Drighlington Primary School

As we prepare to return and open the school to more children, we know that there are mixed feelings about how safe the school will be. We will continuously refer to Government guidelines, review all risk assessments and do all that we can to ensure that everyone is as safe as possible. One part of our work has been a review of our behaviour policy and what we expect of children when they return. Our Behaviour and Discipline policy already covers our expectations and this will not change. However, a few small adjustments need to be made whilst we are offering provision in Bubbles.

Behaviour policy amendment

Behaviour in our school is of very high standard overall and is something we are proud of. We expect that all children returning to school will follow our normal rules and also any changes we need to make to keep everyone safe during the pandemic. We will apply rewards and sanctions in our normal way so there will be nothing new for children to come to terms with. But, if children are persistently disruptive, we may need to exclude them. This is because we have not enough staff capacity for them to be taken out of their bubble for sanctions.

Thinking about more extreme situations, which we are sure we will not have to deal with, it is important to note that behaviour that puts others at risk will not be tolerated.  Should there be instances where a pupil deliberately uses COVID-19 risk of infection as a threat or actual event, for example deliberately coughing over someone, this will be treated seriously. We will apply sanctions within our policy, including a fixed term exclusion from school for an extended period of time if we think it is serious enough to merit it.

We expect that all children will be respectful, and will in fact be apprehensive about returning to school. Making school safe really matters for everyone and it is important that we all work together to achieve this.

What about school uniform?

We have decided that, for the moment, children do not need to wear uniform. This should help them to feel a little more at ease. We do ask that clothing is sensible and suitable for school activities, especially outdoor PE. Clothing must be suitable for washing at high temperatures and we highly recommend that this is done as soon as children get home each day.

What if someone shows signs of COVID-19?

The guidance from the Government is that should anyone show any signs of COVID-19, they must not remain on the school site. We will be implementing the Government recommended steps to make our school as safe as possible.  Anyone showing signs of Covid19, will be removed from their Bubble as promptly as possible. 

The Government says that if anyone develops coronavirus (COVID-19) symptoms in an education setting they must be sent home and advised to follow the staying at home guidance. If a child is awaiting collection, they will be moved to a room where they can be isolated behind a closed door, with appropriate adult supervision and at least 2 metres away from each other.

What can Parents/Carers do now?

Everyone’s support is necessary to make sure that our steps to manage this process are as effective as possible. Please remember that queries about organisation cannot usually be answered by teachers via Classdojo or Tapestry and that the emails system we use for general group messages to families is a no reply system.

Please let us know, via info@drighlingtonprimary.org.uk if there is anything you think we can do to improve our safety procedures. Please also let us know what we are doing well so that we continue the good practices we put into place.

Stay safe, and help us to work together as a team to keep our school community as healthy as possible.