Page 3 - Return to School Guide - August 2020

Dear Parents and Guardians,
Tessa, Archie, Florence and I moved to Abberley at the start of August and we have been welcomed warmly into your wonderful community. Thank you. We are tremendously excited about the return of pupils on 6th and 7th September but, as with all schools, we are producing detailed risk assessments and introducing measures to minimise the risks posed by COVID-19. The latest government guidance on full opening of schools from September 2020 can be found here.
All children in the UK are expected to be in school full time from the start of the Autumn term and the recent variation to this legal requirement will cease. All staff are expected to return to work. If pupils are not able to attend school at any point next term, they should email office@abberleyhall.co.uk. We will be making every effort to ensure that school life continues as normally as possible within government and medical guidelines. We will continue to provide online teaching for a very small number of overseas children who are not able to join us for the beginning of term. Contingency plans are in place so that, should the worst happen and we are forced to close the school again, online teaching will
be put in place for all pupils immediately. Currently we feel that this is highly unlikely and the government have made it clear that every effort will be made to ensure schools remain open even if there is a local ‘spike’ in infections.
Research shows that there is a low risk of young children contracting or spreading the virus but that staff, parents and visiting adults pose a greater risk and so many of our precautionary measures bear this in mind.
The following guidance aims to give you an update on our latest thinking about how we will manage the return to school. Please note that some of these arrangements are not yet set in stone and guidance is fast-changing. You will receive the first of many newsletters from me on 1st September and this will provide an opportunity
to give you some final updates.
Our Autumn Calendar will not be printed for the coming term due to the flexibility needed, but it will appear on our new website and we will review and update it every week. I hope you understand that we are keen to do
all that we possibly can but that some events simply cannot go ahead at the time-being.
Thank you very much for reading the following guidance carefully. Please do not hesitate to contact me by emailing jonnie.besley@abberleyhall.co.uk if you have any queries.
Best wishes
Jonnie Besley
Headmaster
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