9		Eat lunch (M Lee)
Class 10	Playground  (M Lee/ A Turnbull)	Eat lunch (L Woodward)
Class 11		Eat lunch (A Turnbull)

 

M Higgins will deliver a sporting activity for 30 mins on the KS2 playground daily.

Wrap around care:

• We will run a breakfast club and after school club to assist those parents who are working, attending education or accessing medical care. We must be clear that places in breakfast and after school club are limited to parents who have no alternative childcare. This is to ensure that children do not mix with children from other bubbles. Places will be allocated on a first come, first served basis, and places are limited.

Breakfast club:

• Breakfast club will commence at 8:00am and the last entry to breakfast club will be 8:10am. This is to avoid meeting other groups on their staggered entry to school.
• Parents are asked to drop children off outside the school office where they will be met by a member of staff.
• Children will sanitise hands on entry to school.
• The cost for breakfast club is £1.50 per day. All payments are made through Parent Pay.
• Children will sit in the hall in their class bubbles separated from other bubbles by at least 1 metre.
• We will provide toast and juice and all plates and cups will be disposable.
• You will need to book your place by emailing s.stone@upperwoodacademy.com with your regular weekly requirements. A place will be reserved for your child for these days every week and you will be charged for these days. If you require additional days, please allow 48 hours notice.
• This service will start on Monday 8^th March 2021.  
• Your child will be escorted to their class at the appropriate time by a member of staff.
• The television will be available but toys and books will not be out in a morning.
• Toast on paper plates and juice in plastic cups will be available. Children to put their hand up when they wish to collect food/drink and wait for an adult to instruct them to collect food/drink from the main table at the front of the hall.
• Class 3 toilets to be cleaned at the end of breakfast club.

After school club:

• After school club will be available from the end of the day for all year groups until 4:15pm for those parents without alternative childcare.
• The cost of after school club is £3.00 per day.
• Parents may collect their child at any time up until 4:15pm by buzzing at the school front gate. A member of office staff will escort their child to the school gate.
• Children will sit in the hall in their class bubbles separated from other bubbles by at least 1 metre.
• We will provide biscuits and juice; all plates and cups will be disposable.
• The TV will be on and each bubble will have a selection of drawing materials, books and games to play with other children in their bubble. These resources will only be used by children in one bubble.
• You will need to book your place by emailing s.stone@upperwoodacademy.com with your regular weekly requirements. A place will be reserved for your child for these days every week and you will be charged for these days. If you require additional days, please allow 48 hours notice.
• All payments are made through Parent Pay.
• This service will start on Monday 8^th March 2021. 
• Class 3 toilets to be cleaned at the end of the day.

 

Other:

• Assemblies will not take place to maintain the integrity of the bubbles.
• ITT students will be in school as normal. They will follow our policies and procedures as all other members of staff do. If you do have a student in your class, wherever possible keep a distance of 2 metres.
• Pupils will be expected to wear school uniform. School uniforms do not need to be cleaned any more than usual.
• Water bottles to be kept on/under own desk.
• Shared iPads to be cleaned at the end of the day and cleaned before being used by another bubble.
• Cloakrooms may be used to store coats and carrier bags with outdoor shoes.
• School ties and book bags are not required and will not be for sale in the school office.

 

Upperwood Academy is a caring, supportive and inclusive school which believes in developing four key aspects in every child: academic excellence, physical well being, social confidence and a desire to improve.

Our aim is to create a happy and secure atmosphere where your child will always be encouraged to do their personal best. We provide a broad, balanced and enriched education and place a great deal of emphasis on the traditional values of hard work and good behaviour.

'Pupils know how to keep themselves safe in school, online and in the local community. When they share their worries with staff, they are confident they will be followed up effectively.'

'In lessons, pupils concentrate and focus when they are being taught. They show real enthusiam and engagement with their learning. As a result, pupils do well at every stage of their schooling. They leave Upperwood Academy with high standards and go on to their secondary school as capable and confident pupils.'