A message from the Headteacher

Dear Parents and Carers,

The end of the summer term has almost arrived and I would like to take this opportunity to thank you all for your support over what has been an unprecedented year. I don’t need to tell you about the challenges that we have all faced but I do want to pay tribute to the whole staff here at The Ridge, who have kept the children safe and learning. As always, the staff and governors have worked tirelessly for our school: it is a privilege to work with such a talented and hard working team.                                                                       

We will soon be saying “Goodbye” to our Year 6 pupils. It has been a pleasure to be part of their lives and we wish them all, every happiness in the future; we look forward to hearing of their achievements in the years to come. We also wish to thank Mrs Mangan, Mrs Smith and Mrs Ryder for all their service to The Ridge. Each of them has made a special contribution to our school and we wish them well in the future.

We hope that you all have a restful and safe summer and we look forward to welcoming you back in the Autumn, for another exciting year at The Ridge!

Mrs D Hudson

Headteacher

End of this Term

Despite the anticipated changes on 19th July, the Local Authority and Public Health are advising that we maintain our Covid arrangements in school. This is to reduce the risks of children and staff having to self-isolate during the start of the holiday due to contact with a positive case in the last three days of term. This is something that I am sure you would all wish to avoid and I know that staff are very keen to do everything that they can to ensure their holiday plans are not disrupted after a very difficult year.

At the start of the holiday, schools remain responsible for tracking and tracing and without maintaining our bubbles, this will become an impossible task. Therefore on the school site, social distancing will remain, as will all the other precautions we have put in place to minimise risk.

Please remember that we close early the on last day of term - Wednesday. The arrangements will be

  • Reception - 1.25 – 1.35 p.m.
  • Years 1 and 2 - 1.40 p.m.
  • Years 3 and 5 - 1.50 p.m.
  • Years 4 and 6 - 2.00 p.m.

Please can the children all bring a plastic bag with them on Wednesday to bring home their belongings.

September Onwards

Following the announcement about the next stage of relaxation of restrictions, I had drafted a letter to you outlining a change in our arrangements for September. However, following advice from Dudley Local Authority and Public Health, our current arrangements for infection control will remain in place for the first two weeks of term in September. We will however be making one or two slight alterations as detailed below.                                                  

Arrangements

Our current arrangements for infection control, including mask wearing on site and children being kept in bubbles will remain in place for the first two weeks of term in September. Please continue to stagger your arrival at school. We will have a window between 8.40 a.m. and 8.55 a.m. when all children should arrive at school.

  • Children in Reception, Year 1 and Year 2 will be taken to the classroom as currently and parents will leave the site following the one-way system.
  • Children in Years 3 to 6 will line up at the cones and be sent to their classrooms as groups as currently. Parents of Key Stage 2 children are asked not to come onto the playground unless to bringing a younger sibling or needing to speak to Mrs Hudson or Mrs Hadley.
  • At 8.55 a.m. the gates will be shut and anyone arriving after this time will need to enter via the small gate.
  • Coats will continue to be stored in the classroom. Please avoid bringing in back packs or bags.
  • The children will need to continue to bring in their stationery pack – at least initially - containing a pack of coloured pencils, a rubber, a pencil sharpener, a 15 cm ruler, a small pair of scissors, a glue stick and for Key Stage 2 only - a highlighter of any colour.

Uniform and PE Kit

You will be advised of the days when PE is timetabled. On these days, the children will come to school in their PE kit and school sweatshirt or cardigan. We will return to our previous expectations about PE kit, which you will find below. In addition, the children will need a pump bag, which will be kept in school containing pumps and a plain blue jogging top/track suit top. All children should have spare underwear (pants and socks) kept in their pump bag. This will help in the case of any ‘accidents’ or where clothing gets wet. Initially, for the first two weeks this will not be needed  but please have it ready at home  for when we ask for it to be sent in.

Please support us with our uniform code and make sure that children have the correct footwear.

  • Please ensure that all children have sensible school shoes: when buying new school shoes, please can we ask that you avoid ‘trainer type’ shoes. Trainers should only be worn on PE days.
  • Hair styles are appropriate and hair bands and clips should be simple and not ‘over adorned’.
  • Children must not wear nail varnish or jewellery to school with the exception of a wristwatch (not a smart watch or internet enabled device) and a simple, plain pair of studs, if their ears are pierced. Please can we ask that if you are considering having your child’s ears pierced, you arrange for this to be done at the start of the holiday so that the earrings can be removed for P.E. when your child returns to school in September. Thank you for your support in this matter.

Please label all items of uniform so that it can be quickly reunited with its owner if it is lost.

Our School Uniform

Winter Uniform

  • White button up shirt or blouse (not polo style)
  • Navy Blue School tie (obtainable from the School Office)
  • Grey pinafore dress, skirt or school trousers
  • The Ridge Primary School 'Kingfisher Blue' Sweatshirt / Cardigan  (obtainable from the School Office)
  • Navy blue, white or grey socks or tights
  • Flat black/navy/grey school shoes (not trainer style)

 Summer Uniform *

  • Yellow gingham or striped dress
  • The Ridge Primary School Sweatshirt/Cardigan
  • The Ridge Primary School Yellow Polo Shirt
  • White or grey socks or tights
  • Sandals may be worn, with socks, but must be suitable for school (no trainers, beach/jelly shoes)

* Summer uniform is optional and may be worn from the beginning of the Summer Term (usually April) to the Autumn Half-Term (usually end of October).  For the rest of the year, the children wear the standard winter uniform.

P.E. Kit

Worn to school on PE days with school sweatshirt or cardigan

  • Plain white tee or polo shirt
  • Blue shorts or P.E. skirt
  • In colder weather, blue joggers may be worn
  • Trainers

Kept in a pump bag at school.

  • Pumps
  • Plain blue jogging top/track suit top
  • Change of underwear (pants and socks)

Lunches

  • We will continue with some bubbles eating in the classrooms and some in the hall. We will advise you of the menu and arrangements for your child’s class in early September.
  • However, there will be occasions during the year, when we do need to have lunches in the classrooms and on these days, all children will be asked to bring or order a packed lunch.

Departure from School

Departure from school will continue to be staggered and parents are asked to leave the site following via either the rear gate or the small pedestrian gate, following the one way system.

  • Children in Reception will be collected from their classroom from 3.05 – 3.15 p.m.
  • Year 1 - 3.00 p.m. from the Ruby Garden
  • Year 2 - 3.00 p.m. from the main door
  • Year 3 - 3.10 p.m. from the main door
  • Year 4 - 3.20 p.m. from the main door
  • Year 5 – 3.10 p.m. from the playground door at the top of the ramp
  • Year 6 – 3.20 p.m. from the playground door at the top of the ramp

OSCAR Club

Oscar will continue to run a reduced service for the first two weeks of term (8.00 – 8.40 a.m. and 3.20 – 5.00 p.m.) whilst the children remain in their bubbles. We hope to return to the original hours (8.00a.m. to 8.40a.m. with breakfast provided and 3.20 – 6.00 p.m. with a snack) as quickly as possible.  

Covid has made us change how we do many things and in some cases, these changes are for the better. As the year progresses, and hopefully we return to something more like pre-pandemic times, you will see that some of the new ways of doing things (e.g. some parents meetings taking place on-line, rather than in person) will remain.

Staffing

We can now confirm staffing arrangements for September

Class Teacher Teaching Assistant
Reception Mrs Melia Mrs Hyde
Year 1 Miss Carrington Miss Zulfiqar
Year 2 Mrs Masters and Miss Beddoes Mrs Kirby
Year 3 Miss Wesson Mrs Taylor
Year 4 Miss Howarth Mrs Evans
Year 5 Miss Coggan Mrs Warren
Year 6 Mrs Rouse Mrs Chadwick-Hollis

We hope that you have a wonderful summer. Term starts for the children on Monday 6th September.

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