26th June Newsletter

Dear Parents/Carers,

Welcome Return to School

It has been a week full of Government announcements which have been very welcome especially with regards to all our children returning back to Trinity in September. Ministers plan to drop restrictions on classroom bubbles which will enable classrooms to be at their capacity. We are so happy and relieved to hear this news and I cannot wait for there to be some normality at Trinity.

However, there is also the recognition that the situation may well change before September.

Therefore, the Governors and Senior Management Team are looking at various scenarios should restrictions be imposed all of which will be communicated to you before the end of term.

1 Metre Distance

Following on from the Government’s announcement we are beginning to look at implementing the 1 metre social distancing rule in classrooms from the 4th July onwards. The number of children in a bubble remains at 15.

We are now looking at our bubbles across the school and will use the 1 metre rule to maximise capacity in classrooms ahead of a full return in September. This may well have an impact on the current bubble/days your child is in and I can only apologise in advance for any upset this may cause. As a school, we are responding to the changes as well as looking at the effective deployment of staff.

There is still the recognition that younger children find it difficult to socially distance despite asking them to remain apart; however we are mitigating risks by following the protective measures recommended by the Government such as washing hands on a regular basis, wiping surfaces etc.

COVID Catch Up

Children in England are set to take part in a £1 billion Covid “catch-up” package to directly tackle the impact of lost teaching time during the coronavirus lockdown. As plans continue for a full return to education from September, the government has said that £650 million will be shared across state primary and secondary schools over the 2020/21 academic year.

This is a one-off grant which is aimed at supporting pupils in state education as it is recognised that there has been lost time in education as a result of the pandemic.

It will be for Head Teachers to decide how the money is spent and the school will have various options available to them.

Return of Other Year Groups to Trinity Next week we will welcome back Year 2 to Trinity and we are very excited to see them and hear their news. We are also welcoming back Y5, Y3 and Y4 for Friendship Social Lunchtime events.

Distance Learning and Support

For those of you who are unable to send your child(ren) back to school at the moment, we are still here for you. Teachers are continuing to send learning home on a weekly basis via GOOGLE Classroom. The staff are organising more ZOOM calls as well as parents/carers being able to request a telephone call to their child from a member of staff (not necessarily the class teacher).

ZOOM Calls

These have been used in Year 5 and Years 3 and 4 and they have been very successful. It has been wonderful to see the children and hear about what they have been up to although it does make the staff miss them even more. Several of our children have celebrated

their birthdays during lockdown so belated happy birthday wishes to them all.

Telephone Calls to Children

The staff have been making telephone calls to those of you who have requested it. It has provided us with another opportunity to contact our children and offer them our support and to let them know we are here for them. We will continue to make the calls next week so please do let us know if this is something you would like for your child.

FAQs

A huge thank you our Chair of Governors Rhian Nicholson who put together a very comprehensive and detailed document which answered all the questions that were asked by our community upon hearing the news regarding the wider opening of schools. The FAQs provides a clear explanation of the rationale behind the difficult and challenging decisions that the school was faced with on a daily basis. A personal thank you to Rhian for her support which is always welcome in a crisis.

Trinity Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs

Download • 131KB

Transition, the End of Term, New Classes

Having navigated our way through many issues presented to us on a daily basis, the Senior

Management Team have also been looking at ways of celebrating the children’s achievements during this academic year; transition and negotiating the myriad of options for children moving into their new classes from September onwards. All of this is incredibly complex and challenging but one thing I have learnt about myself and my team of senior leaders is that we have incredible amounts of creativity, the strong will and determination to do what is right for our children and the resilience to stand firm and resolute in our judgements and decision making.

Once we have an overview of what the transition and end of year arrangements will be together with the children’s new classes we will communicate this to you. Ideas we are discussing include a ZOOM.

Party for the children; the awarding of certificates via a virtual platform; etc.

Thank you for all your ongoing support and for all your hard work and effort.

Beatriz Melero and the Trinity Team