Following announcements at the end of February and building on the return of Foundation Phase pupils, from the 15th March there will hopefully be a continued rollout of pupils returning to St Joseph’s with all year groups in Key Stage 2 returning to face to face learning in class.

This will be confirmed in the 21 day review on Friday 12th March. A copy of Welsh Government updated guidance can be found here: https://gov.wales/operational-guidance-schools-and-settings[1]15-march-html 

When pupils return, they will be kept in as small a bubble as practically possible (classes). This allows appropriate tracking of contacts as well as the reduction of contact groups in the event of a positive case.  

We will continue with our staggered start, break, lunch and finish times which will allow us to reduce any mixing of bubbles as effective mitigation measures. The LA have again stated that it is advisable, that where possible, pupils attend only one setting rather than several. 

We are going to be staggering the start times as we did previously. The KS2 & FP times are shown below. Please ensure you keep to your child’s class times to avoid congestion at the gates: 

Please note that all pupils will continue to enter and be collected from either St Mark’s Gate or North Road entrances only. All children should bring a healthy packed lunch and a drink as the kitchen remains closed. 

As with previous lockdown, pupils with siblings in the school to enter at older siblings allocated time and leave at younger siblings allocated time. Nursery pupils drop off and pick up times remain the same and are independent from KS2 and Foundation Phase.   

Parents and Carers will also need to follow appropriate measures during drop-off and collection times, including the correct wearing of face coverings and adhering to social distancing measures, both at the gates for drop off and on site for collection.   If you are exempt from wearing face coverings on medical grounds, then we can make alternative collection arrangements. 

The Welsh Government information states that the control measures we have adopted in school remain appropriate, despite new variants of the virus. The Local Authority continue to review control measures regularly, in line with Welsh Government guidance and we are taking every precaution we can to keep the children and staff safe 

Families are reminded that under no circumstances should learners attend school if they: 

•  feel unwell, have any of the three identified COVID-19 symptoms (a new continuous cough, a high temperature or loss of taste and/or smell) or they have tested positive to COVID-19 in the past 14 days 
• live in a household with someone who has symptoms of COVID-19 or has tested positive to COVID-19 in the past 14 days 

Outside of school grounds and out of school hours, it remains important that all staff, children and their families continue to stay at home as much as possible and limit their contact with others, ensuring that national prevention measures are followed. In her recent message to parents and carers, the Education Minister reinforced the need to avoid “play dates, birthday parties with members outside the immediate family and no sleepovers for the time being”.  In order to protect our whole school community, it is vital that we all continue to follow this guidance. Please be aware if your child also attends another setting, that the latest local authority advice is that pupils do not mix or cross bubbles and attend only one setting rather than several. 

I appreciate it has been a trying time, juggling learning and working from home. I would like to thank you again for all your hard work in supporting your children to continue to learn at home and also for the appreciation you have shown to the staff during this time. It has made a tough job all the easier knowing that we have your on-going support. 

We are really looking forward to welcoming our Key Stage 2 children back to school and getting back to a bit of normality. In the meantime, do not hesitate to contact us if there is anything you are unsure about or you just need a chat! 

Stay safe 

Cofion cynnes 

Alex Riordan