Friday 18^th September

Thank you once again to all parents for their support over the first 2 weeks back after our extended break.

As I said in my previous update, we are constantly reviewing our arrangements and as a result we will be slightly changing some of our gates to be both entry and exit. Having watched families this week, it will help ease congestion particularly around our gate from the car park to the playground.

We will be updating signs on different gates over the next few days.

Our attendance has dropped slightly this week to just under 90%. This is mainly due to many children getting cold and flu symptoms and having to stay off school for a couple of days.

As I said in my last update, it can be difficult to tell the difference between cold and flu symptoms and those of coronavirus. Below is a link to a short video which helps explain the differences.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-54145299

Sneezing and runny or blocked nose

For those who are sneezing or have a runny or blocked nose, if no other symptoms develop it is likely to be a cold.

Medical advice is that a runny nose, congestion or sneezing is “a sign that you absolutely do not have Covid”.

Advice is that children with simple cold symptoms such as a runny nose or sore throats without fever should not be tested for Covid-19.

Please do keep school informed as soon as possible if you think your child is showing signs of Covid-19 and will need a test.

We are looking at different ways of informing school to make things easier and quicker for you.

Please keep checking our website for updates

Monday 14^th September

Just an update as we start our second week back after the summer holidays to let you know how we think things are going.

From what we have seen in the first week, the children have settled well on their return and are enjoying being back at school with their friends again.

Our attendance has been around 90% for the first week. Whilst this is encouraging, we are looking for this to improve over the next 2 or 3 weeks, although we understand some families are having to quarantine on their return from holiday if the country they visited is not on the Government’s exemption list.

So far, the start and end of the day has been going well. Now everyone is aware which door each year group is using, things are becoming smoother each day. Can I remind everyone to ensure they are social distancing as much as possible while in the playgrounds and allowing everyone the space they need to feel safe and comfortable. I thank you all for doing this so far.

Can I remind you all that doors for KS1 and KS2 are open from 8.45 and children can come into class from this time. We will keep doors open for a little longer so everyone can enter through their designated door rather than having to go in through the office. This is to avoid any mixing of year groups as much as possible.

We have been constantly reviewing throughout the week and tweaking our arrangements as necessary to ensure everything is running as smoothly as possible.

We have ironed out some minor problems at lunchtimes and these are now running well.

Sickness

This is a difficult time of year with many people showing cold and flu symptoms, which are similar to those of Covid-19. You know your child best and how they are feeling, but a reminder of the symptoms of coronavirus, taken from the NHS website are below:

Coronavirus in children

Children can get coronavirus (COVID-19), but they seem to get it less often than adults and it's usually less serious.

Symptoms of coronavirus in children

The main symptoms of coronavirus are:

• a high temperature
• a new, continuous cough – this means coughing a lot, for more than an hour, or 3 or more coughing episodes in 24 hours
• a loss or change to sense of smell or taste – this means they cannot smell or taste anything, or things smell or taste different to normal

What to do if your child has symptoms

If your child has any of the main symptoms of coronavirus:

1. Get a test to check if they have coronavirus as soon as possible.
2. Stay at home and do not have visitors until you get the test result – only leave your home to have a test.

Anyone you live with, and anyone in your support bubble, must also stay at home until you get the result.

Please inform school if you are taking your child for a test, and let us know the results as soon as you have them.

We will be constantly reviewing our arrangements throughout the next few weeks, but can I thank you all for your support so far. Things would not be going as smoothly without your patience and understanding of the current situation. I look forward to working in partnership with you all during this unusual year.

MONDAY 7th SEPTEMBER

A few reminders for families when children return to school on Monday:

KS1 and KS2 doors will open at 8:45am

School starts at 8:55am

School finishes at 3:30pm

Please take note of the ENTRY and EXIT signs on each gate.

Please observe social distancing when you are in the school grounds.

Parents will not be allowed to enter the school building without an appointment.

Face masks will need to be worn if you have an appointment to come into the school building.

If you have any questions or concerns, staff will be outside in playgrounds to help you.

We look forward to welcoming everyone back to school on Monday.

SEPTEMBER 2020

I hope that all families have had an enjoyable summer as things have gradually begun to get back to 'normal'.

Can I once again thank parents for their support during the second half of the year while schools were not able to open fully due to Covid-19.

A reminder to all parents that school opens to all children on:

Monday 7th September

We look forward to seeing all families then.

Our start and finish times will be as normal, but each class/year group will have a designated door to enter and exit from.

Further details will be sent to parents during our INSET Days on 3rd and 4th September.

September 2020-21

COVID 19 - Following government guidance we will be doing everything possible to ensure a safe return to school in September. We will minimise contact, maintain a rigorous sanitising program, ensure respiratory hygiene is promoted and introduce enhanced cleaning. School attendance will be mandatory again from the beginning of the autumn term.

Please follow the signs when using the entrances and exits

Please refer to your child's class page to see where they will enter and exit the school building.

End of term – last day - Wednesday 15^th July

Please note that the last day for children at school this term will be Wednesday 15th July.

Children will leave school at 3.30pm as normal.

Please read the letter below for full details.

FSM VOUCHERS UPDATE

For those families eligible, FSM vouchers have been organised for the last 3 weeks until the end of term.

You should be receiving emails from Edenred over the next couple of days for you to redeem vouchers. 

For those parents who have requested that school print the vouchers, school will be in touch this week for you to collect once the vouchers have been printed. 

Please note: If your child is now back in school, you will not be receiving these vouchers as your child receives a free meal in school every day.

Summer Food Fund

All families who are entitled to Free School Meals will receive vouchers for the summer, regardless of whether your child has been in school or not.

You should be receiving these before the summer holidays.

We will update and let families know once these have been arranged. 

ENTRY AND EXIT from 22nd JUNE

From 22nd June, as we have more children returning to school, all gates will be labelled as either ENTRY or EXIT. 

This is to help social distancing across the school and make it smoother for parents to get in and out of the school grounds.

Please only use the gates as they are marked.

I apologise for any inconvenience but I am sure you will all understand our rasons for doing this.

There will be staff on each gate to help as necessary.

Thank you for your co-operation.

SCHOOL CLOSING TIMES FROM 1ST JUNE

Please note, for those children coming in from 1st June, school will close at 3.30pm Monday - Thursday and 12.30pm every Friday.

Monday 18th May 2020

Update re School opening from 1st June

Dear Parents,

Following the announcement from the government, we have been working on plans to ensure the safe opening of the school to more children, initially those in Year 1.

Our key priority is to try and ensure the safety of both children and staff who come in.

Year 1 parents have been phoned today to see if they are going to send their child in after half term.

Please read the above letter which explains what we will be doing and has the answer to some common questions from parents. 

11th May 2020

UPDATE FOLLOWING ANNOUNCEMENT BY THE PRIME MINISTER

Dear parents and carers,

You will have heard yesterday that the Prime Minister said that the government believes schools may be in a position to begin a phased re-opening of schools from 1 June, starting with pupils in reception, year one and year six.  However, the first priority has to be the safety of everyone in the school community.

At this moment we have no more information and we will be waiting to receive more from the government about what this means for our school. Until then, nothing has changed and school remains closed, as it has done, apart from the children of key workers who have absolutely no alternative. If a child can be at home, they should be at home as this will help to stop the spread of Coronavirus. 

We will provide further information in the coming days and weeks once we are able to do so. In the meantime, please continue to enjoy the home learning. Thank you to all those parents who sent videos through, it was lovely to see all the different learning that is happening at home.

Please be assured that we will continue to do all we can to safeguard our whole school community and continue to take care and stay safe,

Take care, stay safe, 

Stewart Humphreys

Headteacher

CHILDREN FIRST VIDEO

Dear school community, 

As part of Children First Trust we want to celebrate the way in which all our schools carried on during this time of closure. We would like as many families from Brettenham as possible to send us in short video clips (15-30 seconds) of what they are doing at home - some suggestions might be:

Having breakfast together

Doing exercise

Online lessons

Home schooling with parents

Doing craft activities 

Reading to a parent

Watching a teacher's video at home

You can also talk to the camera and send messages such as; thankyou message to teachers or telling us how they're missing their friends.  

Videos from all 5 schools will be put together to make a video for the whole Trust

We would need to receive these by Saturday evening which is very soon so please email the video back as an attachment to office@brettenham.enfield.sch.uk as soon as you can.

If you are entitled to FSM for your children, most of you will be receiving vouchers via email.

The second set of emails/vouchers has now been sent (please see below).

Please look out for these in your emails.

Please note, the email will not come from Brettenham, it will be sent by Edenred.

This time, the value of the vouchers are for 4 weeks and you will receive further vouchers in another 4 weeks if school is still closed.

The emails were due to be sent on Monday 4th May, but due to overwhelming demand these emails were sent out late on Wednesday night 6th May, around 9.45pm. Please be sure to check your junk/spam email if you have not received the email.

Please also be aware that once you click to redeem your vouchers you may have to wait at least another 24 hours for this to be processed.

School will be checking the Edenred site to see when emails are sent out.

If you have any issues, please phone or email the school at office@brettenham.enfield.sch.uk and we will do what we can to help. 

Alternatively, For parents/carers, you can email : freeschoolmealsparentscarers@edenred.com

School Dinner Money

Dear Parents and Carers, please note that school dinner money costs £2.30 per day. A total of £11:50 per week. 

Please could all parents and carers make sure that their child has the correct amount of dinner money in their account, and that all debts are paid.

Many thanks!

For latest information on School Meals, please click on the document below.