Buzz has been asked to publish the following notice on behalf of Lindsey Hermon, Headteacher at Keevil School. You can download and print the original document here: Keevil School_Statement for Village
Phased Re-opening of Keevil CofE Academy from June 1st 2020
I am sure that you will have heard the Government’s plan for all primary schools to start re-opening from June 1st. Initially for children in YR, Y1 and Y6, then for all children from July. Schools are being given a number of directives to follow in order to mitigate the risk of infection with covid-19 posed by children returning to school during the current pandemic. It is not my place to comment on the whys and wherefores of this, but I thought you might like to know what is happening in school and how this might change in the short term how the functioning of the school appears to you as local residents.
The directions from the Government are that we have no more than 15 children in a group that mix with one another. All groups within a school have to be kept separate and segregated from one another at all times. From 1st June we will be operating 4 groups (these are starting to be called ‘bubbles’ in the media): YR, Y1, Y6 and keyworker/vulnerable children for whom we have remained open throughout the crisis.
Part of our planning to keep these groups separate at all times, is that we will move to having staggered start and end times to school. The first group will be dropped off at 8:30am in the morning, and then subsequent groups at 15 minute intervals, with the last group due at 9:15am. This will be done through a ‘rolling drop’ in the morning, meaning that parents do not park their cars, just pull up in front of school and members of staff will escort the children into school.
At the end of the school day we will be operating a staggered pick-up. This will run in 15 minute intervals again from 2:45pm until 3:30pm. Parents will have to park at this time to come and collect their child from the playground. We have asked parents to be as quick as they can through all these new routines.
This will mean that there will be less traffic at any one time within the village, but this will be extended over a longer period than usual. We are yet to find out if the school buses will be operating as these are the responsibility of Wiltshire Council.
Staff will be parking their cars near St Leonard’s Church, and we will endeavour to keep Main Street as clear as possible during the day.
We have no choice but to comply with the requirements and directives of the Government currently. These different arrangements are not a result of us in school deciding we want to do things differently, but us being told how we need to operate during the pandemic, in order to keep children and staff safe and well. As with many things at this time, it represents a disruption in routine for all – us within school and you as local residents. We appreciate your understanding of the difficulty of the current situation and the lack of flexibility in how we operate during these times.
We had previously established a procedure for questions and comments for the school from the village to be directed via the Parish Council. At this point we would ask you to respect this system, given both the huge level of workload we are all currently facing in school, as well as the fact that we have to actively discourage visitors from entering our building. So anything you may wish to say regarding this situation please can you direct to the Clerk of the Parish Council at clerkkeevilpc@gmail.com.
This is a difficult, confusing and dynamic situation for us all currently. I hope that you and your family are managing to safe and well during these times.
Lindsey Hermon
Headteacher
KEEVIL VILLAGE 