COVID-19

Extended opening of school

We are delighted to welcome back all our families following a period of absence. It has been a while since we have seen everyone, and it is always a joy to see you all.

Education provision for children during school closures.

Hope Learning Trust is committed to supporting the directive set out by the Government. The Government has asked parents to keep their children at home, wherever possible, and asked schools to remain open only for those children who absolutely need to attend. The Government’s medical advice is very clear, social distancing is by far the best way to protect our children. The best way to protect your children is for them to be at home and isolated from other young people. The request from Government to provide emergency educational cover is for exceptional cases where parents are involved in frontline activity. If a parent is able to cover then this should be the norm. With this key message in mind, Poppleton Ousebank is open for vulnerable children, children with EHCPs and for Key Workers who do not have alternate childcare due to both adults being Key Workers or they are a Key Worker and a single parent family.

 

What is a key worker?

‘Key workers’ are defined as those whose work is critical to the COVID-19 response or those who work in one of the critical sectors listed below: 

• Health and Social Care
• Education and Child Care
• Key Public Service
• Local and National Government (linked to COVID-19)
• Food Supplies
• Public Safety and National Security
• Transport
• Utilities, Communication and Finance
• Key Workers
• Health Care
• Journalist and Broadcasters
• Religious Staff, Charities and Workers delivering frontline services

For a complete list of all roles which the government has classified as ‘critical’ please visit the Gov.uk website

 

All parents have been sent an email containing a request form to support the cases identified above. Parents should follow the information on the letter and return the request to the school email hello@pop.hlt.academy

You will receive an email to explain whether or not you have met the criteria. Unless the school has agreed your request, please do not bring your children to school.

Further information regarding child support in school

Children are not required to where school uniform

Child care will be provided from the space that POPSOC uses - families can park in the bottom car park to drop off and pick up.

School will provide a free school dinner for the first week. Children may bring a packed lunch. After this, school dinners will be charged at the usual rate.

Supporting home schooling

Each week, teachers will post work  on the school website (Early Years) or on Google Classroom. Our aim is to support children's learning as best as possible under the restricting circumstances. Teachers are spending time not only planning the activities for the children, but also writing guidance to support parents. You can find the information under 'Children', 'Year pages', 'Homework'. There is also a 'How to' guide to signing into Google classroom.

We are experiencing extraordinary times that will test us all. Please let us know via the school email if you experience any difficulties accessing the information.

Special Educational Needs

Due to the Covid 19 pandemic schools have been required to close their doors to most of their families, with the majority of our children with SEN being expected to stay home, if it is safe to do so, unless they have a social worker or a parent/carer who is a key worker. 

 

In these unprecedented times the legislation around provision for children with Education Health and Care plans has been temporarily changed meaning that current provision is likely to be different to that listed on the plan. Working with the Local Authority, Hope Learning Trust continues to use ‘reasonable endeavours’ to meet the needs of our most vulnerable children, including those with EHC plans.

 

In accordance with the latest guidance, brief risk assessments have been completed by the Trust SENDCos for all children with EHCPs (including those currently undergoing statutory assessment) and the content of these have been agreed with parents. Consideration is given as to whether or not a child’s needs can continue to be met at home each week during a welfare call between parents and the SENDCo. The vast majority of children with EHC plans are being well supported at home and provision is co-produced between home and school to include a variety of strategies to meet individual needs, including:

 

• signposting to free educational resources e.g. BBC Bitesize, Oak Academy, Oxford Owl etc.
• regular updates on school websites and Twitter accounts.
• personalised resources to meet learning needs shared electronically via email, Google classroom or Tapestry, or in paper copy where required.
• regular contact with the class teacher via telephone, email, Dojo or Google.
• weekly telephone contact with one of the Trust SENDCos. SENDCos may also link in some external agencies with families to provide additional advice and resources if this is agreed.
• any EHC plans due for annual review will still be completed remotely.

 

For specific enquiries please contact your child’s class teacher in the first instance. The Trust SENDCos can also be contacted via email s.cope@hlt.academy and k.mills@hlt.academy.

 

For more general guidance on supporting your child at home please follow the links below.

https://www.ipsea.org.uk/news/ipsea-update-on-covid-19-school-closures-and-sen-provision

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/help-children-with-send-continue-their-education-during-coronavirus-covid-19