Keep up to date with all the latest news happening in school at the moment.
-
Update to advice regarding vulnerable children category.
Thu 19 Mar 2020We have been made aware that vulnerable children are:
- children and young people with a named social worker. This means children who are subject to child protection plans, children in need and those in care;
- children and young people who have an education and health care plan (EHCP) in both special and mainstream schools;
- This does not therefore include all children with SEN. Only Children with a named social worker or EHCP will therefore be in school during the school closure alongside those identified as a key worker child where there is no other adult to supervise.
- If your child falls in to the vulnerable children category please email the head teacher ( headteacher@dovedale.derbyshire.sch.uk) with vulnerable pupil in the contents tab stating name and name of social worker and whether you wish them to be in school during the closure.
-
Key worker information request
Thu 19 Mar 2020Good morning!
What we know so far:
- School will be open as normal Thursday 19.3.20 and Friday 20.3.20 for pupils with no symptoms of coronavirus who are not self-isolating or social distancing.
- Parents are expected to make arrangements for the appropriate care and supervision of their own children out of school after Friday 20th March until further notice.
- The government has said that provision will need to be made for vulnerable children and the children of key workers in a suitable setting. Schools have not, as yet, received any guidance regarding how to manage this, or an agreed definition of key worker roles.
- In order to move forward we are collecting information to inform planning when the key/essential worker roles are defined and further advice is made available.
If you consider your job role to be that of an essential key worker in the context of fighting coronavirus and will be requiring child care please email:
headteacher@dovedale.derbyshire.sch.uk (with key worker in the subject bar) and provide the following details before 5 pm on Thursday 19th March 2020
Child’s name:
- Your job title:
- Your employer contact:
- Name and job roles of other adults living in the household:
We will contact the parents of children with EHCPs and those defined as vulnerable separately if they do not also fall in to the key worker category.
Once we have a definitive key worker list we will match the key worker roles to those given.
This is as much as we know right now and we appreciate your continued patience as we deal with this ever-changing situation.
-
Another update!
Wed 18 Mar 2020In the light of the requirement for all schools to close from Friday we will put into action the off site learning plan we sent out today.
We will aim to get some clarification of a key worker list and will be asking parents to complete a form to allow us to determine staffing and provision for those children who may still be coming in to school.
We will send this out tomorrow.
We will also contact the parents of any other suggested groups to offer this provision.
We understand that this may have raised more questions than it has solved but will work as quickly as possible to communicate with you once we have been given any further details.
If you do not fall into the 'as of yet to be determined' key worker category then your child/children will not be in school after Friday for the foreseeable future.
Thank you for your continued support.
-
Updates
Wed 18 Mar 2020Hi all!
Today your child will be sent a work book home and a letter detailing our plans for educating off site if we are told to close. This is just part of our planning strategy and hopefully will not be needed just yet.
We still have the majority of staff well and able to come to work and provide the best for our children. I for one am grateful to have such a positive team!
As you can appreciate, this situation is ever-changing and we will keep you updated should the school situation or government advice change - there is an update from the education secretary at 5.00 today so may be further news then.
If we can stay open we will work flexibly and may merge classes within year groups if staff and pupil levels reduce further.
If you would like to talk through any particular issues, please contact the school or headteacher directly via the headteacher@dovedale.derbyshire.sch.uk email.
Thank you for your continued support.
-
Update
Wed 18 Mar 2020Although we are hoping that there will not be an imposed prolonged closure of the school it is necessary for us to plan for this eventuality. We know that if this occurs this may be a difficult time for all concerned but will hope to continue the children’s learning journeys during this time as much as we can given the constraints. Naturally we cannot enforce this off site learning as there will be other circumstances around this but would hope that where possible the children will be able to engage with this provision daily so that their learning progress is not impacted upon and that all children can pick up their learning at the correct stage on the return to school.
Safeguarding whilst school is closed
Any safeguarding concerns should be brought to the attention of the class teacher through dojo/email or the Head teacher who will be contactable through the Head teacher email throughout any closure. We will continue to work closely with parents on all issues as appropriate. If any families need any support and do not know who to contact please contact the Head teacher via email who will offer any possible support.
Continuation of learning at home
All children have been provided with a work book in which to record their learning activities where necessary. Please keep these books for this purpose only.
Staff will communicate through their class pages on the website with activities set for each week day. This will take the form of a Maths and English activity and 1 other activity in KS1 and KS2.
We will endeavour to make all activities accessible to children to complete on their own wherever possible to alleviate parent input as we know not all parents will be able to work alongside their children.
We would ask that children complete the activities in the sequence they are set rather than all in one block to aid sequential learning to embed and reinforce learning and aid long term memory retention.
EYFS will have work and activities set suitable for their curriculum on their class pages and in their work book.
Year 2 may have additional phonics and SATS resources.
Dovedale Primary School Continuation of Learning Plan (in case of prolonged school closure)
Year 6 will have their revision booklets and additional SATS resources.
Alongside set curriculum activities we hope that all children will read daily, practise their weekly spellings, Times Table Rock Stars or Spelling Shed activities as usual.
There will, where possible be differentiated activities for pupils with Special Educational Needs who may not be able to access the activities set for the cohort/class.
There may also be opportunities for video learning and video lessons on the class pages as part of this sequential learning.
Staff will continue to communicate with parents and children during the working day where necessary and appropriate.
Learning books should be returned to school after the closure so that the teachers can celebrate the children’s work.
It may also be necessary at some stage to have some class closures if there is a significant staff shortage which cannot be safely managed. If this is the case the learning will continue using the same whole school strategy as detailed above.
We know that this is a lot of information but want to keep you as informed as possible. We hope that we can continue to work together as a school community, supporting each other and developing the sense of respect that is at the core of our school values. -
CV update
Tue 17 Mar 2020Good morning,
In light of the latest update ( we apologise for the barrage of information but we are attempting to keep on top of the frequent changes!) We are amending our advice.
Following the announcement yesterday evening:If anyone in a household is displaying symptoms, then no one from that household should attend school for 14 days. If a child develops symptoms they should stay away from school for 7 days from the onset of symptoms, even if this exceeds the original 14 days of family isolation. Children without symptoms can return to school after 14 days from the first family symptom.If you or your child has displayed symptoms we ask that you inform school and self isolate the family. We are very aware that this poses a huge strain on family, work and school life but it is intended to protect the wider community and control the spread of the virus.The children have all been fabulous at handwashing, cough and sneeze hygiene and thinking of ways to 'touch less' during the day. We are working hard to reduce the spread of any germs during the school day and to ensure children are calm but well informed.If your child has been off school or sent home for any coronavirus symptom, please now extend this period of absence to 14 days and include all siblings. Some symptoms can be mild or short-lived in children, but the period of isolation has been set as 14 days from the onset of first family symptoms and we would appreciate support in sticking to this rule.
We will organise some suggestions for work and activities for children to complete during isolation if they are well enough and the family is able to facilitate.I hope that we can all treat all members of our school community with respect and care and not jump to assumptions over information shared on social media or other platforms. We are all working hard to keep everyone safe and we would hope for our children that in times of crisis such as these that we can demonstrate kindness and consideration.
Information for vulnerable groups
-
Corona virus update
Mon 16 Mar 2020We have received the following guidance in our daily update:
Updated guidance for education settings on coronavirus (COVID-19)
What you need to know:
- staff, young people and children should stay at home if they are unwell with a new, continuous cough or a high temperature to avoid spreading infection to others. Otherwise they should attend education or work as normal
- if staff, young people or children become unwell on site with a new, continuous cough or a high temperature they should be sent home
- clean and disinfect regularly touched objects and surfaces more often than usual using your standard cleaning products
- supervise young children to ensure they wash their hands for 20 seconds more often than usual with soap and water or hand sanitiser and catch coughs and sneezes in tissues.
The World Health Organisation defines the most common symptoms of coronavirus as:
- fever, tiredness and dry cough.
The NHS defines the symptoms of coronavirus in the following way:
- a high temperature – you feel hot to touch on your chest or back
- a new, continuous cough – this means you've started coughing repeatedly
If staff or children are off due to the reasons stated above, they should stay at home for 7 days, even if symptoms improve or stop. If symptoms worsen or are not manageable - please use the NHS 111 online system for advice. If children are off for another reason the usual absence periods still apply.
We have had a number of queries regarding symptoms and whether or not children should attend school. If your child has symptoms of a cold such as; runny nose, sneezing, or headache but you feel they are well enough to attend school, they should still attend as long as they do not have any of the coronavirus symptoms listed above.
We have also received queries regarding whether pupils who have someone in their household who are self-isolating (with no diagnosis at the time) should be attending school. We can confirm that, following a call to the official DfE helpline, the advice at the moment is that in such cases pupils should attend school unless they are displaying symptoms themselves.
We appreciate that this is an uncertain and worrying time for many parents and if you have any queries please do not hesitate to contact us. Please note that whilst we will follow up all concerns and offer reassurance where we can, we are not at liberty to stray away from the official advice and guidance given to us by Public Health England and or the Department for Education.
-
CV Update
Thu 12 Mar 2020The school will remain open as usual until we are instructed otherwise with measures in place to support our children keeping healthy. We will continue to update you with any information we receive.
Department for Education Coronavirus Helpline
The DfE helpline to answer questions about COVID-19 related to education. Staff, parents and young people can contact the helpline as follows:
Phone: 0800 046 8687
Email: DfE.coronavirushelpline@education.gov.uk
Opening Hours: 8am to 6pm (Monday to Friday) -
Corona Virus update
Wed 11 Mar 2020I wished to give parents some details about the school's response to the current situation and will use this space to keep you updated. We do not wish to scare our children but are taking steps to ensure that the risks are minimised.
We are as a school following all guidance given to us by both Derbyshire County Council and nationally.
Children have had a lesson on 'keeping germs at bay' in the current situation and children are having hand washing 'lessons'. We are also encouraging children to wash their hands more frequently throughout the school day and supervising children washing their hands at lunch times.
The cleaning staff are continuing their usual cleaning routine and the site manager is making sure any specific contact areas are thoroughly addressed - for example door handles.
All classes have tissues and children are encouraged to use these and all classes have disinfectant wipes for use throughout the day.
As previously stated we would request that parents inform us if they have travelled abroad or come in to contact with anyone who has travelled abroad.
I have also taken the decision this afternoon to cancel all whole school assemblies for the time being.
If there is any further guidance or necessary next steps I will keep you informed.
Please use this link for general information and guidance.
https://www.gov.uk/guidance/coronavirus-covid-19-information-for-the-public
-
Blog
Fri 06 Mar 2020Happy Friday everyone,
What a lovely sunny end to our lovely week!
This week we have celebrated world book day with a flourish with children taking part in a reading carousel and sharing their favourite reads. The children looked great in their costumes and pjs ( as did the staff) and there has been plenty of activity at book fair. Your kind donations will be put back in to new reading material. The winners of our 'Get caught reading' competition were awarded the prizes in assembly. Well done to all who took part in this.
Science week got off to a flying start this morning with silly science assemblys which judging by the squeals and gasps were very well received! For the afternoon there are carousels of investigations and experiments and these will continue into next week. Thank you to Mrs Ganguly in her role as science leader for organising all of this.
Next Thursday are the height and health checks for year 2 and 6.
Keeping our children safe. Follow this link for advice on leaving children 'Home Alone'.https://learning.nspcc.org.uk/media/1110/home-alone-guide-keeping-child-safe.pdf
We are continuing to follow guidance on the Corona virus and ask all parents to keep us informed of any travel taken or planned to restricted areas or any contact with persons who may have been to restricted areas. We are being diligent in school with our hand washing and sanitising routines and encouraging children to use and bin tissues. We will continue to monitor and follow guidance.
We wish you all a lovely weekend