- COVID-19 Contingency -

POLICY UPDATES JANUARY 2022

GOVERNMENT GUIDANCE NOV 2021

COVID 19 Contingency Planning and Remote Learning

The Lady Byron School will be open to students to access learning on site.

Information for parents/carers:

The Lady Byron School will be open to our students to access learning on site. Further information about how we are doing this safely will be circulated to parents once the school opens. This includes our arrangements for arriving/leaving, breaks and lunches, and lessons. Please get in touch with the school should you have any questions.

Our overriding responsibility is to keep our community safe, while maintaining appropriate care, support and education to our students in the best way we can. This is a time that will require a great deal of mutual collaboration as we endeavour to support one another as practically and safely as we can.

We have implemented various procedures and measures throughout our school to ensure the safety of our students and staff. The measures put in place will enable each student to attend school safely and enjoyably, while beginning to rebuild relationships with fellow peers and staff.

Arriving to the school: Arrivals will be set to provide a half-hour window to encourage a ‘staggered’ process to avoid all students arriving at the same time.

Before entering the main building, each student will be welcomed by their appointed staff member and be supported to have their temperature taken. From here, each student will be guided to their designated classroom or individual ‘bubble’.

It is compulsory for all students, staff and visitors to have their temperature taken before entering the main building.

Bubbles: We have implemented ‘bubbles’ throughout the school to maintain social distancing, staff and students from each designated bubble cannot mix in efforts to reduce contact as much as possible.

Each bubble has been catered to the individuals needs and in consideration of their person-centered plan, additionally we have restructured environments to create bubbles. Each bubble has a cleaning box providing cleaning equipment and utensils to ensure each unique space is clean and sanitised throughout the day.

Increase in regular hand-washing routines: Students will wash their hands on arrival and continue to wash their hands regularly at key points throughout the day. Each classroom is equipped with cleaning utensils, staff will ensure that surfaces are wiped down prior to each session throughout the day to enforce robust cleaning procedures and frequently cleaned environments.

We have also installed hand sanitising stations situated in multiple locations across the school to ensure that everyone in the building has regular access to hand sanitiser and to encourage regular hand-washing intervals.

Signage: Signage is evident throughout the whole building to implement a one-way system, to adhere to social distancing guidelines and to reduce traffic.

Visual formats to encourage social distancing and hand washing has been developed and is promoted throughout the building in different areas where appropriate.

Face Coverings/Masks: We are not requesting for face masks to be worn by students. The government is not recommending face coverings as necessary in school where systems of controls are in place (e.g. hygiene measures/ pupils and staff mixing in consistent groups).

Information for external visitors:

We are following government advice in order to keep our community safe. We hope to recommence visits and tours of the School for a maximum of 2 members of the same household in the near future. Families booked in for a visit will need to adhere to our strict health and safety guidelines, which includes temperature checks upon arrival, 2m social distancing, and wearing of a face mask indoors to keep the members of our school community safe. Please note, if we become aware of any local outbreaks/lockdowns, the guidance will be reviewed and tours may need to be cancelled at short notice. We continue to welcome families for virtual tours with us during the school day.

Please email us at info@ladybyronschool.co.uk in order to discuss your child’s education further and keep up to date with regards to future tours and visits of the site.

Remote Learning:

As all student attending The Lady Byron School are in receipt of an EHCP they are entitled to attend school full time. However, we understand that as parents/ carers you may prefer to keep your student at home for a valid reason, such as the student or family member being clinically extremely vulnerable. If this is the case, students will be provided with work to complete at home as well as having the opportunity to check in regularly with a member of staff.

If this is the case, as soon as is able, a work pack will be emailed for the student to complete at home. This can be emailed back to school in order for it to be reviewed.

We will aim to cover the same curriculum remotely as we do in school wherever possible and appropriate. However, we may need to make some adaptations in some subjects, for example, where practical work or performances might be involved. We recognise that some students may not be able to access remote education without support from adults at home. We acknowledge the difficulties this may place on families, and we will work with parents and carers to support those pupils in the best way we can.

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