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Reopening school to all students on Monday 8th March

Mon 01 Mar 2021 Louise Rosen

Dear Families,

I am sure that you are as excited about our world getting back to near normal as we are.

In order to maintain a safe site, students will be using external doors to access the school building and remain in class bubbles wherever possible (unless it is detrimental to the learning or wellbeing of the child and additional mitigations can be put in place). The school day will be staggered but we will continue to ensure a full day for all children. Drake Primary School will cease daily lessons online from Monday 8^th March and all pupils will now attend school on site.

Please note that we do provide a free school meal for all children in years Reception, One and Two. Simply choose your meal on our Pupil Asset Parent App. The school receives additional funding for our school when KS1 and Reception children order school meals.

As always, we know we have your full support in reducing the transmission of the coronavirus in our school community. We would ask you to continue to

· Avoid using the narrow path to the north of the school by using the nearest gate as you come to school and drop off all children at that gate

· Wear a face mask at all times near school

· Ensure children and adults have washed their hands before coming to school

· Avoid using the play park until the end of the school day

· Maintain social distancing of 2 meters at all times

· One adult only to bring children to school

· Where ever possible older pupils to walk to school unaccompanied

· All gates are open from before 8:40 to 8:50 please ensure you arrive on time

· Park at the leisure centre and walk down to the relevant gate

· Only bring named packed lunch and water bottles and wear PE Kit or Forest school clothes as needed

· Students should wear PE or Forest school kit to school when needed

· Contact school through the office email account office@drake.norfolk.sch.uk

To ensure we can start lessons promptly and reduce risk of transmission please avoid chatting with other parents as the site will need to be cleared promptly to allow other year groups through the gate.

We are looking forward to seeing all the children back at school on Monday 8^th March.

Kind regards,

Louise Rosen

Parent-Teacher meetings

Mon 01 Feb 2021

Please see below the link to book your parent-teacher meeting. These meetings will be held online using Zoom. The meeting link will be given out nearer the time.

schoolinterviews.co.uk/code?code=72y55

Families who have recently had (or are about to have) a meeting to discuss their child’s One Page Profile for SEND do not need to book an additional meeting.

If you have any queries about the meetings, please email the office office@drake.norfolk.sch.uk and we will pass the message to the class teacher.

Letter to families

Fri 29 Jan 2021

Dear families,

Looking forward to the end of this first half of the spring term 2021, we are planning to hold our parent meetings ‘virtually’ in the same way we did previously. On Monday 1^st February, we will be sending out the link for you to book. Families who have recently had (or are about to have) a meeting to discuss their child’s One Page Profile for SEND do not need to book an additional meeting.

The recent government announcements that schools will not reopen before 8^th March will certainly have caused much consternation in many households. Whilst we have emails from parents to say thank you for the online learning, and for the iPads and Chromebooks that have been provided to pupils who need them, we do understand just how hard it must be at home.

National figures collected show that schools in England have, on average, 15% of pupils currently attending school. At Drake we have over 30% attending. At Little Pirates Child Care it is up to 90%. We are now unable to take any more children. As the lockdown continues we know that many families will feel it is too hard to home-school and would prefer a school place. We are in regular communication with Norfolk County Council who have provided us with a telephone number to call (on our website).

This week all staff at Drake and Little Pirates have been given Lateral Flow Device (LFD) test kits. Currently there are no staff members who are unwell or displaying symptoms. LFD tests are for use twice per week if someone has no symptoms. It may be that through the testing process, cases of asymptomatic Covid-19 are identified. In this event, following a positive PCR test, the room or year group ‘bubble’ may have to close for 10 days. If this is the case, you will be notified via Parenthub, Tapestry and the School website and you should not bring your child to school. It is not possible to place children in another bubble.

I know this is hard, many of our staff have children at home they have to home school when they get home after work too. Thank you for your continued support.

Best wishes,

Louise Rosen

Foundation Stones project

Fri 29 Jan 2021

Dear families

We are pleased to say that we will be taking part in a national project called ‘Foundation Stones’. It is a commemoration of the Holocaust and will be a part of a new planned UK Holocaust memorial.

Every child is invited to paint a stone no bigger than their palm. The stones will honour those who were lost and bring a message of hope for the future.

Please be on the lookout for a suitable rock, whether you are an in-school or home-learning family. Key worker children in school can start to bring them in during the week of Feb 1^st.

We will paint them the week of February 8. More information will follow. You can get a taste for the project in this link.

https://www.big -ideas.org/current -projects/foundation -stones/

Drake Online Learning-Parent feedback

Thu 28 Jan 2021 Mr Hughes

Dear Families,
In an effort to keep improving our online learning, we have begun a padlet to gather parents' feedback. Please feel free to share your positive thoughts about what has gone well with online learning during lockdown and anything you feel we can do to improve. Please remember that we are all (as a school community) doing our very best in a difficult time so keep feedback and comments helpful and constructive. Add your child's year group to your comment or your name. Other issues should be dealt with by contacting the school office as usual.
Many thanks for your continued support.
padlet.com/assistanthead6/ekiab8vautg2j73b

We are currently at Capacity

Fri 08 Jan 2021

School places during lock down.

Drake Primary School is now at capacity.

Please read below information from Norfolk County Council.

https://www.norfolk.gov.uk/education-and-learning/schools/behaviour-and-attendance/attendance/school-attendance/coronavirus-school-attendance

The children of critical workers and vulnerable children are eligible for a school place but you must contact your school to arrange this. Do not send your child to school until you are invited to do so.

Schools across Norfolk are facing increased pressure for places during the current lockdown, with many families requesting critical worker places.

Norfolk County Council is working with education leaders and other local authorities in the region to develop prioritisation criteria – so that children and families with the greatest need are able to access learning in school.

It is likely that in some schools this will mean both parents are expected to be critical workers, with priority given to those whose parents work in emergency life-saving services.

Although the national criteria states that only one parent needs to be a critical worker to be eligible for a place, in many schools that would mean nearly every child could still attend and schools simply cannot manage that at this time.

We would ask parents, carers and businesses to do all they can to support schools and the lockdown – it’s vital that staff in the NHS can access places for their children in the current situation and so they will be given priority.

All children who are not eligible to be in school will receive remote learning. Your school will share arrangements with you.

If you need any further support ring NCC customer services on: 0344 8008 020

Important-All parents

Tue 05 Jan 2021 Louise Rosen

Dear Families,

As you will know the Prime Minister announced a national lockdown I have provided a link for further information below.

National lockdown: Stay at Home - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

We have shared a questionnaire with families to provide us with numbers of pupils who need key worker and vulnerable pupil places. All other pupils will undertake online learning until half term or when the government says it is safe to do so.

At Drake and Little Pirates, we have worked over the holidays to make changes to our risk assessments. These now reflect the need for increased protective measures in the face of a new and more contagious strain of the virus. Keeping pupils and staff safe remains our priority. These new arrangements will be reviewed weekly.

Our priority remains; to keep Drake and Little Pirates staff safe, in doing so we ensure we can continue to provide a full day at school for key workers and pupils identified as vulnerable, delivering the highest quality on line and face to face learning, curriculum opportunities and child care for our children and families.

There has been a great deal of thought and care put into planning for the new term and be prepared for further adaptations if we see infection rates in school rise.

To achieve this please ensure

all families follow Tier 5 guidance
times remain as published in the autumn term for those pupils who have been invited to school as key workers or are deemed vulnerable
only one adult to accompany child/ren to school for drop off and collection each day
use only one drop off point for all your children (please chose the gate with your youngest child)
park and walk to school wherever possible to reduce traffic around school (NB there is a planned closure of Croxton Road from Monday 4th Jan)
avoid using the path from Forest Gate to Fredrick’s gate to reduce congestion
communication with teachers will only be through the office via Email/Teams for meetings (telephone in emergencies) there will be no talking with staff at the gate
communication with the school office only via Email/Teams (telephone in emergencies)
administrative team will not be able to meet parents at the gate – If your child has a medical appointment or has missed the half hour window when the gates are supervised, your child should remain at home for the whole/rest of the day
ensure your child has all they need as we will NOT collect any items during the day
at the end of the day all labelled items will be returned in a plastic bag, any unnamed items will be set aside until it is safe to return them
pupils should bring (named) slippers to leave at school all week, there has been a great deal of wet weather and the school grounds are extremely muddy
children are wrapped up warmly and have additional underclothes such as vests. We will ensure classes are well ventilated the weather is very cold at the moment.
staff will be wearing face masks and clear face shields in classrooms as well as in communal spaces
all meetings in school will be virtual
wherever possible staff will work from home/flexibly
class teachers will have non-contact time at home
school site will close for deep clean at 4:40 each day
3 x cleaners will clean all touch points throughout the day
all curriculum PE/Forest school will continue for children on site
masks to be worn by all adults at drop-off or pick-up times at gates
all pupils refrain from using the play park prior to the start of school day
all swimming lessons will be cancelled until further notice

I thank you for your continued support at these difficult times. Please keep safe and I look forward to seeing you all again later in the term.

Best wishes

Louise Rosen

Headteacher

New gate times from Tuesday 5th January 2021

Fri 18 Dec 2020

Brilliant writers

Fri 27 Nov 2020

A little bit of good news for a change! We were really happy to hear about four of our ex-pupils in Year 7 at Thetford Academy who recently won prizes in a young writers competition! Well done to Rosie, Cassady, Alfie and Lily-Ann for their excellent efforts. We hope they continue with their development as writers as they grow up. Perhaps a clutch of journalists and authors will emerge from Thetford.

How the new restrictions from 5 November apply to school

Thu 05 Nov 2020

Education and childcare settings: New National Restrictions from 5 November 2020

How New National Restrictions to control the spread of coronavirus (COVID-19) impact education, childcare and children’s social care settings.

The government has updated their advice and you can read this here - https://www.gov.uk/guidance/education-and-childcare-settings-new-national-restrictions-from-5-november-2020

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