We are emailing you as we reflect on our first couple of weeks, and to bring one or two matters to your attention. The information below covers adjustments to the start of the day, a reminder about social distancing and crowding on the playground, a reminder about symptoms and testing, and a communication from the City Council. We would also like to let you know that we will be finishing at lunchtime on Friday 23rd October (half term), so that we can have an INSET to review the effectiveness of our Covid-19 Risk Assessment and other wider school matters. 

We have had a positive start to the new term. Pupils seem very happy to be back at school, and staff are very pleased to have them back. We are all adjusting together to some of the routines with classrooms and break times, and certainly handwashing is a big feature of the school day! We will continue to explain and clarify expectations to the pupils over the next week or so until we are confident that these are clearly understood and are being followed. 

No doubt parents are aware that infections in the community have increased significantly in the whole of the Merseyside region in the last few days. Liverpool City Council has therefore written to all state maintained schools emphasising the following points, and we would like to pass this on to you as CFS parents:

• Do not leave the house if you or any of your household have symptoms.
• Reduce your social contacts at evenings and weekends.
• Maintain 2m distancing from other households, including outside at the start and end of the school day.
• Consider wearing a face covering at collection and drop off times.

 

The use of face coverings is becoming more prevalent as infection rates go up and if regional or local lockdown is brought in, it is likely to become mandatory in settings such as schools. For now, parents may like to consider wearing them when you drop off and collect your children. 

Inside school, we do not advocate the wearing of face coverings at this time; because as a rule, the bubbles do not cross over, and movement around the building and break times are staggered between bubbles. Our aim is to arrange the  timings of lessons so that there will be minimal cross-over and no crowding in the corridors. We will continue to smooth out pressure points over the next few days.

Our main measure for parents is to maintain 2m social distancing on the playground and around the school vicinity - please be vigilant about this. Can we also remind parents that they should not come into the school building except by arrangement or in exceptional circumstances.
 
Morning Drop Off - 8.25am-8.55am:
Pupils should not arrive before 8.25am and ideally not until 8.30am, but staff children may need to arrive earlier and should go to the playground. Although there is no lining-up, pupils may need to queue to wash their hands before entering school.

Pupils should have arrived and be washing their hands by no later than 8.55am so that they are in their form rooms no later than 9.00am to start the day. Please make every effort not to be late, but if your child does arrive later than 8.55am, they should ring the bell at the Office and come in the main entrance, and be signed-in and sanitise their hands.

Parents should spread out across the playground and leave a clear corridor for other pupils and parents as they enter the yard and line up to wash their hands.

Afternoon Collection - 3.25pm-3.45pm:
Please leave promptly after collecting your children and maintain social distancing from other families. We will endeavor to open the side gates by 3.20pm, but sometimes if PE is taking place in the playground, parents may need to wait a little.

It is important that children stay with their parents as we do not want children from different bubbles mixing at the beginning and end of the day; and to limit those collecting children to members of one household to avoid overcrowding. 

Please be reminded that Upper School pupils leave via the playground at 3.45pm and the side gate is closed at 4.00pm. We have asked parents and pupils not to wait or congregate at the top gate. 

Eating Food and Sharing Food:
Pupils need to bring a lunch in a sturdy lunchbox and enough water to last them the whole day. Please remind your children that they should not share lunch or snacks at all. Staff are also adhering to this guidance. 

Social Distancing:
We would like to clarify that Middle and Upper School pupils should not hug or have any physical contact even within their bubbles. We have adjusted our playground rules to help with this expectation, including playing games. Please be vigilant about this on the playground and on the way home as well. We are aware that other secondary schools may not be as clear about this expectation and if older siblings come to pick up at the end of the school day, they must comply with these  expectations. 

Reporting Sickness:
It may be difficult to gauge whether you or your child have the classic symptoms of Covid-19 (a new persistent cough, temperature, loss of taste/smell), or whether you have a cold or other condition. However, as children often display mild symptoms, please take each instance seriously. We would expect parents to err on the side of caution, isolate and book a test. We are aware that there are problems with booking tests at the moment, but the advice remains the same. We trust and pray that this situation is resolved soon. If your child has vomiting and/or diarrhea, you should keep them off for 48 hours after symptoms have stopped. If your child also has a fever, you should phone 111/119 and consider booking a test. 

Please notify us if you are trying to book a test, and let us know the result immediately by phoning 0151 709 1642.  

Parents should have by now received their brown envelopes containing forms that should be filled in and returned to school as soon as possible. These forms ensure that we have the most up to date contact and medical information for the children. Years R-7 will additionally receive forms about flu immunisations, which should be sent back by no later than Friday 18th September. 

You can find the current version of our Risk Assessment (RA) on the website. We expect to review the RA again towards the end of this half term, and let you know of any significant changes after that. If Liverpool or Edge Hill is put under a local lockdown, we expect schools to continue to stay open unless there are positive cases in the school. In these circumstances the Local Public Health team will advise our school about the next action we should take. In some cases one or more bubbles will be asked to stay home and self isolate. In these circumstances, school will start online learning for Years 4-11 along similar lines to last term, and home-learning packs will be sent for LS pupils.

Once again we would like to thank families and parents for your support and words of encouragement. Let us all commit to praying that despite multiple challenges, the Lord is glorified in our lives during these days. 

We will keep you updated about developments regularly.