Parentmail 4.1.22

Dear Parents,

Happy New Year to all our Lakeside families!  I hope that you all had a restful break with opportunities to catch up with family and friends.

As you are aware, the council created two closure days for us to be able to plan for rising cases and the impact of the Omicron variant, particularly on staff absence.  This includes teachers and teaching assistants, cleaners, mid-day supervisors, our caretaker, admin staff and leadership team members. Following a detailed review of our situation and an assessment of the various likely scenarios, I’m delighted to say that school will be open on Thursday to all pupils and we look forward very much to seeing them. 

ADDITIONAL MEASURES – January 2022

Cardiff Council has placed schools at a Very High Risk level, which means additional measures will be put in place to ensure the safety of pupils, staff and visitors to the site.

In addition to our current measures that are in place, we are now also doing the following:

• Cardiff County have asked that staff use Lateral Flow Tests three times per week (this was previously twice per week) for early identification of positive cases among staff.
• In the event of one positive case of Covid in your child’s class, you will receive an ‘inform’ letter; if there are two or more cases, you will receive a ‘warn and inform’ letter which will advise daily Lateral Flow tests for 7 days.
• Children who have tested positive will not be able to return to school until ten days have passed (unless they have a negative lateral flow on day 6 and 7 of isolation; they can then return on day 8 if they are feeling well).
• In the event of greatly reduced staff numbers due to teacher and teaching assistant illness, please be aware that we may have to move staff around. This may mean that your child(ren) will be taught by different staff.  In every instance, we will try to ensure that as many familiar staff as possible are deployed to the classes. 
• Preparations are under way for Home Learning in case we have to close certain year groups.  Some activities will be available for children who are testing positive but not unwell.
• Staggered finish times (see below):

START & FINISH TIMES

We are aware that many families found staggered school starts and finish times challenging, so start times will remain the same as they are at the moment, however, to ease congestion at the end of the school day, we are adjusting the pick-up times slightly, as follows (please note that the collection points remain the same):

Parents collecting a child/children from Foundation Phase must leave the playground via the lower gate, please, even if you have children to collect from the Key Stage 2 gates.  Please remember to wear masks when collecting your children. Thank you.

DRAGONFLIES

The facility will continue as before, with all the mitigations that were in place last term (year group bubbles); weekly staff Lateral Flow testing will increase to three times per week.

CLUBS AND EXTRACURRICULAR ACTIVITIES

Choir, football and gymnastics after-school clubs are under review as we complete our preparations for a safe return to school.  We will confirm our decision regarding these as soon as possible.

Year 5 Cycling Proficiency is planned to go ahead, as are Key Stage 2 swimming lessons this and next term, but will be reviewed regularly with Covid rates and risks in mind.

IN THE EVENT OF YEAR GROUP HOME LEARNING / NEED FOR PUPIL ISOLATION

A return to Home Learning will be a last resort and any periods of Home Learning will be kept to a minimum.  Home Learning is most likely to occur when staff availability is extremely low and we are unable to cover absences.  Hub provision will be available during this period.  Thanks to the flexibility of our staff we have been able to maintain full-time provision for all pupils so far and will make every effort to ensure that this continues. 

Thank you so much for your patience in these uncertain times and for your continued co-operation regarding mask-wearing, distancing and getting yourselves and your children tested.  I look forward to welcoming you all back on Thursday.

Best wishes,

Rachel Mitchell

Headteacher