Recent letters shared with parents and carers.
19 March 2020
Dear Parents,
I am writing to update you, as best as I can, regarding arrangements at Galley Hill for the coming weeks. As you know, this is a rapidly changing situation and the details being provided to schools are still somewhat limited.
As of the end of tomorrow (Friday 19 March), the school site will be closed for the majority of our children. We have been making plans for providing learning opportunities for children who are away from the school site and you have already received an exercise book, pen or pencil and your child’s Purple Mash login.
Teachers have also been asked to ensure that by the end of tomorrow, all children in school have the following things to take home (as appropriate for their age):
If your child does not come home with these things tomorrow, please speak with their class teacher immediately. If they come home with them today, please feel free to keep them at home to reduce the risk of them being ‘accidentally’ left tomorrow.
Our school website will be utilised for setting work for those away from the school site each day. On the ‘pupils’ tab of the website, you will find ‘class pages’ and there is a page for every year group. By 9am each day, your child’s learning for that day will be recorded. There will be up to four tasks for each day and this will include a range of activities, some of which may be online, creative, expecting a written response in one of the books provided or physical.
We have set up a class email address for each class which can be used to respond to tasks or ask questions related to the learning. These email addresses will be monitored by the class teachers and TAs between 9am and 3pm on each usual school day (not weekends or in the Easter holidays) from Monday 23 March until we reopen. Staff will endeavour to respond to emails on the same day but depending on illness levels, those who are working in school each day etc this may not always be possible. These addresses are for learning related queries only. The teachers have been instructed not to respond to other questions relating to general school enquiries. The address for each class is their class name. Please use the appropriate address for your child’s class:
Nursery – Amber@galleyhill.herts.sch.uk
Reception – Garnet@galleyhill.herts.sch.uk / Turquoise@galleyhill.herts.sch.uk
Year 1 – Jade@galleyhill.herts.sch.uk / Crystal@galleyhill.herts.sch.uk
Year 2 – Pearl@galleyhill.herts.sch.uk / Diamond@galleyhill.herts.sch.uk
Year 3 – Emerald@galleyhill.herts.sch.uk / Ruby@galleyhill.herts.sch.uk
Year 4 – Opal@galleyhill.herts.sch.uk / Coral@galleyhill.herts.sch.uk
Year 5 – Onyx@galleyhill.herts.sch.uk / Sapphire@galleyhill.herts.sch.uk
Year 6 – Topaz@galleyhill.herts.sch.uk / Amethyst@galleyhill.herts.sch.uk
We know that some of you may not have access to the internet and we have been asking you to identify this to us all of this week. We have produced packs for each year group with about one week’s work within it. You can request this pack from your child’s class teacher or put your name down for one being sent home tomorrow at the office. We will be making additional packs for each week we are closed and these will be available for collection from the school each Friday (with work for the next week) from 10am to 3pm.
You will have heard on the news that we will be remaining open for vulnerable children or those whose parents are key workers. We have been provided with criteria for ‘vulnerable’ children and have contacted parents of all of those today to discuss whether they require a school place. At the time of writing, we are still awaiting a list of what is going to be considered a key worker however we have already asked that anyone who thinks they may fall into this category and who needs to continue sending their child to the school site to email admin@galleyhill.herts.sch.uk as soon as possible so we can make appropriate provision. Please include the words ‘Key Worker’ in the subject line. We will be contacting all parents who have made this request at some point tomorrow to confirm arrangements. As requested by the Secretary of State for Education, we are also making provision to have the school site open for the children of key workers during the Easter holidays should it be required.
The other enquiry we have been having is around those pupils entitled to free school meals. I would like to make it clear that there is a difference between ‘universal free school meals’ which is available to all children in Reception and Years 1 and 2 and the free school meals provided to low income families. It is only children in this second group for whom we are investigating provision. You will have heard on the news that the government is looking at setting up some kind of national voucher scheme but at this stage, no details have been released. In the intervening period, we are looking at working with our colleagues at Herts Catering to provide a free packed lunch for eligible children that can be collected from school each day. If you are eligible for free school meals and want us to provide you with further details of how you can access your child’s entitled lunches and the vouchers once details have been released, please email admin@galleyhill.herts.sch.uk with FSM in the subject line so we can let you know of all further details as and when we have them.
One item away from coronavirus that was due to be on the newsletter this week, is that Mrs Yates is sadly leaving us at the end of this term (3 April). It is therefore likely that tomorrow will be her last day in school. She has been an amazing member of our team over the last three years and she will be very much missed. We wish her and her family the very best of luck and happiness in their new home and sure you all share this sentiment.
I wanted to reiterate to you all that although the physical school site will be closing tomorrow for most pupils, the Galley Hill community will very much be open even if this is in a virtual capacity for most of you. We are absolutely committed to the children at our school and all staff members will do all they can to support your families as much as we can. This is a stressful and uncertain time for everybody and community spirit is more important than ever. Thank you for the support you have shown us so far and to the staff for their unwavering commitment. I wish you all good health over the coming weeks and look forward to us being reunited in the school building as soon as this crisis is over.
Yours sincerely
Mrs E. Birch
Headteacher
18 March 2020
Good afternoon,
Dear Parents/Carers,
Following the advice from the Government last night and the discussions parents had with Miss Elsey this morning, I am writing to you, with great sadness, to let you know that we have taken the decision to postpone both the Year 4 and Year 5 trips to London on Tuesday 17th March. The children will therefore be in school on Tuesday as usual.
As I am sure you can understand, this has not been a decision that we have taken lightly. We have spent much of last night and today in discussion with governors and staff.
We are hoping to postpone these trips to later in the summer term but obviously this will be subject to availability of coaches and the providers being able to accommodate us. It will also be dependent on how this on-going situation unfolds. We are going to be contacting all companies involved and will get back to you regarding rescheduling or possible refunds as soon as we have further details available.
The teachers will now be planning the learning that will take place at school on Tuesday for the classes.
Thank you as always for your support at this difficult time.
Yours faithfully,
Mrs E. Birch
Head Teacher
4 February 2020
Dear Parents/Carers
We have arranged to take the Year 4 children on a trip to The National Gallery in London. This will take place on Tuesday 17 March 2020.
In class, we are learning about the Ancient Greeks and the Mythology that they believed in.
All children must be dressed in school uniform.
The coach will be leaving the school at 9.15am and aims to return at approx. 3.00pm. We will keep you fully informed regarding the return journey.
The children will need a packed lunch on the day. However, they can bring their lunches in a rucksack, as this will be easier to carry around all day. NO GLASS BOTTLES, CANS OR SWEETS PLEASE.
Those children who receive Free School Meals, can pre-order one via the School Gateway app.
The cost of this trip will be £7.00 per child – this covers the cost of the coach.
This can be paid online via the School Gateway payment system along with giving parental consent. If you require assistance downloading the app, please see below or pop into the office.
Cash or cheque are also accepted. Please can cheques be made payable to Galley Hill Primary School.
** Please can we make you aware that when trips are arranged, the cost is based on the total number of children in that particular year/class group. Depending on venue, we usually have to pay in advance. If for any reason your child is not in school on the day of the trip, unfortunately, we will not be able to refund you as payment to the venue and transport will have already been paid for.
Thank you for your support in this matter.
** Unfortunately, if insufficient funds are received, the trip will have to be cancelled. If you have any queries or difficulties paying this, please contact the office.
Yours sincerely
Mr Kain Miss Hosein
Year 4
5 February 2020
Dear Parents/Carers
We have arranged to take the Year 5 children on a trip to The London Eye and The Science Museum in London. This will take place on Tuesday 17 March 2020.
We will be travelling to The London Eye by coach, then getting a tube to The Science Museum and returning to school by coach. This will be a great experience for the children.
In class, we are learning about places near and far, focusing on Hemel Hempstead and comparing it to London. Part of our work will involve comparing transport in Hemel and London.
All children must be dressed in school uniform.
The coach will be leaving the school at 9.15am and aims to return at approx. 5 – 5.30pm. We will keep you fully informed regarding the return journey.
We would like a few extra adult helpers, please can you state if you would be able to help on the day.
The children will need a packed lunch on the day. However, they can bring their lunches in a rucksack, as this will be easier to carry around all day. NO GLASS BOTTLES, CANS OR SWEETS PLEASE.
Those children who receive Free School Meals, can pre-order one via the School Gateway app.
The cost of this trip will be £17.00 per child – this covers the cost of the coach and attraction admission. This can also be paid in x2 instalments)
*** Please note that the school has subsidised this trip to help keep the cost down.
This can be paid online via the School Gateway payment system along with giving parental consent. If you require assistance downloading the app, please see below or pop into the office.
Cash or cheque are also accepted. Please can cheques be made payable to Galley Hill Primary School.
** Please can we make you aware that when trips are arranged, the cost is based on the total number of children in that particular year/class group. Depending on venue, we usually have to pay in advance. If for any reason your child is not in school on the day of the trip, unfortunately, we will not be able to refund you as payment to the venue and transport will have already been paid for.
Thank you for your support in this matter.
** Unfortunately, if insufficient funds are received, the trip will have to be cancelled. If you have any queries or difficulties paying this, please contact the office.
Yours sincerely
Miss Featherstone Mrs Cole Mrs Larner
Year 5
16th March 2020
Dear Parents/Carers,
In trying to keep you up to date with developments in school relating to Coronavirus, we have been provided with an update from Hertfordshire County Council to share with you all and have added in some additional information specific to our school.
You have probably seen the news that, at the end of last week, the government announced some new measures to deal with COVID-19 and also a change to its overall response, moving from the ‘contain’ to the ‘delay’ phase of its plan. As before, the advice remains that effective hand hygiene and using a tissue when coughing or sneezing are some of the most effective ways in which we can help reduce the spread of the virus. The school is continuing to do all that it can to minimise the spread with good hygiene and is following all the advice from Public Health and Herts County Council. As previously, if you wish to provide your child with hand sanitiser or hand cream due to their hands becoming sore, you can do as long as they do not share it with their friends at school.
Self-isolation and staying at home
As you know the government has widened their advice on who should self-isolate to include those that have coronavirus like symptoms - a new or continuous cough or a high temperature (above 37.8 degrees), however mild - should stay at home for at least 7 days to protect others and help slow the spread of the disease. All our staff will be expected to follow this advice, and we ask you to ensure that your children do so too. If your children are absent from school because they are ill with these (or any other) symptoms, please continue to call the school every day on 01442 406000. This number has a 24 hour answerphone so please leave a message at any time. Absence of this nature will of course be authorised.
In certain circumstances you may be advised by medical professionals to keep your child at home even if they are not unwell. If this is the case, please let us know and we will support your decision. I understand that parents are concerned about the risk of their children catching Coronavirus and that some may wish to keep children at home even though they have not had any medical advice to do so. However, we cannot agree to a child’s absence for that reason alone. All children who are well enough to come to school are expected to continue attending as normal unless advised otherwise by Public Health England.
As stated, our staff are following this same guidance and so it is likely that there are times when the staff who are usually with your child are absent from school. We will do all we can to continue the high quality provision for the children at Galley Hill during this time but appreciate your patience if your child’s usual class teacher or TA is away from school.
School trips and events
There has been updated guidance on school trips and the government has advised that planned school trips outside the UK should not go ahead. The government advice is that school trips within the UK can at present go ahead safely. As the COVID-19 situation in the UK is changing rapidly we have reviewed the risk for each trip and have decided as a school to postpone those to busy areas where a large number of people will pass through. As such the Year 4 trip to the National Gallery, the Year 5 trip to the London Eye and Science Museum and the Year 3 trip to the North London Mosque have all been postponed. Unfortunately the Year 2 trip to the Indian restaurant has also been cancelled due to the provider not having enough staff to accommodate us. The Year 1 trip to College Lake will go ahead as planned.
We have also heard today that the Dacorum School Sports Network have decided to postpone all of their planned events up until the Easter holidays. This includes the Dance Festival which children from Year 2 were due to attend and the netball and football tournaments that selected children from Years 3, 4, 5 and 6 were attending.
Currently it is our intention for other planned school events to take place. These include Year 1 to 6 Open Classrooms on Tuesday 17th March, Reception Writing Open Morning on Wednesday 18th March and Team Amethyst Sharing Assembly on Monday 23rd March (which will be presented to a limited audience). However, we ask any parents intending to attend these events to use the same precautions as staff and children and stay away from the school if they are showing even minor symptoms of the virus. We also expect you to wash your hands on arrival at the school.
The possibility of school closure
Some parents have asked whether we could choose to close the school now. If we are ordered to close the school by Public Health England, because there is a risk to children/students and staff we will do. If the government make a decision to close all schools we will do so, otherwise our intention is to stay open and operate as normal. The Government has made it clear it expects schools to remain open unless public health advice has been given to close. This is based on the clear advice from the Chief Scientific Adviser to the Government, Sir Patrick Vallence, on how best to manage this epidemic. We are sure that you will be supportive of this.
We are however preparing in case the school closes and we are looking at ways for managing a remote curriculum. You have already received your child’s Purple Mash login and an exercise book and pen or pencil. These need to be stored somewhere safely. Teachers will be posting learning tasks to the school website each day that your children should complete at home. We will be setting up class email addresses so that you or your child can email staff from their class with responses to learning tasks or queries about the tasks set if necessary. Further details will be provided in the event of prolonged school closure being announced. We recognise that if closure is necessary this will have significant implications for many of our families with issues ranging from the loss of free school meals to problems for families finding suitable childcare.
Keeping informed
Obviously, we will continue to provide updates as the situation continues to develop and would ask that you inform the school of any contact your family may have had with a person with symptoms or who has tested positive as soon as possible.
We fully appreciate that these are stressful and uncertain times for everyone and would like to thank you for your continued support.
Yours sincerely
Mrs E. Birch
Headteacher
January 2020
Dear Parents, Carers and all friends and family,
Wanted: Adult volunteers to listen to readers.
At the last parent forum, we discovered that the parents attending did not know that we welcome regular volunteers.
We warmly welcome adults to come into school and listen to children read. This means that children receive one to one reading time with an adult who can help, support and talk to them about their book. It would involve sitting in a quiet area with a child. They will read their reading book to you. You can support them when needed and ask them questions about the story or information that they have read. Having quiet time with individual pupils to listen to them read is something that all school staff would love to have more time each day to do. To have regular volunteers to do this is a wonderful gift. It does not matter what your experience is or if you are a confident reader. We can place you with a year group that you are comfortable with.
We welcome reading volunteers in the afternoon, between 1pm and 3.10pm. We would place you in a year group that your child/children are not in. We would prefer you to come in on the same afternoon each week as this means the class teacher can plan for your visit. We welcome volunteers for one afternoon a week or more.
To ensure the safety of all children, we will need to do a DBS check for you and ask you to provide personal references.
If you would like to volunteer your time or have any questions, please come and speak to Mrs Birch or myself when we are on the playgrounds before school each day. Alternatively, please go into the office and let the office staff know.
We look forward to hearing from you.
Yours Sincerely
Miss Elsey
Deputy Head & SENCo
Dear Parents/Carers
Galley Hill School has been offered a cycle training programme where qualified cycle instructors will come into school and teach level 2 cycle training course. This course is open to Year 5 children only and will take place from Monday 9th March – Friday 13th March 2020.
We have been offered this course at a fantastic price of £27.00 per child (normally £47 per child). This is a great opportunity and an excellent life skill to have.
Level 1 & 2 – Skills & Basic Road
The pupils will learn a series of skills exercises on the playground with integrated theory based on Tales of the Road and highway code for young users including sessions at local road junctions.
Successful participants will receive a level 2 skills certificate and badge.
Bikes need to be in a good road worthy condition prior to the start of the course and safety helmets are compulsory.
Bikes will need to come in on the Tuesday morning and can be kept here for the week. Bikes will be brought into the school and stored safely each evening. Bikes can be taken home each afternoon but you will need to ensure that it comes back every morning. Unfortunately, the school cannot accept any responsibility for loss or damages should they occur.
There must be a minimum of 10 pupils to participate in this course. Unfortunately, If the numbers are less we will not be able to go ahead with the course.
To book your child’s place on this course, please fill in the permission slip below and return it to school by Friday 24th January 2020 with a £10 deposit. Full balance payable by Friday 14th February 2020.