School Reopening Update

School Reopening Update We will address a few parent questions in this week’s update along with further details regarding arrangements for reopening. Thank you again for your feedback to our questionnaire and your questions. We will address a few of these in this week’s update along with further details regarding arrangements for reopening.

Please also find a map to download below. It might be helpful to have it open as you read through parts of the guidance below.
 
COVID Testing
We appreciate the various questions that have been raised regarding testing, but I am afraid we are still awaiting guidance on this at present. As soon as we know what is planned we will of course let you know straight away.
 
School Day Timings
Everyone who comes into school has to pass through a heat sensor. There will be 3 heat sensors placed at different entrances, marked by the red letters on the map.
 
You will also see different numbered gates on the map. The table below shows all Year Groups so you know which gates and sensors apply, along with timings for the day. Note that we are opening the gates earlier than usual, from 7:20am, to help give everyone plenty of time to get onto the site and get to class. Your help in adhering to these timings is greatly appreciated.

Year Group	Entry Gate	Heat Sensor	Drop children off between	Pick children up at	Exit Gate
FS2	4	B	7:45am and 8:00am	2:15pm	4
1	6	C	7:45am and 8:00am	2:15pm	7
2	2	A	7:20am and 7:40am	2:30pm	3
3	6	C	7:20am and 7:40am	2:30pm	7
4	6	C	7:20am and 7:40am	2:45pm	7
5	2	A	7:20am and 7:40am	2:45pm	3
6	2	A	7:20am and 7:40am	2:45pm	3
7	6	C	7:20am and 7:40am	2:45pm	7
8	6	C	7:20am and 7:40am	2:45pm	7
9	4	B	7:20am and 7:40am	2:45pm	4
10	4	B	7:20am and 7:40am	2:45pm	4
11	4	B	7:20am and 7:40am	2:45pm	4
12	4	B	7:20am and 7:40am	2:45pm	4
13	4	B	7:20am and 7:40am	2:45pm	4
The above applies to students being picked up and collected in private transport. All students on buses will be entering via Gate 1 and exiting via Gate 1

 

For Nursery we will be running half-days for the first week. This is to help establish the “bubbles” of 10 which are required, plus to give children more time and space to become familiar with how school will work for them. The length of time spent in school will gradually be extended during Week 2 and we will advise each Year Group separately about their individual arrangements.

For each class your child will be in either Bubble 1 or Bubble 2 – parents will be advised directly by the teachers next week regarding which bubble their child is in.

Year & Bubble	Entry Gate	Heat Sensor	Drop children off between	Pick children up at	Exit Gate
Nursery Bubble 1	6	C	8:00am and 8:15am	10:15am	6
Nursery Bubble 2	6	C	11:45am and 12:00pm	2:00pm	6

 

For Nursery, FS2 and Year 1, one parent or nominated adult is permitted to accompany their child to class. By using the above timings we can ensure that parents and our youngest children will be coming onto the site when the other students are all in class. If at all possible, please avoid bringing younger siblings into school.

Attending on Different Days

As mentioned in our last letter, during the first week there will be staggered start which means that we will not have all students in at the same time. This enables time for students, staff and parents to get used to the new arrangements.

All students will attend at least 3 days in the first week and Virtual Learning will be provided any day they do not attend. Specific information regarding which students attend on which days will be sent separately by each year group next week. Should everything proceed as expected then every student will be able to attend school every day in Week 2.

We do appreciate that lots of siblings like to walk into school together. We will do our best to enable this for families – please speak directly with your teacher(s) when they get in touch with you next week.

Classroom Arrangements

All classrooms in the school will be set up as per ADEK guidance to accommodate the social distancing arrangements for the relevant year groups. We will be sending out videos next week so parents and students will be able to see in advance how the classrooms are set up and all the safety features which are now in place.

Masks

Masks are not necessary for Nursery, FS2 and Year 1, however they are compulsory for all other Year Groups. We would please request that parents provide masks for their children, at least two per day so the child can change their masks during the day. The school will keep a stock of replacement masks in case any masks are broken.

Temperature Checks

Although we will check temperatures at school, all parents should please check their child’s temperature in the morning before setting off. If a child has a temperature of 37.5^o or higher they must be kept off school. Temperature checks will also be taken as students enter the buses in the morning. If a child’s temperature is discovered to be high at school then they will need to be collected by parents and taken home.

School Clinic

Our school nurses have been working hard to coordinate all our clinic facilities in order to respond to the new situation on reopening. The normal facilities which students use every day do of course continue. In addition to this we have a number of isolation areas set up should students exhibit a high temperature or feel ill for any reason. Should this happen we know students will be safe and socially distanced until they can be collected by a parent.

Virtual Learning

As a reminder, parents have the option of choosing Virtual Learning if they wish instead of their children attending school in person. We know that a very high percentage of families wish to return and we are making plans around this - thank you very much to everyone who has responded to our survey over the last couple of weeks which has been really helpful in enabling us to plan arrangements for the classes.

Before school starts there will be opportunities to speak with teachers, be it about Virtual Learning or in-class learning or safety arrangements. We do appreciate situations and questions are different for each family and it is really helpful to be able to ask questions directly with your child’s teachers.

Buses

Separate communication has been sent out this week regarding buses with a link to the Shanawaz website to register for the bus service. Please note that there is a much lower limit now for the number of children on each bus. We would request that parents please drive their children to school if they are able to.

Quarantine

The UAE government’s advice on quarantine is very clear: “Anyone travelling to the UAE from abroad should commit to a home quarantine of 14 days. Violating home quarantine procedures is an act punishable by law.” Children should only return to school once their quarantine period is completed.

Further Communications

As mentioned above, further information for each year group will be sent early next week. Please do then liaise directly with Class Teachers and Year Leaders who will be able to explain all details fully for each child.

As mentioned previously, we will also send out videos next week so parents and students can see the new arrangements and be further prepared before they return.

Please do wait for the above communications and discuss specific details further with the teachers. If you do have any questions in the meantime though please feel free to ask via this link and we will get back to you.

Patrick Horne

Principal