Dear Parents / Carers,

I hope this finds you all safe and well. I want to extend my thanks again to you for your continued support and patience as we continue to navigate through these difficult and unusual times.

School return

Following the Education Minister’s announcement last week, please be assured that a significant amount of planning and preparation is being undertaken by the Senior Leadership Team and Governing Body, to give all pupils the opportunity to have some sessions in school to ‘check in, catch up and prepare’ before the school closes for the summer . This week we have received detailed Welsh Government official guidance and Local Authority guidance on how schools in Cardiff should approach this. Children and staff’s health, safety and well-being remains at the heart of the school restart program.

School has to undertake detailed and robust risk assessment in readiness for schools to return as education facilities. The initial phase for this will involve staff returning to the school building over the next two weeks to arrange classroom spaces in preparation for children and in accordance with the latest Health and Safety advice.

As soon as I have a detailed plan which meets these very robust requirements and fits with the ethos of Lakeside, I will communicate this to you and ask whether or not you will be taking up your child’s place. I am hopeful that this will be next week and again, thank you for your patience with this. I feel strongly that you need to see the plan before you decide if you would like to take up a place.

Hub school

Staff are also still running the key worker hub here in school. If you feel you qualify for a place, please complete the county application form and they will consider your position and allocate you a space appropriately. The Hub school will continue to run here at Lakeside until Friday 24th July. Lakeside staff will continue to look after your children at the Hub during this time.

Home learning

Home learning will still remain a big part of your child’s learning over the summer term. Staff are working hard at setting activities that children can complete independently and we really appreciate all the help and support you have given your children during this time. I hope you found the detailed guides on the class pages helpful.

Please be aware that as staff are planning and preparing the physical environment, they may not be quite as readily available as usual in the Google Classroom, over the next 2 weeks; I’m sure you will appreciate this.

Sending you a virtual hug

We miss you all very much, and we are looking forward to seeing you again soon, In the meantime, a huge hug from each and every one of us has been sent virtually! Please check out the Lakeside Facebook and Twitter feeds to see the latest staff video.

Until then, please continue to take good care of yourselves and each other.

Best wishes,

Rachel Mitchell