To Parents & Carers,
Re: School Timings from 28th September 2020
Firstly, I would like to pass our sincere thanks for your continued support. We have had to make many changes
to procedures around the school to maintain a safe and a positive learning environment. All Pupils, including
our new starters, have made an enthusiastic return and staff have remarked on the positivity within the
building.
We know that the National trend for COVID19 suggests that positive cases are on the rise. We also know that
locally testing has become very difficult. Please continue to keep the school office informed if your child is to
be absent or develops any of the symptoms related to the virus. We will continue to follow our risk
assessments in and around the building to lessen the opportunity of the virus affecting our bubble.
I write also to inform you of our updated timings for the school day. This mainly affects the lunchtime period
and the earlier closure on a Friday. To enable social distancing measures to be followed and staffed correctly
we have had to split our dining into sittings. This allows us to accommodate all pupils to dine as well as giving
staff a statutory break. Currently, our staff do not have lunchtime whilst pupils are in school. The earlier
closure has meant this time can be given after pupil departure. As we move towards a full school day
employee breaks have had to be considered more closely.
The model below will allow all pupils to access a full academic timetable over the week. The shortened
activities timetable on Friday will give departments time back for planning and preparing for content delivery
should a full closure occur.
We always endeavour to remain open to our fullest capacity. Should COVID19 gain momentum, we want to be
as prepared as possible. The leadership team foresees that staff members may well be affected if their own
children are sent home from schools and our strategies must have some flexibility. We will try to communicate
decisions as quickly and as efficiently as we can and in the best intentions of our families. In the event of
staffing difficulties we may have to make difficult decisions regarding year groups not attending on certain
days. This decision will be considered a last resort and would work on a rotation (see below) to create as little
disruption as possible to schooling.
Should you wish to discuss any information provided in this letter please feel free to email me
pcohen@oakbank.beds.sch.uk
I thank you again for your patience and continued support.
Yours faithfully
Peter Cohen
Executive Head Teacher
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1WhUIYt4WGMMM4zVkv_R7zx_1tlEYll6S/view?usp=sharing
