School Newsletter

Road Safety

This week a reversing van narrowly missed a small child, who was standing alone on the pavement. The van reversed into a private driveway to allow another vehicle to pass up the road. The driver did not see the child on the pavement. This happened at approximately 8:55.

Following this incident I would like to remind you all about the importance of road safety, especially at drop-off and pick-up times. Please make sure that your children are supervised at all times, and you do not allow young children to run ahead.

If you need to drive to school, make sure you are aware of your surroundings at all times particularly when you are reversing. I would like to ask you all AGAIN to use Exeter Street as a ‘one way system’ so we can keep traffic moving in a safer way.

Staff members are at the gates to ensure that the children have a familiar face and are then quickly and safely escorted into their bubbles before the start of the day at 9:00am.

I have been in touch with Devon County Council regarding traffic violations on Exeter Street. You are not allowed to obstruct the entrance of the school, you are not allowed to park on double yellow lines or on the speed bumps, and you are not allowed to stop on the hazard markings. There are plenty of car parks in the town to allow you to safely walk to school with your children. In order that we reduce the risk at these key times I would urge you to use the town car parks and to arrive at school between 8:45 and 9:00. This will allow you more than enough time to stagger your arrival and maintain at a 2 metre distance, wearing a face covering as recommended by the government. There is no need to wait for prolonged periods at the gates. Your children are safe once they are through the gates. Some parents are arriving after 9:00, prolonging the arrival and departure and causing great delay to members of staff who should be in class looking after the children.

I have asked Devon County Council for a road closure but this will need time to organise and is not an immediate solution to the problem of inconsiderate drivers. The school bus and taxi need to access this route to safely deliver the children who do need to travel in. The arrival of the bus and taxi is also carefully managed and synchronised.

We continue to stagger the departure of the children to make it as safe as possible. This process is working extremely well, and every member of staff is available to successfully handover 170 children to their parents in less than 15 minutes and safely escort children onto the bus and taxi.

Please be ready to collect your children at the correct time and avoid lingering unnecessarily in the congested area. If you have a particular vulnerability, arrangements can be made to suit your needs.

• Acorns leave at 3:10 – this is designed to allow the younger children to exit quickly before the main crowd exit
• Oak 3:15 – all children handed over by members of staff
• Chestnut/Beech/Hazel/Sycamore 3:15
• Willow/Ash 3:20

All classes with siblings and singles are slightly staggered and rely on you to identify yourself and collect your children. Y6 who have permission to walk alone do so once the gate is free.

I have contacted the Health and Safety Lead within the TRUST and have been reassured that the position the school is taking is absolutely right, maintaining the safety of all concerned at this time of a National lockdown.

The following is a message from the TRUST Health and Safety Lead.
"We are in a situation where we are balancing one risk against another and having to establish measures which meet the balance of those risks.  The decision to keep the playground closed is therefore based upon the need to keep the school grounds clear so we can:

• Manage and organise the safe arrival and departure of the children
• Keep control of who is entering the building
• Maintain compliance with government guidance to limit those visiting the school site to an 'absolute minimum'.
• Manage the risk of COVID-19 being transferred

Specifically, and in relation to the last bullet point, it is vital to the COVID-19 strategy that we segregate pupils into the different class populations and to maintain social distance between these groups. This can only be achieved by having a clear space to be able to gather and marshal the pupils into their groups without other people external to the school population in the area. This particularly true of the younger children. Compromises here would mean that, in the event of a positive case, a far wider population group would be sent home to isolate for 14 days than is currently the case. I would therefore urge everyone to be careful whilst outside the school gates, to maintain distance as best they can and to be mindful of each other and of other hazards such as traffic. However, regretfully, the need to balance these risks against the overriding priority of managing the COVID-19 risk means that we cannot open the school grounds to everyone at this time. We thank you for your ongoing understanding and cooperation at this difficult time."

Anti-Bullying Week

Thank you for wearing your odd socks today. The children have worked hard during their PSHE lessons to develop their understanding of what bullying is and how to prevent it. I was very impressed to see the ingenious ways in which they have used their ideas to stamp out bullying.

KS2 Hot Lunches

I am pleased to inform you that from 30th November, ALL KS2 children will have the option to book a hot meal at lunchtime. Please book using the Gateway App. The children are seated in the hall, only two classes at a time, and are socially distanced. The ordered meals are served to the table ensuring that at all times the class bubbles are kept separated. Please do book your menu choice well in advance to allow us to get organised. I would like to take this opportunity to thank the multitude of staff who are working over and above what is normally expected to make sure your children are cared for and fed in a safe and appropriate way. Thank you in particular to Mandy and PJ who prepare all the food on site.

Twiglets – After School Club

Please do respond to the email sent to existing Twiglet attendees. The after-school club runs every Tuesday and Thursday and is intended to help support those parents who are working. If you are interested in finding out how we can help please do contact the school office for more details. This relies on a very carefully planned register and set of activities that keep the bubbles separate. Advanced bookings allow us to prepare resources and plan the days making sure that equipment and resources are available, so please book early.  We will be following the strict Covid-19 guidance and will not be sharing equipment.

School admissions

https://www.devon.gov.uk/educationandfamilies/school-information/apply-for-a-school-place/why-apply-for-a-school-place

FONTS – UPDATE – 20 November 2020

It is fantastic news that the Library Service books have arrived in school. This is a much-valued resource in the school providing fiction and non-fiction books in all the classes.  FONTS will be fundraising to keep this service in the school in 2021 - 2022 and 2022 - 2023 so your help and support is very much appreciated and is put to good use.

The Virtual Christmas Market is running until 24th December. Don’t forget to get your raffle tickets by emailing [email protected] the tickets are £1 each and you can buy as many as you would like – please share with friends and family.

FONTS have sent home a letter about a wreath decorating competition. Please return forms and £1s to school by Monday 23rd November.  Wreaths will be ordered, delivered to school and then it’s over to you to get festively creative!

Click here for the Christmas Wreath Competition form.

Deliveries of supplies for Wet Play Boxes are being received and are nearly ready to come into the classrooms. Of course we don’t want rain at play time, but this is Devon!

Thank you for your continued support,
FONTS Committee
email [email protected] / or msg FONTS on Dojo

PS – Don’t forget that Easyfundraising is a great way to use online shopping to donate to FONTS, and we’re part of the SeaMoor Lottery where a % of every ticket bought goes to FONTS too.

Chestnut Class artwork inspired by Claude Debussy's "La Mer"

I hope you have a lovely weekend
Miss Chauhan