Brookvale Primary School

Good afternoon everyone, We hope you have all had a lovely summer break and are all looking forward to the beginning of the new school year. There are a few things that I would like to share with you before the start of term to ensure we all have a good start to the year. Also please find attached the latest guidance from the Local Authority. Safety arrangements for September: You will not have to wear a face covering when you enter the school grounds but we would ask that if you approach a member of staff to speak to them that you respect their personal space and follow social distancing guidance. If you enter the school building for a meeting or the school office can you please wear a face covering unless exempt. Also, please be respectful if other adults still wish to wear a face covering. We will no longer have our bubble system/ staggered starts in place and we will revert to our normal start and finish time for all classes. Start time is 8:55am and the school day ends at 3:00pm. However, this may change according to Governmental Guidance. Breakfast Club and After School Club must be booked in advance via the school office. Things that worked well that we are keeping in place: When dropping off and collecting your child, the playground will still operate a one-way system so please follow the arrows on the floor. Year 6 children can continue to enter and exit their classroom via their own door (like last year). Break times and lunch times will continue to be staggered. The rationale behind this is that there are less behavioural and first aid incidents plus the children gain more confidence playing within their own age groups. Children must only bring essential items with them to school - reading books, homework, PE kit, packed lunches and water bottles We will continue with regular handwashing routines, ensure good ventilation when possible and follow good respiratory hygeine - 'Catch it, Bin it Kill it' . All monies - snack and lunch money need to be the exact amount and preferably in an envelope. Your class teacher can provide envelopes. Latest COVID Information The main symptoms remain the same: 1. A high temperature – this means you feel hot to touch on your chest or back (you do not need to measure your temperature) 2. A new, continuous cough – this means coughing a lot for more than an hour, or 3 or more coughing episodes in 24 hours (if you usually have a cough, it may be worse than usual) 3. A loss or change to your sense of smell or taste – this means you've noticed you cannot smell or taste anything, or things smell or taste different to normal What to do if your child develops symptoms: • If your child develops Covid symptoms at home, they should stay at home and you should book them a PCR test), NOT a Lateral Flow test. • If your child develops Covid symptoms at school, they will be sent home and you should book them a PCR test. • If your child tests positive for Covid, they will need to self-isolate. The rest of the household does not need to self-isolate if they are under 18 or fully vaccinated – but instead should book a PCR test. Thank you for your continued support and we are all looking forward to welcoming you and your children back to school on Thursday 2nd September. Yours Sincerely, Mr R Moore Headteacher

Good morning, If you have requested a remote parents' evening meeting via Teams please find attached information on how to access the meeting. Over the next few days your child's class teacher will set up a Teams meeting using the email address you have provided so make sure you check your inbox for the information and link. Please only join the meeting at the time you have been given as you will not be able to join beforehand. Kind Regards R Moore Deputy Headteacher

Good morning Parents and Carers, I would like to introduce you all to Hattie my dog. I am currently training Hattie to hopefully be Brookvale's very own school therapy dog. Hattie is currently coming in school with me for four days a week and it is my intention to slowly introduce her to children in small groups. We have been considering having a school dog for some time that the children could interact with and also be of benefit to the children’s social and emotional development. I know that interacting with animals is not appropriate for all children but that for the majority it has the potential to provide multiple positive benefits. Risk assessments have been carried out and children who are allergic to dogs are known to us but if any parent who does not wish their child to interact with the school dog please let the school office know. Attached is a photograph of Hattie! Yours sincerely Mr R Moore

Good morning everyone, Just a quick reminder about our design an Easter egg competition next Wednesday 31st March. In previous years the children have produced some highly creative and colourful designs and I have attached some photographs showing some examples to give you some ideas. May I remind you to only bring your egg design in on Wednesday and not before. They will be judged in their bubbles and your child will take them home at the end of the day. We are all (eggcited!) and looking forward to seeing your children's designs next week. Good luck! Thanks

Good morning everyone, It was lovely to see everyone back in school this morning and thanks for your patience and effort in making the first morning back run smoothly. All the children and teachers are looking forward to getting back to work and reconnecting with their class once more. Already, the building sounds more like a school and it is great to hear children's voices again! If you had a laptop from school to assist with remote learning please keep hold of the device until Easter. By Easter we will let you know when you need to return them. For the time being your child can use the laptops to complete homework online or use in the event of another school or bubble closure. Finally, thanks again for your hard work and support during the lockdown with helping your children complete work at home. We know it has been difficult for everyone, but springtime is nearly here (20th March!) and there is hope on the horizon. Hopefully, it will not be too long before we can truly get back to normal. Thanks

Good morning Parents and Carers, We hope you are all well. We would just like to say a big thank you for all your hard work and efforts with your child's home learning so far this term. We have seen lots of excellent work produced by the children across all year groups and this has been wonderful to see. As you know, our teachers are working incredibly hard to put work online and they really enjoy meeting daily with as many children as possible. So, we would like to ask you to try and keep the momentum going and make sure your child is joining in with as many live Google Meet sessions as possible. The Google Meet sessions are not only beneficial to your children as their teacher can explain online tasks they have set but also your child gets to interact with their friends. We appreciate that working at home is difficult and all we ask is that you continue to support your child the best you can. If you still require learning packs, please let the school office know and we will prepare them for you and arrange a date and time for collection. Also, if you need any further support please let us know. Thanks for your continued support during these challenging times.

Good afternoon Parents and Carers, I have attached a Timetable for Remote Learning via Google Classroom. Please read the document carefully as it has key information about times when teachers are live on Google Meet. Teachers are going to meet four times each day and the times are on the attached document. I appreciate that not everyone has a device or means of accessing Google Classroom for each child for every session. Therefore, I recommend you choose as many or at least one Google Meet for each child throughout the day and alternate this throughout the week. If you are using a shared device, can you ensure you are logged in the Google Classroom with your child's account. Please do not worry about your child not accessing all of the Google Meets, just as long as they are meeting with their teacher and class at least once a day. Also, I sent a SchoolPing showing you how to use a PS4 or Xbox to join Google Classroom as this is another method of accessing the remote learning. If you still require paper copies of work please contact the school office on 01928 711401 and we can arrange for a pack of work to be put together. I am sure you can appreciate our teachers are working incredibly hard to make remote learning a positive experience for all and I thank you for continued patience and support during these challenging times. Yours Sincerely Mr R Moore Deputy Headteacher

Good afternoon Parents and Carers, We have been sent this briefing information from Halton Local Authority about the rapid rise of positive COVID cases within Halton and we have been asked to pass this information on to you. Thank you for your continued support. URGENT MESSAGE Today, the latest available data for Halton shows that in the last 7 days to 2nd January, there have been 1125 confirmed cases of Covid19 in the borough. This means that our current rate per 100k population is 869/100,000 – or put more simply 1 in every 115 people in Halton currently have the virus. There is no doubting that these figures are of serious concern. The rise in recent weeks has been rapid – with a 463% increase from the middle of December to the first week in January). The cases in Halton have escalated more significantly than in other areas of Cheshire and the Liverpool City Region. We believe there are a number of factors that have led to this rise: The new variant of the virus which now spreads 70% more quickly – this new variant has been identified in Chester and Wrexham, so we must assume that it has now reached Halton. More social gathering over Christmas, following the Government’s easing of restrictions Poor behaviour and understanding of what social isolation actually means; Levels of deprivation hampering self-isolation and pressure from employers on workers to return to work quickly Rapidly changing national messages This is a position we must address urgently and a plan is currently being developed by the Director of Public Health to do this. As part of this, we will be releasing further data and supporting communications to the public to present the very concerning current position and ask for their help to tackle it. This will be accompanied by a graphic depicting the rapid escalation of cases over the last few weeks .A video message from the Director of Public Health supporting messages setting out actions people must take to keep themselves and others safe. These will be shared over social media, online, via partner organisations and through the media – including an interview being given by Eileen O’Meara later today on Radio Merseyside. We are also seeking the support of all members in cascading the following important key messages: Stay at home, as we have been instructed to do in the latest national lockdown. Remember the basics if we need to go to the shops for essentials – so wear a face covering; keeping a distance from others; use the sanitizers and cleaning products provided in shops and wash our hands as soon as we get home. And if you cannot work from home, get a fast no-symptoms test every five days, to help stop the spread of the virus within your workplace. No one should have to struggle through this situation on their own - help and support is available if it is needed. Our website www.halton.gov.uk is where information can be found or alternatively by calling our Covid Support Line: 0151 907 8363 (Monday to Friday 8am to 6pm)

Good morning Parents and Carers, If you are experiencing any issues with Google Classroom or Google Meet, please call the school office on 01928 711401 and not email the school. This will be the quickest way of getting support with any troubles you are experiencing. Thanks for your continued support. Regards Mr R Moore Deputy Headteacher

Good evening Parents and Carers, It has been brought to my attention that you can also access Google Classroom using your Xbox or PS4. I have attached a step by step guide to help you and your child login into Google Classroom. Thanks for your continued support. Kind Regards Mr R Moore Deputy Headteacher