Returning to School September 2021

Dear Stakeholder

As a result of the recent announcements pupils will be returning to school from Wednesday 2nd September. Please note that Tuesday 1st September is a preparation day that has been allocated for all schools in Swansea.

The school has a robust Risk Assessment, Operational Plan and Cleaning Protocol to ensure the safety of pupils, staff and parents and limit the risks of transmission of COVID-19.  However, it is important to note that total mitigation of the risk of contamination/infection with COVID-19 is not possible and younger pupils may find social distancing extremely challenging to maintain. We therefore cannot guarantee that your child will NOT contract COVID-19 when attending schools.

We are sorry that it has taken so long to provide you with this information but there have been several changes to the guidelines from the Local Authority and Welsh Government, which in turn has prevented us from being able to provide details of your child's return. Please be aware that there are still some details which are still under discussion and should there be any changes between now and September we will let you know via the website, Twitter or class Dojo.

The Emergency Childcare setting, set up to accommodate families who are key workers will now be closed from the 17th July. Our Governing Body, Health and Safety COVID return to school committee has ratified all of our new plans and they have been shared with all Governing Body members. 

We do believe that a return to school for all pupils is important to support their wellbeing and any concerns they have during these difficult times. However, what is paramount, is community safety and health.  This has been the main driver in formulating the Return to School Rationale.

Our operational Plan is designed with a safe and cautious approach which was written by the Headteacher in conjunction with Staff, Governors and the Local Authority. This plan was constructed using our detailed Risk Assessment for returning to school following LA and Welsh Government Guidelines. 

We have provided details of your child's start dates and other information via Dojo, however we have also put these in this section of the website and will be providing links on Twitter. 

I suggest that you keep your Dojo available during the holidays just in case any of these situations change. However, teachers will not  be available on Dojo throughout the holidays. We ask that you respect their family time and only contact them in an absolute emergency. 

There will be no school dinners for the first two weeks of term. Payments to families who are eligible for FSM will continue to receive BACS payments. ALL pupils will be required to bring packed lunch for the first two weeks. Thereafter meals will be provided. 

Pleas refer to your child's class information sheet for further details regarding breakfast club, after-school provision and start dates and times.

It remains only for me to wish you all a very happy and healthy Summer break. We can't wait to see you all at the start of the new term,

Kindest regards,

Fiona Gibbard

Headteacher

Gors Community School

Newsflash

We have a new Facebook page for parents and carers to support you in your quest to conquer home learning. We know it helps to share ideas and also problems. A problem shared is a problem halved. You will have been sent the link via dojo. If you can't see the link ask your teacher. The page name is Gors Community School. We have over 80 members already and hope to double this be the end of next week.

Many thanks and stay safe 

Mrs Gibbard

Happy New Year

Dear Parent/Guardian and Stakeholder,

You will now be aware that we are not due to return to face-to-face learning until at least the 18th January. However, I am saying this with caution as the situation is changing daily almost hourly and we cannot guarantee that learning will recommence on the 18th January. We will, of course keep you informed as we always do via DOJO once we hear about any changes. 

There are some further changes to our learning from home provision which you will be made aware of in the coming week. This is so we will be prepared if the closure of schools goes on for a longer period. 

Many thanks for your patience,

Stay Safe 

Mrs Gibbard

Dear Parent/Carer 

We have received several Dojo messages from parents asking if tomorrow is the last day. Please bear with us while we make arrangements as we have only just found about this at 6pm this evening. We will now need time to ensure that we have all the details you will need before sending any information out. However, I can confirm that we have been told that Swansea Primary Schools will switch to online learning from Monday and the last day of school for nearly all pupils is tomorrow Friday 11th December.  

That said, we have also been told that the school will remain open to children of critical workers and identified vulnerable learners. We will be asking for further clarification of this in the morning and let you know as soon as we have confirmation of critical worker criteria. I hope this clears up some questions for you. I sincerely hope you understand that we now need time to make proper arrangements, and provide you with accurate information. I thank you in advance for your patience, we will be working on this tonight and early tomorrow morning, and try as hard as possible to let you know full details at our earliest opportunity. 

Kind regards 

Mrs Gibbard 

End of Term

4 December 2020

Dear parent/carer

I just wanted to let you know the information I have received with regard to the end of term and closure. I know that there have been a number of rumours and articles online, and in the news, about the school possibly closing on the 11th December.

The Welsh Government's stance remains that schools should stay open until the end of term but have left local decisions to the Local Authority. Swansea's position is that there will be NO decision to close schools early unless it is on the grounds of public health which they have said is unlikely.

However, they have said that if schools find themselves in a position where it is unsafe to remain open the Local Authority would support a decision to close. This would be if the school was unable to run the school due to staff shortages or absence of senior leaders, safeguarding leads, fire marshals etc. There may also be a position where the school will have to reduce their operational hours. e.g. a four-day week due to the reasons outlined.

We have been asked to pre-warn parents and carers of the potential that we may have to close/reduce operations as we approach the end of term.

However, that said, this is a pre-warning only and as a school both myself and the entire team of staff have no intention of closing unless it is absolutely necessary. We all know how important it has been to get your children back to school and into a sense of routine so please be assured that will do all we can to keep going right up until the 18th December. This may mean that your child/children will have to endure last minute changes to staff but I’m sure you would rather this than us have to close.

We only ask that should your child or any member of the household display Covid symptoms in the coming two weeks you do not attend school. Please be extra vigilant at this critical time. Please continue to wear masks and social distance from children and other adults in the yard.

I hope this helps clarify things for you. If you have any questions please feel free to ask,

Kindest regards

F Gibbard

Headteacher

Returning to School

PROTOCOL FOR MORNINGS ON VERY RAINY DAYS!

Dear parent/carer

With the rainy months drawing ever closer we have been working to try to make it possible to bring pupils in at 8.40 on significantly heavy rainy days. We have managed to formulate a trial plan which is outlined below. This has meant that we have needed to employ members of staff to start earlier in the morning to enable pupils to be supervised in the school. 

If you arrive before 8.40 and it is raining, unfortunately you will need to line up on the yard until advised by a member of staff to go to your allocated door. This is unavoidable but we will ensure that once 8.40 comes you will be called to take your child to the door to be taken in. 

All pupils, on identified wet days, will go to their 'end of day collection door' to be taken into school by their teacher. There will then be additional teaching support in the classrooms to supervise classes until the start of the day at 8.50. If you do not know which entrance to use there will be staff to help you, or you could send a Dojo to your class teacher for confirmation. We are always here to help.

Please note that on dry days the current morning lining up procedures will remain in place. The procedure outlined above is ONLY in force for identified wet days. 

Thank you, once again for all your efforts with social distancing and the compulsory wearing of masks. There has been a continued excellent response and we are all extremely grateful to you for your patience and cooperation.

If you have any questions please do not hesitate to ask,

Fiona Gibbard

Headteacher/Pennaeth

Gors Community School

Ysgol Gymunedol Gors

How to book a COVID test

If you need to book a test, go to https://www.gov.uk/coronavirus

For more information or call:

01639 862757

Infection Prevention and Hand Hygiene

REMOTE LEARNING

Remote Learning update

From Tuesday 24th March children in Key Stage 2 (year 3 upwards) will receive daily contact from their classteacher via Hwb email. Parents will receive a reminder Dojo message in order to ensure they direct the children to the teacher contact via Hwb on a daily basis.

From Nursery to year 2, parents will be contacted via Dojo and advised as to the nature of the activities they will be asked to do with their children. 

If you have any questions please Dojo your teacher and they will be happy to help you. Dojo messages will be answered between the hours of 8am and 5pm. Anything received after these hours will be answered the following day.

Many thanks, Mrs Gibbard and all staff at Gors