Newsletter - 25th September 2020

Dear Parents and Carers,

We have come to the end of another week at The Ridge and I want to thank you again for all your support in making it a smooth start to the year, despite all the additional challenges that the pandemic brings.  I was especially pleased to see how positively everyone responded to the request to wear a face covering at drop off and pick up times. Thank you.

Recently it has felt as though letters from school have been a list of requests and reminders. I hope that you will understand that these are necessary to help with the safe, smooth running of our school and are not intended to be a list of ‘dos and don’ts’.  Managing the COVID Risk in school is complex and we have to make the guidance work whist balancing how we operate. This is new to all of us !

There are a couple of matters, which I need your support with.

 

Handwashing

We are all aware that frequent handwashing is the single most effective way of reducing transmission of COVID-19. I have however been concerned to see some children have developed sore hands.  We are in a difficult situation in school because unless they are prescribed, we can not have individual sanitisers, soaps or hand creams in school without them being a potential risk to other children (especially those with allergies). However, clearly I don’t want children with cracked, sore skin or to burden GPs with requests for prescriptions so I am asking for your help to work together to manage this.

Careful washing and more importantly, drying are the key to avoiding sore hands and whilst staff will do all they can, please can you remind your child of the following.

  • Hands must be sufficiently wet before soap is put on them.
  • Hands must be thoroughly dried, including all the creases and between fingers, especially before going out in cold. (We now only use paper towels in school, which some children may find a little less soft than the towel they use at home. This may mean that they don’t dry their hands adequately in their rush to go out to play! We are stepping up our efforts to monitor this.)
  • Moisturising hands with hand cream before and after the school day can also help, as can applying it just before bedtime.

If despite these measures, your child is still experiencing sore hands, please speak to the school nurse, Laura Deveraux. Her contact details can be obtained from the school office.

 

Classroom Ventilation

We have been instructed to ensure that classrooms are well ventilated and this means that windows  and in some cases doors, are open. In the warmer weather this wasn’t a problem, however now it has turned cooler, we are conscious that some children are cold. Please dress your child in layers to help keep them warm – vests, a t-shirt under their shirt, tights, leggings or thermal layers under their trousers or skirts will help. We are seeking further clarification about the ventilation requirements as we head into the winter, and also looking at how we may relax our uniform requirements to help keep the children warm.

Thank you for your help and support.

 

Home Learning

We have been working on preparing our approach to Home Learning should it be required if individuals or class bubbles need to self-isolate. We have taken on board the views and opinions we gathered from the survey that we carried out at the end of last term and will be launching our Home Learning Policy as soon as it has been approved by the school Governors. We will let you know when it has been published on the school website.

 

Open Evenings – Years 1 to 6

We are unable to host our Autumn Term Open Evenings in the same format as usual. Instead, teachers will hold telephone consultations over the weeks commencing the 5th and 12th October. Prior to this, you will be invited to book an appointment using School Life as we have done in the past. Staff will use the primary contact mobile number held by school from the form you recently completed, unless you inform us otherwise.

 

Parking in Gregory Road

At the start of this new year please can we take the opportunity to remind you about parking in Gregory Road. You will know that this is a constant issue for both school and local residents and so for everyone’s safety and to ensure that we maintain good relationships with the residents, please note the following.

  • Please avoid double parking along the length of Gregory Road and obstructing the driveways of our neighbours. (Marked out with the white I-------I)
  • Do not park on the yellow’ Keep Clear Zig Zags’ or in the turning circle in Gregory Road.
  • Please do not park or turn round in the school car park.
  • Whenever possible please take the opportunity to walk to school.
  • Please ensure that grandparents or others bringing or collecting your child are aware of these messages

 

Please see the information from West Midlands Police our website  

https://theridge.sch.life/page/detail/parking-on-gregory-road,   

 

Keeping Children Safe

Safeguarding is everyone’s responsibility. Mrs. Hudson is the Designated Safeguarding Lead and any concerns should be shared with her or the Deputy Safeguarding Leads – Mrs. Hadley, Miss Beddoes and Mrs. Burley.

Thank you for your on-going support and interest in your child’s learning. We look forward to continuing to work with you.

Kind regards

Mrs. D. Hudson

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