•   This remains an important aspect of school life and will impact arrival, departure and how children move around school.
• All pupils from Y1 – Y6 will be expected to return on Wednesday 2^nd September. School will still operate staggered start and finish times but we have worked hard to reduce this to a 25 minute range from 8.45 – 9.10 start and 3pm – 3.15 finish.

Times are initially as follows. There may be adjustments, however, if issues arise.

• If you are a Reception parent please see http://www.dipton.durham.sch.uk/parents/school-letters/ for letter sharing Reception arrangements for the start of term.
• Please arrive at your allotted time to prevent the unnecessary cross-over of contact groups.  Pupils are not permitted to play in the yard before school starts. Classes will be collected from the yard and we will utilise both the main entrance and ‘back’ door for entrance and exit to speed up the process.  Once a child has been dropped off, at the allocated time, a parent must leave the school site immediately. We ask that only one adult is involved in drop off/pick up.  We understand families may have siblings who require different drop off times.  Unfortunately, all we can do is ask for your patience and willingness to wait until your allocated drop off time, as we cannot accommodate various sibling arrangements.

• Pupils in Y5 and Y6 will be able to travel to and from school, as long as they show they can socially distance, independently and we have your written permission.  We will send out permission slips to our current Y4 pupils.  If concerns arise, or advice changes, this will be reviewed.
• If families use public transport, we encourage you to follow the latest Public Health England guidance – if parents encourage children to wear face coverings, parents should demonstrate to pupils how these are to be safely removed before entering school.
• Mobile phones will not be allowed in school.
• If pupils make use of the bike shelter, only one person is allowed to use it at a time.
• At the end of the school day, pupils in Y1 – Y6 will be brought to the yard at their allocated time.  We ask all those dropping off and collecting pupils to ensure they remain socially distanced.  Younger siblings should not play on the equipment in the yard.
• Visitors will be restricted to essential support for individual pupils or to provide curriculum support.  Parents will only be able to speak with staff if an appointment has been made.  We encourage you to continue to contact us via phone or email.
• Our new Reception class have been informed of arrangements separately.
• Pupils will operate in more defined contact groups around school, which may involve one year group or a few year groups combined.
• Playtimes and lunchtimes will be staggered.
• Breakfast club child care provision will still operate from 8am with additional expectations in place.  Breakfast club will not commence until Monday 7^th September.  Pupils attending breakfast club will be organised into small groups linked to year groups. We will have to know who, and how many, are attending in advance.  From September, we will ask that you let us know, in advance, by the Friday of each week – to attend a week from the following Monday.  For example, if you wanted your child to attend breakfast club from Monday 14^th September, you would have to inform us by Friday 4^th September at the latest.  If your child is going to attend breakfast club every day, you can just inform us at the start of the half term.  Attending specific days is still optional but we will need to know which days, again, in advance.  There will be a limit of 30 pupils allowed to attend breakfast club so if you do not book a place, your child may have to be added to a waiting list.  The cost of breakfast club is £2 per pupil per day and will be payable via ParentPay.  If you cancel at short notice, you may still be charged, as this space could have potentially been allocated to another pupil.
• We will not be operating after school clubs for the first half term.
• Although we love our buddy system in school, at the moment, we will not be able to allow mixing between Y6 and Reception.  We hope this position changes, as the year progresses, as we know buddy letters are written and this is a very important aspect of life in Y6.
• We are awaiting further information regarding swimming provision and school visits.

• The need for frequent and thorough hand cleaning will be reinforced constantly throughout the day – please keep nails cut short.
• Parents/Carers are asked to practise good hand cleaning techniques at home with children so they can apply the method independently (i.e. 20 second – ‘Happy Birthday’ x2).  This will also be reinforced daily in school.
• The need for frequent hand cleaning, through use of hand sanitiser or soap and water, cannot be avoided. Hand sanitiser stations will be situated in classrooms and around school.
• School uniform will be re-instated (this had been relaxed in the final term of partial closure but, from September, we expect all pupils in full uniform – reminder is included at the end of this letter).  We ask that pupils wear clean clothing every day.  For the majority of classes, outdoor jackets/bags will be kept in the classroom. Further information regarding bags is included below.
• Pupils should wash hands as soon as they arrive home and they should immediately change out of the clothes they have been wearing for school.
• Please purchase shoes with Velcro fastening or ensure children are able to tie their own laces.
• You will be informed of the day your child has P.E. and, on that day, your child will be permitted to wear his/her PE kit all day instead of usual school uniform.  We advise you purchase plain jogging bottoms to wear with usual yellow school PE top which will form part of the PE kit.  Football strips etc. will not be permitted.
• Usual rules on longer hair being tied back (when reaching collar length) and no jewellery (earrings) apply.
• Older children may be allocated set times to go to the toilet (they will of course be allowed to use the toilet if the need arises outside of these times) and younger children will be able to go as necessary.
• Pupils and staff will be instructed to follow the ‘Catch it, Bin it, Kill it’.
• Extra cleaning regimes remain in place.

• Children in Reception, Y1 and Y2 are all entitled to a free school meal.  We strongly advise you to take up this option.  This means children will be provided with a nutritious meal (of their choice) which is kinder to your pocket and in terms of your time.  For those parents who pay for meals in Y3-Y6, from September the new charge will be £2.10 (via ParentPay).  Your child can bring in a clearly-named water bottle.

• Pupils in Reception, Y1 and Y2 who have a school lunch will only be permitted to bring in their green book bag. If any pupils in Rec, Y1 or Y2 wish to bring in a packed lunch please use a small wipeable packed lunch bag. No rucksacks will be permitted.
• Pupils in Y3, Y4, Y5 and Y6 will be allocated a waterproof drawstring bag for their packed lunch, if applicable, reading book and/or water bottle on the first day back.  No other rucksack bags will be permitted so we ask that you do not purchase these for school over the summer.  Please do not send your child with a bag on the first day. The majority of classes will store coats and bags in the classrooms, on the back of their chairs, to avoid continual cross-over in porches.
• Lunch boxes/water bottles should be thoroughly cleaned each night.
• As we have been instructed though DfE, classrooms will be rearranged to face forward where possible.  This will mainly apply in Y3-Y6. Pupils in Rec, Y1 and Y2 will still operate in a similar vein to the way they work now and they will have greater access to shared equipment – although more restrictions will be in place.  These resources will be regularly cleaned.
• Older pupils will be given a pack of individual key resources but will also have access, with a partner at their table, to additional equipment.
• Reading books can still pass between home and school but we will have to allow for 48 hours between exchange.  Marking will be adjusted to allow exercise books to ‘stand’ for appropriate time before passing between teacher and pupil.
• School is exploring alternative ways to communicate between home and school – most likely through Purple Mash rather than use of planners.  This supports our desire to reduce paper usage in school, it is efficient and reduces the time delay in the transference of resources between home and school (highlighted in the 2 points above).  We will also explore using Purple Mash to set homework.  This is to restrict passing resources between home and school.  Please contact us if you have any on-going issues with Purple Mash.  We plan to arrange some socially distanced workshops in September if you find accessing Purple Mash difficult.

• Please do not send your child to school if s/he is unwell.
• An isolation room has been set aside, should a child or staff member develop/show symptoms. If a child becomes poorly (displaying symptoms of coronavirus), it is imperative that parents can be contacted immediately and can collect their child without delay.  We would expect pupils would access a coronavirus test – www.nhs.uk provides up to date advice regarding this as well as self-isolation time scales.  If this situation occurs, we ask that school is contacted with the outcome so we are able to implement isolation protocols accordingly. School would respond to government guidelines regarding suspected/confirmed cases in school.

• As usual, there will be first aiders on site at all times.  If a child has a minor injury e.g. a scraped knee, s/he may be asked to clean the injury independently.  The first aider will always assess the situation.  If the injury requires first aid, this will be administered.  As this will require closer contact, the first aider will wear additional PPE – apron, gloves + face covering (mask/visor).
• At the time of writing this letter, the Department for Education does not recommend face coverings in school.