Latest News
Leavers Video 2022
-
Message from Hampshire County Council to the children
Thu 28 May 2020 -
VE Day Celebrations
Sun 10 May 2020
-
Welcome Video for children starting school in September 2020
Thu 30 Apr 2020 -
A message to our children
Tue 14 Apr 2020
-
Letter regarding School Closure and Key Worker/Vulnerable Children
Sun 22 Mar 2020Letter regarding School Closure and Key Worker/Vulnerable Children
Dear Parents/Carers,
Firstly, can I begin by thanking you and the children for how you have responded to the situation we find ourselves in. As you can imagine, it’s been a difficult few days in school, action planning and trying to put arrangements in place, particularly given that we have only received the information about what is happening at the same time as you. I have spoken to some of you and your words of thanks and recognition of the difficulties we have been facing in school have given us strength and put smiles on our faces. Thank you.
The children have remained a credit to you. Despite the uncertainties and their concerns, they have continued to work hard in school this week, have looked after each other and have been a pleasure to teach as always.
Apologies that I wasn’t able to provide any further clarification yesterday about what will be happening next week - we had to wait for the full clarification from the government before we were able to act. That was eventually released late last night and I am able to now explain the plans for our school in this letter.
From Monday of next week, 23rd March, the government is asking schools to close to most children, and to strongly limit the number of children who are attending, in a bid to help prevent this virus from spreading further.
Schools are being asked to remain open for a small amount of children and there are strict parameters around children who we will be opening our doors to on Monday. The vast majority of children will remain at home.
Firstly, if a child has an Education Health Care Plan, we are asked to consider if that child needs to attend school. I will be speaking to the parents of these children to see if attendance at school is the safest and best option for them.
Secondly, as a school, we have a duty to continue to safeguard our children and families. Where there are some families or children with particular vulnerabilities, we will be providing school places and I will be speaking to the families of these children about them continuing to come into school each day.
We also have a duty to help to ensure that parents who are key workers are still able to attend work. Key workers have been defined by the government as those in the workforce who are essential in the fight against Covid 19. I will be listing the full government list at the end of this letter.
The government has also made it clear, however, that where children can be safely cared for at home and other arrangements made, this must be the case. Although one parent may be a key worker, if the other parent isn’t and can look after the child, therefore preventing having more children in school and risking the virus spreading at school, they need to stay at home.
I understand that people are worried financially if they are going to miss work. I also appreciate that people may be worried about their jobs. However, schools are acting in the way that they have been asked to act by the government. We are acting simply as we have been instructed to. Missing out financially is not a reason to ask schools to look after your children and we will only be taking children where there are no other possibilities. The fewer children who are in school the less likely it is that the virus will spread through school. Social distancing is still the Governments key message. I have to consider the needs, capacity and wellbeing of my staff and need to be able to put in a sustainable plan that allows us to continue to stay open over time. If I need to ask all my ‘non isolating’ staff to come in every day to look after large numbers of children, I risk the whole staff team becoming unwell and I will then be unable to open at all.
Following this Parentmail there is a questionnaire for you to complete if you believe yourself to be a key worker. If you feel you fall into this category please can you complete the form and return it by 4pm today. This will allow me to organise staffing and, if necessary, allow me to prioritise which key workers children I am able to offer a place to.
What will school look like on Monday?
For those who are attending school from next week, the school day is going to look very different. In order that children who are not attending school are not disadvantaged, the day will be organised more as activities rather than formal learning. Children are not required to wear school uniform but should be dressed appropriately and ensure that health and safety requirements are still met, e.g. no jewellery and appropriate foot wear. At the moment we plan to provide a lunch for the children but this may be subject to change if the kitchen is no longer to operate due to staffing levels.
What if my child isn’t attending school?
As shared yesterday, the teaching staff have been preparing activities this week that have/ will be sent home. What I feel is most important is that you put a routine in place and you provide some kind of structure for the children. We recognise that children respond best when there are clear routines and this will be even more essential in the uncertainty that is to follow.
What if my child doesn’t complete the tasks set?
We can’t enforce the home learning tasks. They are provided to help support your child and to provide some form of education. Hopefully they are things your children will enjoy and will be able to share with us when we eventually return to school.
How long will this be for?
The answer to that question is unknown. The situation appears to be changing on a daily basis and I will do all I can to keep you informed. My main ways of communicating with you will be through the website and via Parentmail. There might also be occasions when we give you a ring, just to see that everything is ok. If you need to speak to us, contact us through the admin email, admin@ringwood-inf.hants.sch.uk. I will also write a short weekly newsletter updating you with any news.
Are you open over the Easter holidays?
The government is asking that schools remain open to some children over the holidays, in order to keep key workers working and to help support our most vulnerable children and families during these difficult times. There are still two weeks before the Easter holidays and so although I have made some provisional plans, I won’t be confirming these just yet. I will communicate with those parents it affects nearer the time.
What time will the school be open?
For those children who do are attending school, we will open our usual hours from 8:50 in the morning and close at 3:15. I would ask that all children come into school via the front door so that they can be registered and sent to the area for learning in that day.
These are unprecedented times and I have never known anything Iike this to happen before; hopefully, we will never find ourselves in this situation again.
As a staff, we wish you and your families well over the next few weeks. If there is anything that you feel we can do to support you, please don’t hesitate to contact me via the admin email given previously.Stay safe, look after yourselves and each other and we will look forward to seeing you all again soon.
Best wishes,Hilary Silk
-
Coronavirus Update from DfE
Tue 17 Mar 2020New guidance for households with symptoms
Yesterday, the Government introduced new guidance on whole household isolation in response to the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak:
- if you live alone and you have symptoms of coronavirus (COVID-19), however mild, stay at home for 7 days from when your symptoms started
- if you live with others and you or another member of the household have symptoms of coronavirus, then all household members must stay at home and not leave the house for 14 days. The 14-day period starts from the day when the first person in the house became ill. It is likely that people living within a household will infect each other or be infected already. Staying at home for 14 days will greatly reduce the overall amount of infection the household could pass on to others in the community
- for anyone in the household who starts displaying symptoms, they need to stay at home for 7 days from when the symptoms appeared, regardless of what day they are on in the original 14-day isolation period.
The symptoms are:
- A high temperature (37.8 degrees and above)
- A new, continuous cough
The full stay at home guidance for households with these symptoms can be found here:
The Prime Minister’s statement from Monday 16 March can be found here:
Handwashing advice
The most important thing individuals can do to protect themselves is to wash their hands more often, for at least 20 seconds, with soap and water. Public Health England recommends that in addition to handwashing before eating, and after coughing and sneezing, everyone should also wash hands after using toilets and travelling on public transport.
Watch this short NHS film for guidance:
Department for Education coronavirus helpline
The Department for Education coronavirus helpline is available to answer questions about COVID-19 relating to education and children’s social care. Staff, parents and young people can contact this helpline as follows:
Phone: 0800 046 8687
Opening hours: 8am to 6pm (Monday to Friday), 10am to 4pm (Saturday to Sunday)Please note, we are currently experiencing high volumes of calls. We appreciate your patience at this time and apologise for any wait that you may experience. To ensure that we answer your calls as quickly as possible, we have now extended our opening hours to cover weekends and are increasing the number of call handlers available to answer your calls.
If you work in a school, please have your unique reference number (URN or UK PRN) available when calling the hotline.
Where to find the latest information
Updates on COVID-19:
Guidance for educational settings:
Guidance for social or community care and residential settings:
Travel advice for those travelling and living overseas:
Educational resources:
Latest Department for Education information:
-
Coronavirus
Mon 09 Mar 2020Please find information below from the Department of Education.
CORONAVIRUS
We are continuing to keep you updated on the government’s response to COVID-19 (Coronavirus).
Department for Education Coronavirus helpline
Today, we have launched a new helpline to answer questions about COVID-19 related to education. Staff, parents and young people can contact the helpline as follows:
Phone: 0800 046 8687
Email: DfE.coronavirushelpline@education.gov.uk
Opening hours: 8am to 6pm (Monday to Friday)
No school should close in response to a suspected (or confirmed)
COVID-19 case unless directed to do so by Public Health England.The importance of hygiene
Personal hygiene is the most important way we can tackle COVID-19.
Please help us in sharing simple and effective hand hygiene messages.
Public Health England has a dedicated webpage with a range of posters
and digital materials at:
https://campaignresources.phe.gov.uk/resources/campaigns/101-
coronavirus-/resources
Sign up is quick, free and means you will be alerted as more resources are made available.
Where to find the latest information
Updates on COVID-19:
https://www.gov.uk/coronavirus
Guidance for educational settings:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/guidance-toeducational-
settings-about-covid-19
Travel advice for those travelling and living overseas:
https://www.gov.uk/guidance/travel-advice-novel-coronavirus
-
Flu Immunisation - 26th November
Wed 09 Oct 2019The Immunisation Team nurses will be visiting our school on Tuesday 26th November 2019 to administer the nasal flu vaccine to pupils. Letters and consent forms will be sent out in November. For more information please contact the Immunisation Team on 02380 475221 or visit https://www.southernhealth.nhs.uk/services/child-health-services/school-nursing
-
Summer Sports
Tue 16 Jul 2019Summer of Sport
Well when the sun finally appeared we had a bumper summer of sport. A girls and boys team representing our School worked wonderfully together to secure second place in New Forest Schools Sports Quicksticks competition.
When we were finally able to hold our Sports Day we were treated to some excellent individual performances and could see the energy and interdependence when competing wonderfully in their colour teams, congratulations to green team!
Then this week a mixed girls and boys team represented the school in the New Forest Schools Sports Quadkids athletics competition. They competed with a smile on their face and showed good sportsmanship, power, pace and skill throughout. They ended the day as joint team winners, while Ben-James was the overall boys gold medallist and Georgiana was overall girls silver medallist and Evie won the bronze.
Finally I took a team to represent the school at an enjoyable cricket event, which all performed admirably in.
Well done to all!
Mr. Evans
-
Advent Sleepout 2017
Fri 01 Dec 2017As part of our Collective Worship on generosity, we talked about what it must be like to be homeless. Together with the church, we held the Big Advent Sleepout 2017 in our school playground on 1st December. Forty people slept out in cardboard box houses they had made themselves and the photos below show their experiences.
« Previous
Page 2 of 2