10th June 2020

Dear Parents,

I hope that you and your families are safe and well.

I am sure that you will have seen the information relating to schools reopening.  We have remained open for the children of our keyworkers and currently have classes of 15 children only.

I wanted to reassure you all that we have not forgotten your children and we are making new plans as to how and when we can begin their transition to starting school. We still have no guidance from the Department of Education as to how we are to proceed in September but we wanted to begin with some things we feel we can do safely.

Attached to the email with this letter we have included:

• An information booklet for parents
• A story book about ‘Starting School at Talavera’ for you to share with your child
• A ‘Getting Ready for School’ leaflet.

We have put lots of further information about starting school on our school website for you to look at and share https://www.talaverainfantschool.co.uk/parents/starting-school/.  There is a video of the school and we will be adding videos of the teachers reading different stories for you and your child to watch.

We are very mindful at the moment that we do not know what the expectations for classes will be in September.  At present, Mrs Sarah McAlindin is busy speaking with all of the children’s keyworkers at the preschools and nurseries to gather as much information as we can. Once we have gathered all of this information we will be able to place the children into classes and we will inform you when we have updated guidance from the Department of Education.

The “Stay and Play” sessions we would normally hold in the Summer Term have been cancelled but we hope to offer these as part of the transition in the week of 7^th September. We will let you know the days and times nearer the time. Home visits are unlikely to take place but we will wait to see if we are given guidance as to how to proceed with these.

The email from Hampshire County Council offering you a place at our school also asked you to provide us with proof of your child’s date of birth and address.  In the current climate it is not practical for you to bring your documents to school, so if the situation allows, we will ask you to provide these to us in September.

For your information the following days are planned as Inset Days at our school for the next academic year starting September 2020. However, please note in the current situation these are subject to change.

Thursday 3rd September 2020

Friday 4^th September 2020

Monday 2nd November 2020

Monday 4th January 2021

Friday 28th May 2021

I appreciate that some of you will want to be making plans for September and as soon as we have further information we will write to you all again with start dates and times. I would like to thank you all for your patience and support at this time. If you have any further questions about starting school please look at the frequently asked questions or contact the school office.

As always please stay safe, especially as restrictions are eased.

Best Wishes,

Mrs Debbie Cook

Head teacher