Week Beginning 9th November 2020
Week beginning 9th November 2020
Congratulations: we would like to begin this week’s bulletin by sharing some happy news and sending our enormous congratulations to Miss Carrier (our teacher in class 3), who got married during the recent half term break. She will now be known as Mrs Gourlay and we are sure you will join us in wishing her, her husband and their son Ryan, many wonderful years together as a family. Congratulations!
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National Covid Alert: as you will be aware, COVID-19 case numbers are rising rapidly across the whole of the UK and in other countries. As a result, the government has acted to control the spread of the virus with new national restrictions. From Thursday 5th November until Wednesday 2nd December, England is under a 28 day period of National Covid Alert which is similar to the circumstances earlier in the year, where advice is to stay home. The key difference is that schools will remain fully open during this time and pupils are expected to attend and to be part of our full curriculum offer. Attached to this bulletin is the most recent poster for parents and carers from the Local Authority, which includes a flow chart- if your child or household have any COVID symptoms.
The changes from the Government are:
Meeting Friends and Family:
*You should stay at home except for specific reasons including education, work (if it can't be done from home), exercise, medical needs, food and other essential shopping and to provide care.
*You should not mix socially indoors, or in a private garden, with anyone who is not part of your household or support bubble (a support bubble is when a person living alone or with children under 18 joins another household).
*You can meet one other person at a time from another household, in an outdoors public place (such as a park, a street, countryside, an allotment or a children's playground).
*Children under five, and disabled people who need round-the-clock care, are not counted towards the limit on two people meeting outside.
*Children (up until the age of 18) can continue to move between homes if their parents are separated.
Going to Work:
*You should work at home if possible.
*If you have to return to your workplace, your employer must make arrangements for you to work safely.
Schools and Nurseries:
*Primary and secondary schools are open, as are nurseries and childcare.
*If a school has coronavirus cases, local health protection teams will advise what to do.
Leisure Time:
*Pubs, restaurants, bars and cafes are closed during the lockdown, except for takeaways.
*There is no limit on the time allowed for exercise outdoors or, for example, for sitting on a park bench or eating and drinking outside (see rules for meeting family and friends).
*Leisure facilities such as gyms, tennis and basketball courts, golf courses, fitness and dance studios, climbing walls, archery, and driving and shooting ranges are all closed.
*Entertainment venues including theatres, concert halls, cinemas, museums and galleries, are all closed.
*Hotels, hostels, guest houses and campsites are closed except in certain circumstances (such as where they are someone's main residence, or where it is essential to stay there for work purposes).
Shopping:
*All non-essential shops are closed, including clothing and homeware stores, vehicle showrooms (other than for rental), betting shops and market stalls selling non-essential goods.
*Click-and-collect services are allowed.
*Food shops, supermarkets, cycle shops, off-licences, pharmacies, hardware stores, banks, post offices, garden centres and pet shops can remain open.
Other:
*You are not allowed to stay overnight away from your home, whether on holiday, in a second home or caravan, or with anyone you do not live with, or are in a support bubble with.
*You can still move home, but people outside your household or support bubble should not help with moving house unless absolutely necessary.
*You can leave home to visit someone who is giving birth or in final stages of life, to avoid or escape risk of injury or harm (such as domestic abuse), to visit someone in a hospice or hospital, to go with them to a medical appointment, or to go to the vets (or other animal welfare services).
*It is possible to visit friends and family in care homes as long as Covid-secure measures are in place.
*Weddings and civil partnership ceremonies cannot take place except where one of those getting married is seriously ill and not expected to recover. These weddings are limited to six people.
*Funerals can be attended by a maximum of 30 people.
*Apart from funerals, places of worship will only be open to allow individual prayer or services to be broadcast to the congregation.
Please remember: wash hands, cover face, make space.
The latest guidance is available on the government website – gov.uk/coronavirus and we update our school website regularly. You can find information under the News and Dates tab/News.
If you have any concerns about this period of time, please speak to the school or contact us via admin@hayesprimary.croydon.sch.uk and we will be happy to help. Above all, please do stay safe.
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Parents Evening: will be taking place next week on Tuesday 10th and Thursday 12th- remotely. If you have not already done so, please do make an appointment to speak to your child's class teacher, via: https://www.parents-booking.co.uk/hayesprimary
Remembrance Day: on Wednesday 11th, we will have an opportunity to reflect and remember all those who fought for our country, this via a virtual assembly. We will hold a two minute silence at 11am to remember and honour those who suffered.
Cross Country: on Friday 13th, weather permitting, the EYFS/KS1 cross country will take place and children will need to wear their PE kits for this event. Additionally, where possible, to include something in their house colours (T-shirt, socks, hairband) as it is an inter-house competition. In the event of inclement weather, the children will complete fitness challenges in the hall instead.
Anti-Bullying Week: is from Monday 16th – Friday 20th November and the theme this year is ‘United Against Bullying’. On Friday 20th, it will be Odd Socks Day, designed to be fun and an opportunity to encourage us all to express ourselves and celebrate our individuality and what makes us all unique.
Swimming: despite the government closing public pools, they have said that school swimming lessons, as part of the National Curriculum can take place in a school-owned pool. We are really pleased about this because it means we can continue to teach our children swimming skills which in turn helps their physical and mental health, something that is much needed at present. More information can be read about this on Swim England’s website: https://www.swimming.org/swimengland/swift-reopening-pools/
Please read the below regarding the safety of our pool at all times:
*We can confirm that our swimming pool environment is COVID safe.
*Our chlorinated pool water deactivates/kills COVID.
*Swim England guidance is based on PHE (Public Health Executive) and The Pool Water Advisory Group's (PWTAG) recommendations that states COVID-19 is an enveloped virus that is sensitive to chlorine. With this in mind, it is understood that chlorine is a chemical that when maintained at the correct levels kills COVID-19. The operational guidance from Swim England states: "Pool Operators can state with confidence that Covid-19 should not be transmissible through the swimming pool water if the pool is operated in line with this guidance and that of PWTAG. Covid-19 recommended pool chemical levels free chlorine – min 1.5mg/l pH – 7.0 "
*Our pool is maintained within the recognised parameters that deactivates COVID-19 (see above).
*The pool is regularly tested throughout the day and ahead of pool use to ensure that the chlorine levels effectively kills COVID.
*The Pool Water Advisory Group (PWTAG) provides guidance on the ventilation systems within the swimming pool. The Health and Safety Executive's guidance on swimming pools in the HSG179 document advises that good ventilation within a swimming pool hall must be maintained, which mirrors the advice that the Pool Water Advisory Group (PWTAG) provides on the ventilation systems within the swimming pool and COVID -19. It is important that good ventilation is maintained through air conditioning or ventilation systems and wherever possible through the free flow of fresh air.
*The Hayes pool, has a ventilation system on poolside which is in use during all lessons and there are procedures in place to also ensure the flow of fresh air into the swimming pool hall and changing areas.
*Government guidance on social distancing in the swimming pool advise that 3sqm and bather loads can be calculated on this basis. Based on this information the maximum bather load for The Hayes Primary Swimming Pool is 28 individuals. We have 15 children (from the same bubble) in the pool at any one time, significantly lower than what we are actually allowed.
*Overall, the transmission of COVID is extremely low, with information from Swim England detailed in the link below: https://www.swimming.org/swimengland/new-research-coronavirus-prevalence/
I hope that this alleviates any fears regarding our children swimming at The Hayes. We are not opening our pool to the public, our pool at present is for The Hayes children. We are teaching our children as part of the National Curriculum (NC) as the government have advised us to do. Therefore as with all other NC subjects, this is a compulsory lesson with no opt out, we have a duty to provide swimming lessons for all our pupils, unless we are advised otherwise by the government. We are in the fortunate position of being able to continue with this element of the curriculum because we have our own pool and do not rely on external sources – thankfully!
Virtual Tour: for the first time ever, we cannot show prospective parents and carers around our school – this for admissions for Early Years, in September 2021. Because those interested cannot come to us, we will go to them! Please check out our website (Homepage) and click on the Virtual Tour tab which is to the left of the screen, we hope this gives a flavour of our school: https://www.thehayesprimaryschool.co.uk/ Enjoy!
Action for Happiness: this month's theme is: New Ways November. Despite lockdown, we can always find new ways to keep making progress. Trying out new things can boost our well-being. When we open up to new ideas, it helps us stay curious and engaged, it can bring a sense of accomplishment and help to boost our self-confidence and resilience. There are so many ways to learn new things and this month we're encouraging everyone to find new ways to overcome any frustrating situations. Please find attached to this bulletin, November’s calendar, which we hope will help: ‘You never know what you can do until you try’ C.S Lewis.
PTA: please find below fliers from our PTA with fund raising initiatives for our school.
Achievement Assembly: many congratulations to the children below who received achievement awards during this week’s virtual achievement assembly on Friday:
Safari: Max for always completing every challenge in class and putting 100% effort into his work.
Rainforest: Michael for always wanting to challenge himself and using his sounds to blend tricky words and for always having a massive smile in the morning!
Class 1: Andrew, for always trying his best in class.
Class 2: Katie for being a great role model in class and for fantastic writing this week.
Class 3: Summer for confidently solving challenging place value problems.
Class 4: Ruby for being kind and helpful.
Class 5: Ella or being so brave with a sprained thumb and managing to complete all her work with her less dominant hand.
Class 6: Alfie for always having a positive attitude towards his work as well as using his initiative well when taking on his new monitor role in class.
Class 7: Alex for demonstrating positivity and resilience when faced with challenging tasks and for being a wonderful help around the classroom.
Class 8: Feyza for being enthusiastic in her learning and always presenting her work beautifully.
Class 9: Liliya for making excellent contributions in maths lessons this week.
Class 10: Joshua for having the confidence to read out loud during his guided reading session - Well done!
Class 11: Max for making positive decisions and taking responsibility for his learning.
Class 12: Willow for always working to be the best she can be in all areas.
Thank just leaves us to say, stay safe and thank you for your ongoing support.
Have a lovely weekend.
The Hayes Team.
