School Reopening - September 2020

Dear Parent/Carer,

We are looking forward to welcoming the children and their parents/carers back to school from Monday 7 September 2020.

We understand every family is different, and we know some of you, particularly those whose children have been absent from school since March 2020, may be feeling worried about the children returning to school. Please rest assured that in the same way we kept those children safe who attended school from March 2020 to July 2020, we will do the same for your children by following the guidance sent to the school by the Department for Education.

Please see below for some important reminders, and, if you are in contact with other parents/carers, please remind them to read this e-mail as well:

School reopens on Monday 7 September 2020 for all children in Years 1-6. If you have a child starting Reception, you should follow the instructions on the letter posted to you in July. If you have lost the letter or did not receive one, please telephone or e-mail the school, giving your child's full name so the Office Administrators may find out the information for you.

The main playground gate will open at 8:30am. Please do not arrive early and gather outside the gate. The first group of children are due in class at 8:40am so there is no need to arrive before 8:30am.

Only one adult from each family should drop off and pick up the child/ren to reduce the number of visitors on our premises. Please do this quickly; we are under strict instructions from the Department for Education to discourage parents and carers from gathering on the school site or just outside the school site.

For the first week, children in Years 3-6 may be taken to their external classroom door by their parent/carer at the start of the day but after that week, they must walk themselves to their classroom from the front playground. There are school staff on duty who supervise their quick entry into school. At the end of the school day, all children are collected from their external classroom door, unless a parent/carer has given permission in writing for them to walk home alone or for them to walk themselves down to the front playground to meet their parent/carer. If you haven't given this permission but would like to, please e-mail admin@hurstdrive.herts.sch.uk with your child/ren's full name/s and stating you give permission for them to exit the classroom alone.

The drop off and collection times are staggered by children's house teams with 🔴Eagle House🔴 arriving at 8:40am and leaving at 2:50pm; 🟢Falcon House🟢 arriving at 8:50am and leaving at 3:00pm; 🔵Hawk House🔵 arriving at 9:00am and leaving at 3:10pm; and 🟡Kestrel House🟡 arriving at 9:10am and leaving at 3:20pm. Please note, you are not permitted to collect your child early (e.g. If your child is in Kestrel House and you arrive at 3:00pm to collect them, you will need to wait till 3:20pm) because we have carefully made changes to our timetables so the children who arrive early complete learning tasks that the children who are collected later complete then. These arrangements will be in place until the Christmas Holidays; however, we will review them at the October Half Term in line with government guidance.

If a parent/carer needs to enter school to speak to someone in the School Office or to have a meeting with their child's class teacher, we would politely ask you to wear a face covering in line with the current government guidance. Otherwise, you are welcome to communicate by telephone on 01992 624099 or e-mail via admin@hurstdrive.herts.sch.uk.

Your child needs their own reusable water bottle in school every day and this bottle should be clearly labelled with their name - this is because it is not advisable for children to use communal water fountains at this time.

All children should be in full school uniform, including bringing their PE kit to school and a waterproof coat. Please click here to remind yourself of what school uniform is required.

Before- and after-school clubs, including Breakfast Club and Wraparound Care will start in the week commencing Monday 21 September 2020. Please note, in the autumn term, your child is required to attend every available session for the club to maintain a consistent group in line with the guidance from the government. In this way, we reserve the right to remove a child from the register if they are not attending every session and a parent/carer will need to make arrangements for their child to be dropped off and picked up in line with our staggered start and finish times. Please click here to read about school clubs. You will need to have the SchoolGateway app on your phone (or access the website via a laptop or computer) to make bookings for clubs.

We look forward to welcoming you back on Monday 7 September 2020 and we thank you in advance for your support in following the reminders in this e-mail and for your trust in us to care for and educate your children.

Yours sincerely,

Mr D Short

Headteacher