Keep up to date with all the latest news happening in school at the moment.

• Arrangements for week beginning 1st June

  Thu 28 May 2020 Mrs Allchurch

  Dear Parents,                                                                                                                                      28.05.2020

  Arrangements for the week beginning Monday June 1st

  Providing the Government confirm it is safe to do so, St Andrew’s CE (VA) Primary is planning to reopen the week beginning Monday 1^st June for pupils in Foundation, Year 1 and Year 6 who have not attended school since Friday 20^th March. School staff have been working hard to respond to this Government’s aspiration and put in place an offer that keeps everyone as safe as possible. 

  Our offer is as follows:

  • Children in Y6 may attend school from 08.45 until 15.15 on Monday and Tuesday. Y6 pupils are to access the school building via the Gooseberry Lane gates.  A member of staff will be on the playground side of the gates to welcome your child into school. Parents are asked to observe social distancing and not enter the playground. The Y6 will be organised into two groups of 13 and will be working in either the Y6 or Y5 classroom. The groups will have separate breaks and lunchtimes and will not mix.

   

  • Children in YR may also attend school from 08.45 until 15.15 on Monday and Tuesday. Foundation (YR) children are to access the school building via the Citadel Road gates. A member of staff will be on the playground side of the gates to welcome your child into school. Parents are asked to observe social distancing and not enter the playground. The YR will be organised into groups of 8 and will be working in either the YR, Y1 or Y2 classroom. The groups will have separate breaks and lunchtimes and will not mix.

   

  • Children in Y1 may attend school from 08.45 until 15.15 on Thursday and Friday. Y1 children are to access the school building via the Citadel Road gates. A member of staff will be on the playground side of the gates to welcome your child into school. Parents are asked to observe social distancing and not enter the playground. The Y1 will be organised into groups of up to 15 and will be working in either the YR, Y1 or Y2 classroom. The groups will have separate breaks and lunchtimes and will not mix.

   

  • If your child has accessed or is currently accessing Educare (school for children of Key Workers), they will remain in this group and continue to enter school via the main entrance. In line with DFE guidance, they will not be able to join any children who are accessing school for the first time since March. Children in Educare will be able to follow the same learning as their peers. Unlike the offer to Y6, Y1 and YR, Educare will continue to be available on a daily basis as you require and is guaranteed. Please use the SchoolMoney system to book in.

   

  All children will need to wear school uniform and bring a packed lunch or order a packed lunch from school. If you collect a weekly school food parcel, please make a packed lunch from these provisions to send in with your child. Please send your child in with a water bottle and a snack.

  It is important to point out that the decision to send your child back to St Andrew’s is entirely yours to make. Attendance is not compulsory and penalty notices and fines for non-attendance will not be issued. We all look forward to a time when we can get back to normal and be together again.

  Take care from Mrs Allchurch.

• Reopening St Andrew's for YR, Y1 and Y6

  Thu 28 May 2020 Mrs Allchurch

  St Andrew’s CE (VA) Primary School

  School Reopening Arrangements Information for Parents

  Classrooms	School Organisation	Daily arrangements
  Hand sanitiser, soap and water will be provided in every classroom. Pupils will wash hands on entry and exit from the classroom. Before break and lunch.    Additional disinfectant/cloths will be available in classrooms for staff to sanitise spaces throughout the school day as required.   Pupils will have their own stationery, supplies and will be encouraged not to share this.   Pupils will sit at own desks and not next to others.   Pupils in Foundation will work in small groups of 4 / 5 with access to supervised activities and resources. They will not experience a free-flow environment as before.	Parents and carers will not be allowed on site. There should be one person designated for pick up and drop off. Please be respectful of this as it is the ‘most likely’ chance of Covid-19 entering the school grounds.   There will be a staggered start and end to the day to manage numbers coming into school.   If you wish to make contact with a member of staff, please email or phone the school office. If this cannot be done, please come to the school office – only 1 person in the school entrance at a time.    There will be no Breakfast or After school club.   Pupils entitled to school lunches will be provided with a packed lunch from our school kitchen.   Staggered timetables throughout the school day will be put in place to ensure that social distancing measures can be maintained.    Pupils will need a named drink bottle at school.	Children will be taught in class sizes of up to 15, where we can maintain social distancing. They will stay within this group throughout the day. They will not mix with any other groups at lunch or playtime. They will be kept separate.   Where possible staff will teach their own classes. However, this may not always be possible due to staff absence and availability.     Classes will be split into two groups. Group A and Group B will be taught in different classrooms and will remain separate. Wednesday will allow the classrooms to be deep cleaned.   Pupils and staff will not attend if they are unwell. Pupils and Staff who become unwell during the school day will be firstly isolated then sent home. Parents will need to be contactable and quickly available to collect their child if they do feel ill.
  In the playground	Movement and transitions	Cleaning and Hygiene
  PE and playtime activities will be limited, and hygiene practice should be observed before and after play. There will be regular cleaning of any shared equipment. Children must wash hands before and after all breaks.   Children will not mix or play with other groups.   The types of play allowed will be different because of social distancing.	All non-essential curriculum activity both in and outside of school will be limited. No whole school assemblies No class/school trips will occur out of the school grounds All movement around the school will be carefully timetabled	Toilets will be cleaned regularly.   Classroom surfaces and play equipment will be cleaned throughout the day. We will continue to encourage good hygiene practices (coughing into your elbow, handwashing and drying) Staff to wear PPE (aprons, gloves, masks) when providing intimate care (e.g. when a child wets or soils) and when providing first aid

• Reopening St Andrew's for YR, Y1 and Y6

  Wed 27 May 2020 Mrs Allchurch

  Dear Parents,                                                                                                                                     22.05.2020

   

  Re: Reopening St Andrew’s CE (VA) Primary School

  Providing the Government confirm it is safe to do so, St Andrew’s CE (VA) Primary is planning to reopen the week beginning Monday 1^st June for pupils in Foundation, Year 1 and Year 6. However, in order for us to do this safely we will be doing this gradually starting with a part time offer for these year groups.

  The government guidance requires us to ensure that classes are taught in smaller groupings. We have spent a long-time modelling this and feel that we are only able to take groups of 15 pupils maximum at any given time into any classroom. This will therefore mean that we will only be able to offer part time places to children at this current time.

  Sessions in school will be split into either Monday and Tuesday or Thursday and Friday. There will be no class sessions in school on Wednesday which will allow for deep cleaning of classrooms between different groups.

  Our offer is as follows:

  • Children in Y6 and Foundation (YR) may attend school from 08.45 until 15.15 on Monday and Tuesday. Y6 pupils are to access the school building via the Gooseberry Lane gates. Foundation (YR) children are to access the school building via the Citadel Road gates. A member of staff will be on the playground side of the gates to welcome your child into school. Parents are asked to observe social distancing and not enter the playground.
  • Children in Y1 may attend school from 08.45 until 15.15 on Thursday and Friday. Y1 children are to access the school building via the Citadel Road gates. A member of staff will be on the playground side of the gates to welcome your child into school. Again, parents are asked to observe social distancing and not enter the playground.

   

  There is an attached overview, which explains the measures that we will be taking to ensure that school is as safe as possible both for the staff and children. This will include drop offs and pickups at different gates for different year groups, separate playtimes and lunchtimes. Separate seating, separate stationary packs, no group playing or activities. Please read the leaflet carefully so that you are clear about how school will run for your child. Given the current guidance, things will not be the same as before we closed.

  If your child is currently accessing Educare (school for children of Key Workers), this service will continue to be available on a daily basis as you require. Please use the SchoolMoney system to book in.

  It is important to point out that the decision to send your child back to St Andrew’s is entirely yours to make. Attendance is not compulsory and penalty notices and fines for non-attendance will not be issued.

   

  Best wishes

  Mrs Allchurch.

• A message from Judith Harwood, PCC

  Fri 15 May 2020

  Dear Parents/Carers,

   

  We know that you will have seen or heard the announcement about some children returning to school from the 1^st June, if it is safe to do so. Schools are working closely with the Local Authority and other partners to support families during the COVID19 pandemic and I wanted to send you a message about the arrangements that will be made regarding schools opening. Of course your child may have been attending school for some of the time since the end of March and they will still be able to attend if they meet the criteria to do so. Primary schools and nurseries are now planning to open to more year groups (R, Year 1, Year 6) if it is possible to do this after half term. Attendance is encouraged but is voluntary in the sense that no action will be taken (such as a penalty notice) if you choose not to send your child.

   

  There are some important things however I would like you to know. Your child’s school will need you to follow the guidance set out by the government and not mix with people from outside your household. For example, to be as safe as possible your school will ask you not to come into the school and to carry on being two metres apart at the school gate. You must not send your child to school if they have any symptoms of COVID19 or other new illness. I must let you know that schools may not be in a position to open on the 1^st June or they may open and then have to close again. I’d like you to be prepared for that as everything will depend on whether it is safe to be open.

   

  I expect that between now and the beginning of June the numbers of children attending school in the city will rise. As classes need to be smaller so that social distancing can be in place you may find that your child’s school cannot take all children on a full time basis. Some children will be in school part time. Be ready for the beginning or end of the school day being at a different time to the one you’re used to.

   

  Your child’s school will let you know the arrangements when they are planned and invite you to say whether you will be taking up a place. Thank you for supporting your school and stay safe. If you have questions that you want to ask the Local Authority, please use this email address: childrensservicesresponse@plymouth.gov.uk

   

   

  Best wishes

  Judith Harwood

  Director for Education, Participation and Skills.

  Plymouth City Council.

   

• A message from St. Andrew's

  Thu 14 May 2020
  Click on the words: A message from St. Andrew's

• Government Announcement

  Mon 11 May 2020 Mrs Allchurch
   Dear Parents,

  As you will be aware, the Prime Minister made some announcements last night, including an aspiration that children in years R, 1 and 6 return to school from the 1st of June.

  Like you, we have only just seen the announcement and at this stage we cannot answer all of your questions. We are still waiting to receive more information from the government about what this means for our school.

  We would like to remind you all that in the short term nothing has changed. School will remain closed and we will continue to provide a service for key workers.

  We will provide further information in the coming days and weeks, once we are able to do so.

  If you have any questions please direct them to me via admin@st-andrews.plymouth.sch.uk

  Take care,

  Mrs Allchurch

• VE Day Celebrations

  Fri 08 May 2020 Mrs Allchurch

  Happy VE Day to all our St Andrew's family,

  We hope you are able to celebrate the 75th Anniversary of VE Day at home with your family today. Maybe you have baked some cakes and are enjoying an afternoon tea party or perhaps you have made your own bunting and flags to decorate your garden or house. Whatever you have decided to do today, we hope that you are having fun and enjoying yourselves.

  Take care and stay safe,

  Mrs Allchurch.