Contact Details
- 020 8567 9524
- admin@fielding.ealing.sch.uk
Wyndham Road, Ealing, London, W13 9TE
Fielding
Primary School and Nursery
Keep up to date with all the news happening in the school at the moment. Articles are added during the week. Parents are encouraged to check regularly. Our weekly bulletin, emailed directly to parents, summarises content for the week.
Teaching arrangements have changed because most teachers are working in school after half-term, teaching class group 'bubbles' for Reception, Year 1 and Year 6.
Some pupils in Reception, Year 1 and 6 may not return to school and will continue to learn at home. Many pupils who return to school, come back to a new teacher. For those in school, social distancing measures mean that parents have little face-to-face contact with class teachers. All pupils and parents in these age groups are welcome to contact class group teachers by email.
New email addresses for Reception, Year 1, Year 6 and those in childcare have been launched to give parents and pupils direct contact with their class group teacher.
For Reception, Year 1 and 6, please use:
6S Canopus is 6SC@fielding.ealing.sch.uk
6S Sirius is 6SS@fielding.ealing.sch.uk
Childcare for key-workers and those who are vulnerable also have their own email addresses. Please use:
mars@fielding.ealing.schuk
Years 2, 3, 4 & 5 who continue to learn at home, please continue to use the class name email address. Email messages will be re-directed to new class teachers who are supporting you from home.
Email changes take effect from Friday 29th May, morning.
The Prime Minister told everyone yesterday evening that primary schools will begin to re-open to pupils from Monday, as planned. For Fielding pupils, this means:
Year 1 pupils return to school later than Reception and Year 6 to give staff who are operating childcare a week in quarantine before they join their new class 'bubbles'. This is to reduce the risk of any coronavirus infection being spread.
School will look and feel different to those pupils in Reception, Year 1 and 6 who return to school. Many will be taught by a new teacher because class sizes are halved. New class groups called 'Sirius' and 'Canopus' are part of temporary arrangements. Smaller class groups, staggered times, separate play zones and limited use of resources are in place to reduce the risk of any coronavirus infection being spread:
Parents decide if or when their Reception, Year 1 or Year 6 child returns to school. In a survey of 1 in 4 Fielding classes due to return to school, 58% are expecting to return from the first day; 4% from a bit later on; 31% are undecided and 7% are staying at home. Families who are black or minority ethnic backgrounds, those living with elderly relatives or a household member who is extremely vulnerable may decide that the risk of infection from returning to school is too high. There are no fines for persistent absence from school. Learning in school will be based on the Oak National Academy programme to minimise gaps between those in school and those who stay at home.
The government has not announced any more details about other pupils returning to school. Years 2, 3, 4 & 5 continue to learn at home with the support of new teachers. Teachers have changed because more are needed to work in school where class sizes have been halved:
Nursery remains closed because too many Nursery staff must stay at home as a result of being medically vulnerable.
Well done to everybody who took part in last weeks challenge, remember to let us know how you got on with your photos and videos. This weeks Challenge of the Week is the Memory Plank. It will test your core strength and your memory all at the same time, have fun! We also have another PE twist on a classic for this weeks Game of the Week with Noughts and Crosses. Play it 1v1 or in small teams.
Thank you to Sav and Charlotte for setting us 2 extra challenges this week with the Teddy in the Box challenge and the Handstand Challenge which can both be found on the Your Challenges page. Do you have a challenge you would like to set? If so, just send in a video explaining and demonstrating the challenge.
Finally, well done to Marcus for running a mile most mornings and achieving a new PB and to Alex and Luke for coming up with a novel way of keeping active and staying cool at the same time. Have a look at the Fielding Sporting Stars page for pictures.
Week starting Monday 25th May is the half-term holiday. Our teachers will either be in school with our key worker children or busy getting ready for some children to return to school on the 1st and 8th of June.
Oak Academy is launching its Oak Academy Activity Club for the half-term break. There are lots of exciting activities planned so check back regularly.
As you know children in Reception, Year 1 and Year 6 are coming back to school soon. They will be in smaller class sizes. This means some of our teachers will be teaching new classes. For those children who have to stay at home for now, a different teacher will be reading their emails and checking their work. To contact the new teacher use the same email address you have been using. Teachers have been finding out a lot about their ‘new’ classes already and can’t wait to hear from them!
On Friday 29th May check your year group noticeboard to find out a little bit about the changes from the new teacher in school or online. New videos will be uploaded for you and your child to watch to find out a little more about their new teacher and/or class.
If your child is in Reception, Year 1 or Year 6 and remain at home, we will continue to update the year group noticeboard with home learning. Application tasks can be emailed to the class teacher who was named in the letter sent to you and your child this week. Contact email addresses will be posted on the year group noticeboard.
If you haven’t done so already share our returning to school booklet with your child:
School will look and feel different for pupils in Reception, Year 1 and Year 6 who return when we re-open. How we work with parents will also change. Parents are encouraged to read and share our 'What to expect' booklet with their children before returning to school:
We have included as many images as we can to show the look and feel of school. The booklet is based on our risk assessment and detailed operation plan for staff. We hope this is a helpful way for parents and children to know our changes in advance of the school re-opening.
We will go through all of the new routines and arrangements with pupils when they return, just like we do in the first few weeks of a new school year. There is no need to know or remember them before coming back to school!
All of our new routines and arrangements are in place to keep children, staff and parents as safe as possible. All of our plans are taken from the latest government expectations for schools. Key-points:
For parents, please:
For Year 6 pupils and parents, the return to school might lead to disappointment at the end of the year. All of the usual Year 6 end of year events - art gallery, drama production, Burgandy residential trip, graduation and celebrations - are cancelled. We will change the graduation event so that certificates and awards are presented to pupils in their individual class bubble groups. These events will be filmed for parents and families. We will keep these decisions under review and adjust if government expectations change.
We want to re-start wrap around childcare, before and after-school as soon as we can. We want to open Nursery too. We would like to welcome pupils from other age groups back to school as soon as we can.
The Governing Board met today to discuss the detailed risk assessment for re-opening and voted unanimously to approve the assessment. The risk assessment summarises an even more detailed operational plan for staff. We are ready and look forward to welcoming children back to the school after half-term. I would like to take this opportunity to thank Peter Dunmall, Clare Haines and all the staff for all their efforts to keep the school open for key workers over the last few months. During this period, governors have been kept informed and are fully supportive of the school’s re-opening plans. The health and safety of our pupils, staff and parents on site is our highest priority and will remain at the heart of our decision-making.
Read more details:
Rebecca Preston
Chair of Governors
We are ready to welcome some pupils back to school, if the government makes a final decision to re-open schools from 1 June:
The government is expected to announce the decision about re-opening schools on 28 May. I will write to you if the government postpones the start.
Ealing Council is supporting schools to make our own decisions to return using a phased approach between 1-15 June. Local Head teachers are sharing plans. There will be differences between schools because we each have different circumstances, including different building arrangements and staff needs.
Year 1 pupils start a week later to give their new teachers a quarantine break between COVID-19 childcare and pupils returning. Childcare for children of key-workers in Reception, Year 1 and Year 6 ends on Friday to also give them a break from other children before returning to school. Pupils and staff then return to school and join their new class group 'bubbles'. These arrangements are part of our detailed risk assessment and plans.
The safety and health of our pupils, staff and parents (while on site) is our highest priority. Ealing Council has supported our risk assessment and planning. Our staff team has scrutinised and contributed to our plans. We have supported colleagues to overcome worries about returning to work. We enjoy the support of our parent community. We need your support and understanding now to help our plans work, especially at morning drop-off and afternoon collection.
Unions continue to call on the government to change plans. There remains a risk that some teachers may listen to the advice of their union and not return to work in school. This may mean that some class groups cannot return to school. We will manage this on a class group basis with alternative plans to learn at home. At the time of writing, I have not been notified of any union action.
School will look and feel different when we return. Mrs Haines will write to you today with details of new class groups, teachers, lunch, arrangements for drop-off and collection. All pupils return to school wearing summer uniform.
We are planning to welcome everyone in Reception, Year 1 and Year 6 back to school. In our survey, 61% of parents have told us that they will send their child to school from the first day (sample from 1 in 4 classes due to return). Parents will make their own decision about children returning to school, based on their own circumstances and thoughts about risk. There are no fines for persistent absence. Please use the absence telephone line or email to tell us about any absence.
Find out more:
Well done to everyone who had a go at last weeks juggling challenge. Remember our SPORT values are key for being successful with this one - Self-belief, Perseverance, Optimism and Resilience will keep you moving in the right direction. Don't forget to send in your videos to share how you are getting on with the challenge, even if you haven't completely mastered it yet.
This weeks Challenge of the Week is the 'Pair Your Socks' challenge and will test your agility, balance and co-ordination. The Game of the Week is 'Homemade Subbuteo' and will get you thinking about team shape and positioning. We also have an extra challenge which has been submitted by one of you guys - the 'Teddy in the Box' challenge will test your core strength and flexibility.
Have a go at each of them and remember if you want to share how you are getting on with them and get yourself up on the website, send your videos and photos to me at dthomas88.307@lgflmail.org.
Plans and preparation for pupils in Reception, Year 1 and Year 6 to return to school are nearly finished. Safety of pupils and staff is our priority. Local Head teachers meet today to hear Ealing’s expectations and share our plans. I will publish our final plans next week.
The government intends to open schools from 1 June to Nursery, Reception, Year 1 and Year 6 pupils, if conditions are met in the national plan. The government has published guidance for school leaders all through this week. We will be ready to welcome some pupils back to school when the government confirms the start date. It maybe on 1 June, or later.
An alliance of teachers’ unions have called on the government to ‘step back’ from a 1 June start date with concerns about adequate safety measures. Union leaders meet the government’s scientific advisers later today. Our teachers may or may not follow advice from their unions. Our staff are talking to us about their own circumstances and anxieties. Some are torn between their commitment to public service and worries about their own personal safety. There is some uncertainty about the number of teachers and other staff who are prepared to work in school. This may limit the number of classes and/or pupils who can return to school.
Our early ideas for return to school were based on pupils from the same family household returning to school together, using our star constellation (or ‘house’ teams) arrangement. This would suit working parents and offer all pupils a part-time return to school. There are many strengths in the government’s plans. A weakness is that it is unlikely to suit working parents who have children in other age groups. As a maintained local authority school, we are following the government’s published approach.
School will look and feel different for pupils when they return. Key features of the government’s expectations and our plans so far:
Our over-arching approach, based on government expectations, is to keep pupils and their adults in isolated groups – their own ‘bubble’ – offering core care and learning only. This minimises the risk of transmitting any coronavirus infection across the school community to keep pupils and adults as safe as possible.
The government expects classes of 15 pupils, or less, each with their own teacher or teaching assistant. Pupils and their teacher stay together in their own ‘bubble’ with staggered start times, own break and lunchtimes and staggered finish time. There is no mixing of pupils, adults or resources between each class group. Parents may have worries about sending their child back to school. The government expects pupils to return to school but has also said that there will be no fines for persistent absence. Our class sizes may be less than 15 when we first re-open and increase up to 15 over time.
Many pupils will return to school and be welcomed by a new teacher because class sizes are halved. The government wants pupils in Reception, Year 1 and Year 6 to return to full-time education. There is no scope for a part-time return so that every pupil has time with their class teacher. It is not possible to alternate teachers between different groups because they should not change ‘bubble’. Teachers are working together to welcome pupils. They have split their classes because they know their pupils well. Teachers will make videos soon to say hello when we publish our new class groups, teachers and rooms.
School will close at lunchtime every Friday so that teachers have release from class. Teachers must be given time for planning, preparation and assessment. This is usually covered by our specialist teachers. Specialist teachers are needed to teach classes of 15 pupils. They should also not be teaching different groups because they should not change ‘bubble’. The government has not relaxed the rules about planning, preparation and assessment time for teachers. Many teachers are teaching new age groups. They need this time to work (remotely) with their colleagues to plan and prepare.
Harrison, our school caterers, will provide our pupils (and every pupil in the Ealing Schools Catering Consortium) with a picnic style lunch in disposable packaging. Our family style dining is suspended. Pupil class groups will be spread out across the main hall and dining areas as a result of staggered timings for lunch and breaks.
With more pupils and staff on-site, we are introducing stricter social distancing measures for childcare of children of key-workers and those who are vulnerable. COVID-19 childcare for children in Reception, Year 1 and Year 6 will close because school is re-opening for these pupils. There will be no wrap-around childcare for these pupils because they cannot mix or cross ‘bubble’ with other pupils. Other pupils, in Years 2,3,4 & 5, will be looked-after by age in groups of 15 or less. They will have their own classrooms and break times.
The government wants nurseries to open. Our Nursery remains closed because too many members of staff in the Nursery team are vulnerable. They have underlying medical conditions and should stay at home. The rules for staffing in Nursery and Reception classes have not been relaxed. We do not have enough members of staff to re-open Nursery. If the government’s guidance or rules change, we will open Nursery as soon as we can. Childcare for nursery age children of key workers and those who are vulnerable remains open.
We have introduced social distancing measures for all adults who come onto site, including staff and parents. New signage is being installed. Pupil drop-off and collection times will be staggered with the use of different entrance gates for different ages so that we can be socially distanced.
We are looking forward to pupils returning to school. We will be placing an emphasis on emotional well-being and personal hygiene in our teaching. Our teaching for the rest of this school year will be based on Oak National Academy so that those who stay at home are doing similar things to those who come to school.
Pupils in Years 2,3,4 & 5, who continue to learn at home, will have new teachers. Their usual class teacher will be teaching other children in school every day. The new teacher will be working from home because they are vulnerable and should not come to work in school. Learning at home will stay the same. Teachers will make new videos to say ‘hello’ soon.
Wyndham Road, Ealing, London, W13 9TE