Hi Everyone

We are looking forward to welcoming our students back into school and college on Thursday 3^rd September. Transport are working to secure provision to get students into school and college and have been in touch with some of you already to outline plans. We will be liaising further with transport to finalise these plans at the beginning of next week when we will also share more information about the start and end of the school and college day. During our INSET day on Tuesday we will be sharing our updated risk assessment with all staff, and this will then be published on our website.

I appreciate that these are difficult times and many of you will be anxious about your son/daughter returning to school/ college. Please be assured we are doing all we can to ensure everyone is kept as safe as possible. If you would like to discuss any specific concerns, please do not hesitate to contact me via dojo, email or by ringing the school on Tuesday or Wednesday.

Enjoy the rest of the summer break.

Best wishes

Jude

 

 

Thank you

Jude

23^rdJuly 2020

 

Dear Parents and Carers

 

We are working on our plans for the full re-opening of school in September, and our aim is for all students to be back in school and college.

 

School and college  will operate in five ‘bubbles’– one each for college, 6^th Form, ASC, PMLD and Lower school and within the ‘bubbles’ we will be working mainly in smaller class groups. We will work with transport to stagger the start and end of the school day and we will manage break and lunchtimes to limit any possibility of cross infection. We will continually aim for social distancing and reinforce hygiene expectations with regard to handwashing and disinfecting equipment between use. We have a good supply of PPE and staff will wear this where appropriate during procedures that require close contact.

At this stage we are still awaiting further information from transport and health in order that we can finalise our plans. Please be reassured that we are doing all we can to ensure the full return to school on 3^rd September and we will be in touch with you towards the end of the summer holidays to finalise our plans and provide you with additional information. Our updated risk assessment will also be made available on our website prior to the return to school in September.

 

We will contact you again with our final plans towards the end of the holiday. If you would like to discuss your son/daughter’s return please get in touch with me either by dojo, or email me at jlomas@brentwood.trafford.sch.uk  I will check my emails regularly throughout the holidays and respond as soon as I can. During the two weeks commencing 10^th and 17^th August I will only respond to emergency contacts. We will be in touch with everyone prior to our return.

 

I am really looking forward to seeing everyone back in school and returning to some sort of normality in September.

 

Wishing you all well

Kindest Regards

Jude Lomas

Headteacher

2nd July 2020

Dear Parents/Carers

I hope you and your families are all well.

 

Return to school in September
As you will be aware the Government has announced that schools and colleges will open to all students in September. Following further information announced today, we are in the process of planning for the Autumn Term. Our aim is to keep all of our students and staff as safe as possible, and we are working on plans which include:

 Grouping students and staff together in bubbles by department
 Providing a staggered start and end to the day to relieve congestion at entrances
 Arranging separate lunch breaks
 Continuing to encourage regular handwashing and wiping down of equipment
 Students and staff who display symptoms to stay at home
 Working with public health regarding test track and trace in the event of there being a case in school
 No assemblies or big group events
 Modifying the curriculum to reduce community visits to enclosed public spaces
 Re-organising the school to ensure specialist rooms are allocated to bubbles.

We will also have to prepare contingency plans in the event of a local lockdown.

One of the difficulties we face is managing transport of students to school. Our aim is to teach students in ‘bubbles’ throughout the day and we are working with Trafford transport in the hope that these groupings will be replicated on school buses. However we will be asking parents and carers if, in the first instance, they can transport their son/daughter to school themselves. Obviously this is by no means possible for many parents and carers and we will do all we can to work with transport to ensure all students can get to school and college.
I fully understand the anxieties that parents/carers and students will have regarding a full return to school and college and we want to support you with these issues. We are happy to try to answer individual questions – please do not hesitate to contact school to raise your concerns.

INSET Days
We had planned to return to school on 7th September, and we were hoping to have 4 INSET days during the week commencing 31st August. However, we have decided to change these plans and we will now have just two INSET days on 1st and 2nd September and students will return to school on Thursday 3rd September. This is because we will be unable to carry out much of our training due to limits on staff gathering together and social distancing preventing staff from carrying out some training. Also, we feel it would be more beneficial for students to return to school earlier than previously planned after such a long break. We will have to take these INSET days at another time, and will publish the dates as soon as possible. If you have pre-booked holidays which mean you will be away on 3rd and 4th September, these will be classed as authorised absences.

Holiday Clubs
School and College are not opening for educational purposes during the summer holidays, but we will be working with the Manchester United Foundation to provide a holiday club to some of our students. The club will be run on a smaller scale to that previously planned as we will need to organise the students in bubbles. Therefore I am sorry if you replied earlier in the year requesting a place. Holiday club places will now be offered to some students who meet the following criteria:

 Those whose parents are frontline workers
 Students eligible for free school meals
 Students who have not attended school through lockdown.
Places are very limited and letters for holiday club will be sent out to those students who we have identified as qualifying for a place in the next few days.

Over the coming weeks I will continue to keep you informed of our plans for September.
Kindest regards
Jude Lomas
Headteacher
Brentwood School and College

https://search3.openobjects.com/mediamanager/trafford/fsd/files/link_newsletter_may_2020.pdf 

Dear Parents/Carers
I hope you and your families are all keeping well in these difficult times.

Our school staff will be contacting you in the coming weeks to discuss the ‘reasonable endeavours' we can put in place to meet the provision for your son/daughter’s EHCP. We want to look at what is on your son/daughter’s plan and see if we are able to meet any provision either in school if they are attending, remotely, or at home with support and resources from school.

 

However it will be impossible to deliver some aspects of provision due to social distancing rules, shielding and health issues. We do not want anyone to feel they have to deliver provision at home but want to work with you to find a way forward that you are in agreement with.

As you know the government have advised special schools to gradually increase numbers from June. We are therefore looking at our model of delivery and including additional students where we have assessed that they would benefit from some time in school/college. We are fully committed to keeping staff and students as safe as possible, and will therefore continue to provide part time placements and limit numbers in school.

 

Some of you will be returning to work, and I am sure that for some of you it is becoming increasingly difficult to care for your son/daughter at home. We are interested to hear how you feel about your son/daughter returning to school, although places will continue to be very limited. We need to keep everyone safe and social distancing is almost impossible in our setting!

 

Stay safe everyone
Best wishes
Jude

Jill McGregor
Corporate Director
Children’s Services
Trafford Council
Trafford Town Hall, Talbot Road,
Stretford, Manchester M32 0TH
Email jill.mcgregor@trafford.gov.uk
Telephone 0161 912 2365
www.trafford.gov.uk

 

Date: 19 May 2020

 

Dear Parents & Carers
An update regarding the re-opening of schools
We are aware that the last 2 months have been extremely difficult for many families. Routines have changed, parents have had to home-school and work from home, whilst other have been furloughed or have lost their only form of income. Many of us are missing the direct contact we would normally enjoy with our families and friends and may have experienced the devastating impact of this disease. This has undoubtedly had an impact on all of us along with the uncertainty of what the future brings.
We are writing to you all to provide an update of the work and approach that is being progressed here in Trafford following the Government’s latest announcements on 10th May regarding the re-opening of schools.
As you are aware, since 23rd March, schools have remained open only to children of critical workers and vulnerable children and I am sure you will join us in thanking every member of staff that has worked so hard to make this happen not just during term time but throughout the school holidays. Working to support schools to safely open for a wider group of pupils requires very careful consideration and planning and it is right that we take time to consider how we can do this; so we want to share with you some of the progress to date. The Prime Minister stated his ambition for schools to potentially open for children and young people in specific year groups from 1st June. The Government have now asked all Primary schools to open for all children in Nursery, Reception, Year 1 and Year 6. Secondary schools, sixth forms, and further education colleges will also begin some face to face support with Year 10 and Year 12 pupils. Special schools should work towards welcoming back as many children and young people as can be safely catered for
and in childcare settings, providers will be asked to welcome back all children below statutory school age.
We believe that 1st June is premature and we will continue to be guided by the science as everyone’s safety, health and well-being is of the utmost importance. Although schools will continue to remain open for children of critical workers and vulnerable children in all year groups,
some of you will rightly remain concerned about the safety of your children and your families if your children do return to school. Therefore, we will enable schools, where possible to re-open on 8th June following the half term break and have a further two days to plan, prepare and train their staff to in advance of children attending on 10th June. It has been agreed that secondary schools will return on 1st June as their half term is typically shorter and that they too, adopt the option to take a further 2 days to plan and prepare staff if necessary.

Schools will need to determine the demand for places and you should inform your Headteacher of your intentions as schools may not be able to guarantee a place and operate safely. Parental choice is key – and you should make the decision that is right for you and your family.
With scientific advice central to the Government’s decision, the Department for Education has provided additional guidance to school leaders on the steps they should take as they plan for reopening, which includes:
 Carrying out a risk assessment before opening to more children so that sensible measures can be put in place to minimise risks for both children and staff.
 Making sure that children and young people do not attend if they or a member of their household has symptoms of Coronavirus.
 Promoting regular hand washing for 20 seconds and ensuring good respiratory hygiene by promoting the ‘Catch it, Bin it, Kill it’ approach.
 Cleaning more frequently to get rid of the virus on frequently touched surfaces, such as door handles, handrails, table tops, play equipment and toys.
 Minimising contact through smaller classes or group sizes and altering the environment as much as possible, such as changing the layout of classrooms.
 Reducing mixing between groups through timetable changes, such as staggered break and lunch times and by introducing staggered drop-off and collection times at different times.
The Government is encouraging children in the eligible year groups to attend, unless they are self-isolating or there are other reasons for absence (such as shielding due to health conditions). Unfortunately, it is likely siblings in different year groups, unless those siblings are children of critical workers or vulnerable children, will not be able to attend at this time.

It should be noted that parents will not be fined for their children’s non-attendance if they do not attend during these arrangements.

The Government has produced further information for parents and carers. This information provides answers to a number of key questions and you can find this document by clicking the following link:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/closure-of-educational-settings-information-for-parents-andcarers/reopening-schools-and-other-educational-settings-from-1-june

Headteachers and their Governing Bodies are currently working tirelessly to consider and respond to the Government’s recent advice and guidance. The plans and work they are putting in place include:
 The undertaking of risk assessments.
 Progressing robust logistical plans and making the necessary changes to ensure that their schools can open safely for the identified groups of children, young people and their staff.

Trafford Council is actively supporting all schools and their leaders in working through the very complex planning that this requires. We would want to assure you that everyone’s health and safety is of paramount consideration and that all school leaders are committed to this as well as continuing to support our children’s learning and education.

Getting this right will take time and we thank you for your patience. As soon as Headteachers are in a position to share further information with you about their plans for opening, they will. We will continue to review the current position and amend guidance if the situation changes.

Every school is different and, as a result, arrangements in every school will be unique to their individual circumstances which we fully support.

Yours sincerely
Jill McGregor
Corporate Director, Children’s Services

Hi Everyone

I hope you are all well.

We appreciate how difficult it is for you all to keep your child/young adult occupied at the moment and we would therefore like to trial running a bike session on Saturday morning on the bike track at school. Parents will be asked to stay with their son/daughter and we will allocate half hour session for 2 students at a time.

We will need to respect social distancing at all times so parents/carers will be asked to stay with their son/daughter and provide support with riding the bikes where necessary. Bikes will be disinfected between use. We can provide helmets which we can also wipe down between use, but if your son/daughter has their own helmet it would be worth bringing that.

 

If you would like to book a place, please reply through dojo, or by emailing admin@brentwood.trafford.sch.uk.

We will message back a time and confirmation that you have successfully been allocated a place. We will do our best to allocate places fairly. Hopefully we will be able to provide more sessions in the future if we can manage this safely.

Stay safe

Jude

Dear Parents and Carers

I hope you are all keeping well in these strange times.

This is an unusual start to a new term at school/college but I wanted to keep you up to date with what is going on at Brentwood.

Whilst our underlying belief is that all students are safer being cared for at home if they can be, we are currently still open for a small number of students. It is essential that we keep these numbers down due to the need to exercise social distancing and keep everyone in school and college as safe as possible. We will continue to follow this principle until the government instruct us to do otherwise.

 

Aside from caring for a small number of students in school/college, our staff are keen to keep up to date with how everyone is getting on at home. This includes weekly phone calls / Class Dojo messages and sending work packs home to keep students occupied and up to date with their learning. We have accessed the Free School Meals Voucher scheme, but I know that many of you have struggled to access these due to teething problems with the system set up. Hopefully that will be resolved and the system will run more smoothly.

 

I understand how difficult it must be for you and your families, and how hard it is for many of our students to understand why life has changed so much. If there is anything you are struggling with, or feel you would like us to support you with, please do not hesitate to get in touch and we will do all we can to help.

 

Stay well

Jude

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Dear Parent/Carer,

 

Re - Covid 19 – Special School arrangements from 23rd March 2020

In Trafford we recognise that the impact of the advice around keeping safe and self-isolation has led to the temporary closure a number of special schools. Following the general government announcement on 18th March about school closures, we have all been issued with further guidance today which is based on the most recent scientific advice on how to further limit the spread of COVID-19.

 

‘If children can stay safely at home, they should, to limit the chance of the virus spreading. It is important to underline that schools, colleges and other educational establishments remain safe places for children. But the fewer children making the journey to school, and the fewer children in educational settings, the lower the risk that the virus can spread and infect vulnerable individuals in wider society.

 

That is why 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.’

 

We understand that it is important to provide access to school for specific groups of children and young people. We are being asked to stay open for children and young people who have a parent who is a key worker, those who are vulnerable and have support from social care and those with an Education Health and Care plan.

The full guidance document including the key worker list can be found using this link; https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-maintaining-educational-provision/guidance-for-schools-colleges-and-local-authorities-on-maintaining-educational-provision

 

We recognise that this includes all children and young people in special schools and so this will be exceptionally difficult given that many staff are absent due to self- isolation measures.

 

So that we are able to provide this level of support, Special School head teachers met with Local Authority officers from Education and Social Care to consider how this will work in practice.

 

It was agreed that each school will have to prioritise the offer available to their community based on the staffing levels they have available and the following considerations;

 

Children and young people

•          whose parent(s) are considered ‘Key workers’

•          who are subject to a Child Protection Plan

•          whose family require significant support from social care (Children in Need)

 

It is important for us to recognise that each school’s situation will be slightly different. Decisions will be made on the basis of providing a safe environment for children and staff given the Public Health England guidelines we are all following.

 

Schools are being asked to continue to provide care for a limited number of children - children who are vulnerable and children whose parents are critical to the Covid-19 response and cannot be safely cared for at home. Therefore the focus in school will be on providing care rather than delivering the full curriculum.  

 

All schools will take measures to support families who they know are in need; food parcels maybe been distributed and supermarket vouchers given to those on free school meals. We are awaiting further guidance from the government as to how we will be able to continue to provide this support.

 

Each school will be asking all parents and carers about their profession. Clearly providing care for NHS frontline staff is the priority, followed by other key workers. We understand that many of you struggle to care for your son/daughter, but we are asking that if, under these unprecedented circumstances you could bear in mind that we need to ensure we work together to enable these people to get to work. We aim to keep numbers of people on site at a level that does not increase the risk of infection and still provide safe ratios of care.  If you do not work in a key profession and you can manage to support your son/daughter at home, please contact school to let them know.

 

We may have to offer some placements on a part time basis. Once arrangements are in place, parents and carers will be notified individually. Please be mindful that circumstances are likely to change, and we will be risk assessing staffing levels and rates of infection whilst considering government guidelines on a daily basis.

 

Each school will provide information and resources for children and young people who are not on site at this time. These will be tailored to your child’s needs and will be provided directly by your child’s school. Please do not feel under pressure to deliver a full time table of learning activities.

 

Further advice, guidance and information to support you at this time can be found on Trafford’s Local Offer page; https://www.trafforddirectory.co.uk/kb5/trafford/fsd/advice.page?id=6TzAFXlfQtI

 

During these unprecedented times we are committed to working together across Education, Health and Social Care services and we truly appreciate your support. This letter has been shared with and approved by Ms Justine Bailey on behalf of Trafford Parent Carer Forum.

 

Signed

Trafford Special School Head Teachers and Local Authority Officers

 

Ms Jude Lomas (Brentwood School and College)

Ms Sally Burston (Delamere School)

Mr Paul Madden (Egerton High School)

Mr Paul Eckley (Manor Academy – Sovereign Trust)

Mr Simon Beswick and Ms Helen O’Brien (Orchards School – Dunham Trust)

Mr Andrew Taylor (Pictor Academy and Longford Park School– Sovereign Trust)

Ms Lynda Thompson (Trafford High and the Medical Education Service)

Dr Karen Harris (Head of Service for Inclusion and Principal Educational Psychologist)

Mrs Sally Smith (Inclusion Advisor and SEN Advisory Service manager)

Ms Theresa Dearn (Team Leader Social Care – Complex Needs)

 

Please find below some information about the local hubs to support families:

 

http://www.trafford.gov.uk/residents/community/partnerships-and-communities/Coronavirus-Covid-19-Trafford-Community-Response.aspx

 

There are 5 community hubs across Trafford which are up and running to support people through the COVID-19 outbreak. They are located in Altrincham, Gorse Hill, Partington, Sale and Urmston but anyone needing local support must be directed through the dedicated helpline to avoid overcrowding at hub venues: the dedicated helpline 0300 3309073

 

The Centres are available to those living in the area who are self isolating or vulnerable and are being run by volunteers from across Trafford. They have been set up and coordinated by Trafford Council, Trafford Housing Trust, Thrive, Trafford Stronger Communities Board and other local community groups who were already helping to support local residents when social distancing measures were first put in place.