York primary school will only welcome back children of critical workers

It comes as primary schools begin reopening to more children in reception, year one and year six from today.

In the letter, Poppleton Ousebank Primary School principal Estelle O’Hara said that following the Prime Minister’s initial announcement regarding the wider opening of schools, the school gathered a range of information from its families and have been thinking about possible arrangements for returning pupils.

Along with the announcement, came additional information regarding strict measures around safe opening including reduced class sizes, strict social distancing within classrooms, staggered starts and ends to the day to name a few, Mrs O’Hara said.

The guidance from the Government continues to prioritise vulnerable children, children with SEND (Special educational needs and disability) and the children of critical workers, she added.

Mrs O’Hara explained in the letter: “Having relaxed the critical worker criteria, we have been overwhelmed by the response, with the number of families now requesting to access the childcare provision quadrupling. Because of this, regardless of Boris Johnson’s announcement on May 28, we will only be welcoming back pupils from critical worker families who applied for a place before Friday 22nd.

“Unless safety guidance is relaxed or is changed, we will not be contacting families outside of critical workers again about a return to school this term.

“I realise that this is going to be incredibly disappointing for our children and parents.

“However, we must follow the guidance and put safety of all first.”

From today, staff will be in school every week, and will continue to provide online work for children at home, Mrs O’Hara said.

Last week, Brian Crosby, CEO of Hope Learning Trust York, which Poppleton Ousebank is part of, tweeted: “Some of the first Hope primary schools are to open on June 1. No primary school will open until the trustees are certain we are safe to do so. It will be great to get our students back in education in the classroom.

“Our schools have been open throughout the crisis with staff providing care throughout the Easter and bank holidays.”

Meanwhile, the owner of nurseries in York and Malton has praised staff and families for their support during the lockdown, and says children will have even better toys and facilities to enjoy when they return.

Starchild Nurseries, which has sites in Walmgate in York and in Malton Market Place, has used the lockdown period to invest in more books, toys and equipment, including eight wobble boards.

David Pierce, owner of Starchild, praised his staff for their flexibility and dedication during the coronavirus lockdown and thanked them and families for their support. The nurseries will begin reopening from today.

He said: “Lockdown has been really hard for everyone but it’s been a big struggle for the children and we’re really looking forward to welcoming them back over the next couple of months. It’s been a long time since March when we last had our Lingotot sessions so we’re hoping the children remember their French and Spanish!

“I think the main thing for us that everyone stays safe and we’ve been working away behind the scenes to ensure we have a gradual, managed return to normal life. We’re looking forward to welcoming all of our existing children back, and also some new faces.

“The lockdown brought us many unknowns when it was announced for us and I had a big scramble to work out how to manage the situation and most importantly how to make sure all our key worker families were looked after by us. I can’t take the credit for this as the team jumped to the challenge and provided one on one babysitting services at our normal nursery rates. It was important for us to do this as we didn’t want the parents to be out of pocket in this difficult time. One of the team even moved into a parent’s house for a few weeks to make it work so I’m extremely proud to say I have some great team members across the two nurseries.”

Staff have also been posting videos of short stories and songs on a secure website, for babies, toddlers and pre-schoolers to enjoy and to help them keep in touch with staff.

Mr Pierce said Starchild had also made donations to three local families with children with additional needs, through the York Inspirational Kids group, and said: “We’ve used the lockdown period to invest in more equipment and toys, books etc, to further enhance our offering for children. We bought eight wobble boards for use across both sites which are great for exercise, balance and for creative play for children. We’ve also started to replace all the toy cars with Candylab Wooden toy cars which are not only lovely to play with but responsibly designed in Brooklyn by people who care about toys the way we do.”

Parents in North Yorkshire are being assured that children’s wellbeing and safety will be prioritised as they return to primary school with new rules on social distancing in place.

Each school across the county has carried out a risk assessment to plan safety measures for their specific circumstances and decide whether they can open safely. By Friday, 110 primary schools in North Yorkshire – just over a third - had confirmed they will be opening today to the year groups identified by the Government; reception, Year 1 and Year 6. The county council is working with all other primary schools towards their reopening in the coming weeks.

An additional 24 primary schools in North Yorkshire are planning to open from June 8 and others are opening so staff can plan how teaching will take place in their individual settings with social distancing rules in place.

Parents are encouraged to send their children to school, but those who decide to keep them at home will not be penalised.

Secondary schools will be opening from June 15 to allow students in key year groups – Year 10 and Year 12 – to have contact with teachers as they study for exams they will sit next year.