Welcome Back!

Dear Mums, Dads and Carers,

We are really looking forward to welcoming all the children back into school on Monday. I hope the summer has been refreshing for you and that you had time with family and friends.

We are pleased to be welcoming new staff to school this year, Mrs Seager, Miss Froud, Miss Ferreira, Mrs Standing, Mrs Dennett as well as welcoming back Mrs Biffen.

I know the children are very excited by what they have seen happening on the playground - the Tilbury Trail is amazing! Thank you so much for all the fund raising once again. We would love to replicate the super work of MANT leisure in other areas of the school.

Thank you to Mr. Rama Oakley for all the time and effort given to cutting some of the logs from our ash trees that had to be felled due to ash die back. These will make excellent seating for our forest school area.

As you are aware, there are still some high numbers of positive Covid cases in our area. As a result, we are going to hold onto some of the precautions from last term, for at least the first month.

As a school we are passionate about children’s well being and understand how important it is for them socialise with their peers and friends. Although there are no longer “bubbles” we are gradually reintroducing the mixing of larger groups e.g. at lunchtimes and playtimes. Just to reassure you that we will be reviewing decisions at the end of each week.

As previously explained we are retaining the entry gates for specific year groups, however we are not staggering the start and end times, except for Reception classes (EYFS).

Children will arrive at their specified gate at 0845 and be collected from the same gate at 1515. (Reception 0830-1500). At the start of the day we are maintaining the drop off at the gate, as in last academic year.

However, at the end of the school day, as all year groups are leaving at the same time, there will be larger numbers. As a result, to maintain safety, parents will be able to enter the site via the appropriate gate and the children will be in an allocated space ready to be collected.

When you arrive on the playground please look for the cone with your year group label.

If your child is in Y5 or Y6 and you allow them walk home unaccompanied, please email the class teacher so that we are aware. Children are not allowed to walk home alone without written permission.

We are hosting a “Meet the Team” event on Monday 13th September via TEAMS – more details to follow.

Once again, thank you for your continued support and encouragement. This is going to be an exciting year, full of opportunities.

Kind regards,

Jane Gascoigne
Headteacher