Latest News
Keep up to date with all the latest news happening in school and our community at the moment.
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September return to school
Fri 17 Jul 2020We are now at the end of probably the most tumultuous and challenging year we have had in schools since World War 2. Returning over the last three weeks has brought a semblance of normality back to school but it is still a far cry from where we once were. However, hopefully the new school year will see our pupils and our school start to look and feel more familiar and more settled and we can begin to put the past few months behind us.
The Covid-19 emergency has been an unprecedented event and it has radically changed and challenged, how we as a school have been able to operate. At times decisions, arrangements and changes have needed to be undertaken swiftly and throughout all of this, I feel the staff of Pontyclun Primary have responded magnificently. They have adjusted to all situations with fortitude, flexibility, humour and complete professionalism and have been an absolute credit to the school and the community we serve.
September will be here very soon and with it will come fresh challenges as we look to increase the daily capacity for pupils while still managing the health and safety issues that affect us all daily.
The Welsh Government and the Local Authority have provided all schools with explicit guidance and expectations for the return to school for all pupils in September and we have been working on turning these into a manageable plan.
The new school term will start on Tuesday September 1st.
Tuesday September 1st and Wednesday September 2nd will be designated teacher planning days with no pupils present.
Thursday September 3rd and Friday September 4th; only pupils in Reception, Year 3 and Year 6 will return.
Pupils in Year 6 can arrive in school from 8.40am and they will go straight to their classes with parents/carers following the same drop and go procedure we have used for the last 3 weeks.
Pupils in Reception will be met by the staff from Nursery who taught them last year and staff from Reception as they arrive, to help settle them into school. Unfortunately parents/carers are not permitted into the school buildings so you will need to pass your children onto the staff and they will take your child into class.
Pupils in Year 3 are to arrive at 9.10am entering the school site by the Maesyfelin entrance (by the library). They will be met by staff from Year 2 who taught them last year, along with their Year 3 teachers, who will take them into their new classes and help them settle.
Unfortunately parents/carers are not permitted into the school buildings so you will need to pass your children onto the staff and follow the one way system off the school site.
Where you are dropping a child in either Reception or Year 6 as well as Year 3, please do this for all siblings at 9.10am.
If you are dropping in Reception first, please can you go across the year 2 yard to join the one way system around the Juniors by the library. Please do not come across the front of the building by the school office.
Monday September 7th pupils in Reception and Years 1,2,3,4,5 and 6 will return full time. Pupils in these years can arrive in school from 8.40am and they will go straight to their classes with parents/carers following the same drop and go procedure we have used for the last 3 weeks.
Tuesday September 8th Nursery pupils will begin their staggered entry to school with Group A attending on Tuesday, Group B attending on Wednesday, Group C attending on Thursday and Group D attending on Friday.
Nursery pupils are to arrive via the Palalwyf Avenue entrance for a 9.10am start. You will be directed to where your child can come into the school building.
At the end of the school day the Palalwyf Avenue school gates will open at 3pm for parents/carers of pupils in the Foundation Phase to start collecting pupils.
The Junior gates will open at 3.20 pm allowing parents onto the school site to prevent congestion by the library. Junior pupils will be brought out onto the yard at 3.30pm and parents/ carers can collect their children following the same system we have followed for the last three weeks.
We will still be operating the one way systems around the buildings.
If parents/carers are collecting pupils in the Foundation Phase and the Juniors can parents / carers please pick up from the Foundation Phase first and then go across the Year 2 yard by the fort and join the one-way system by the library for Junior collection.
PLEASE BE AWARE THERE IS NO BREAKFAST CLUB FACILITY AVAILABLE AT PRESENT FOR THE START OF THE ACADEMIC YEAR.
These arrangements are subject to change. Should there be changes to the current advice and guidance, we will keep parents updated and let you know of any adjustments made by ParentMail.
We as a school would like to thank all parents/carers for your support and understanding over the last few months and we wish you a safe and enjoyable summer break.
We look forward to seeing you all in September.
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Breakfast Clubs/After School Clubs
Fri 17 Jul 2020Breakfast Clubs/After School Clubs
In line with Welsh Government guidance consideration will be given to the recommencement of breakfast clubs and after school provision following the phased return of all learners to school over a two week period in September. A staged approach to the re-introduction will be adopted following a review of the capacity of schools to meet demand whilst maintaining discrete contact groups and safe social distancing, where possible.
There will be no breakfast clubs or afterschool club provision for the first two weeks of term whilst this review is undertaken and portable breakfast provision will be made available for eFSM learners only during this period.
Thereafter, application processes for accessing provision will be agreed in partnership with schools to manage and a cap placed on numbers to ensure that health and safety, and appropriate social distancing requirements are met. Eligibility criteria will be devised and shared with schools. Where demand exceeds supply, clear eligibility criteria will be applied by schools and numbers accessing provision reduced in the short term to ensure safe management.
Key Actions:
• A phased approach to re-introducing breakfast club and wrap around care to be adopted from week 3 of the autumn term onwards.
• Numbers will be capped and where demand exceeds supply, priority will be given to eFSM, vulnerable learners and single parent working families
• Local authority to develop eligibility criteria and to jointly agree application processes with schools, who will retain responsibility for provisions
• Eligible children will access portable breakfast provision for the first two weeks of term. -
RCT Letter and FAQ's to parents / carers
Fri 17 Jul 2020Please see a letter from the RCT Director of Education and Inclusion Services regarding pupils return to school in September along with frequently asked questions. www.rctcbc.gov.uk/schoolreturnfaqs. -
Returning to school in September
Fri 10 Jul 2020We were pleased with yesterday’s announcement from the Minister for Education regarding schools reopening for the autumn term in Wales starting from Tuesday, September 1st. It will be lovely to be able to welcome all pupils back to school and at last return to some form of normality.
Welsh Government have stated, that the first fortnight back will be used to allow schools time for extra planning and re-organisation and all pupils will be back in full time provision by Monday September 14th.
Our priority now, is planning on ensuring we are able to get back to some sense of usual school life as soon as possible whilst working within the restrictions that the ongoing pandemic places on us to keep everyone safe.
Following on from yesterday’s announcement we are currently working on plans for ensuring all children can return as soon and as safely as possible with minimum disruption.
I hope that, providing the local authority inform us quickly of their expectations, I can share with you the plans for the start of term early next week.
Thank you for your understanding and patience in this matter .
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Week 3 Arrangements
Thu 02 Jul 2020As you are aware the local authority have informed us that we are not to open school to pupils for the week commencing Monday 20th July which had originally been planned for. As a result of this, children in KS2 who were to attend, will not get their face to face time with their teacher. In order for there to be parity with teacher face to face contact between pupils in KS1 and KS2, we have had to make a change to the arrangements for week 3.
For week 3 pupils in KS1 will attend in their teaching groups for mornings only and pupils in KS2 will attend in their teaching groups for afternoons only.
The morning session will run from 8.50- 12.00pm and the afternoon session will run from 12.30pm-3.30pm. Pupils in the morning session will not require a packed lunch and pupils in the afternoon session will need to have had lunch before coming to school.
We had tried to get both KS1 and KS2 pupils in at the same time but the restrictions on class sizes means we don’t have enough classroom space and staff to accommodate this.I apologise for having to make changes to the previous arrangements but do feel that all pupils should have an equal opportunity for teacher contact.
Just to remind parents / carers, if your child attends the hub, they cannot attend class teaching in the morning and then go to the hub or go to the hub in the morning and attend class in the afternoon. I appreciate this might influence parents / carers decisions for week 3.
Looking ahead to September there are a number of issues that still need to be addressed. We have received no notice so far of what the arrangements / expectations will be. Hopefully these will be issued before the end of term so we can all make the necessary arrangements ready to start the new term. The local authority have informed schools that they are considering nursery in their plans for September but it is unclear if this is present nursery or next year’s intake. Again, I will let parents / carers know when we have had clarification with this matter.
School reports will be issued next week and the week after, to pupils who attend the face to face teacher sessions. For those pupils not attending the face to face sessions, reports will be available for collection from the school office on Wednesday 15th July 2020 between 10am and 11am. Any reports not collected on this date will be posted to the home address. If you have changed address and not informed the school can you please let us know the new address so we can send the report to the correct address.
Stay safe,