Dear Parents and Carers,

I write to update you regarding the COVID related closure of our Nursery School and Wrap around provision.

Following 2 more staff testing positive during the start of the closure, who were last together with the team on Wednesday 4th November, we now have to extend the time we are closed by another couple of days.

Nursery school and wraparound provision will now reopen to all Nursery School children on Thursday 19th November.

Risk Assessments

As I have previously shared with you our risk assessment are being continuously reviewed, and remain effective in limiting all possible opportunities for transmission of the virus, we are also regularly reviewing entry/exit procedures.

With this in mind, can I please ask you:

  • To continue to follow the new one-way system established for Nursery School room 1 and 2, exiting onto Little Bishop St, on Monday, Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays
  • To collect and drop off from the same gate on Wednesdays (this is due to traffic on the path during our Wednesday Food club)
  • To collect all children attending Wraparound from the POD back gate, as they will be ending the session with a candlelit circle time in the POD outside covered area

Contracts and Charges

We have been working with our governors to come to some resolve re charging for our daycare and wraparound provision during any forced closures.

As I’m sure you will appreciate, even during a lockdown we continue to have to pay our staff team, utilities and other service costs, which without income, has a big impact on our sustainability.

However, we agree that if for any reason we are unable to provide the service that you pay for we should reduce our fees.

Our contracts are now being reviewed and will reflect this, with your signed agreement.

In future, when we have a forced closure we will now ask families to pay 50% of your invoice as retainer fee.

I hope you feel this is a fair decision for all parties.

Obviously, if you feel able to continue to pay the full involve amount it would be greatly appreciated.

If any of you are struggling to pay the invoice for the last 2 weeks whilst we have been closed, please can I ask you to contact eva.gossan@bristol-school.uk directly.

Thankyou for your understanding during this strange time that we find ourselves in.

I think for the first time ever I feel as if I’m leading on quicksand, you can never quite be sure of the landscape from one day to the next.

Fortunately our values and early years pedagogy here at St Pauls remain a constant for us to hang on to!

As a Head, I’m in regular contact with the Local Authority, so know very well that most Schools and Early Years Settings have been affected by the virus now, and have had to close bubbles for whole classes or year groups for children.

Equally there are schools and settings with such a high level of staff self-isolating that they have been unable to stay open as planned.

Despite every great risk assessment and every great intention is seems we cannot help being affected. But please know that in every decision we take we will always prioritise everyone’s health, safety and well-being at St Pauls.

We will be delighted to welcome you back on Thursday, the team have hated being stopped in their tracks and are missing the children so much.

They have been really thinking about your children as they have worked at home and I hope you will see this evidenced in your child’s learning diaries and at conferencing.

Please remember you can access support yourselves at the Central Bristol Childrens Centre – follow their Facebook page to find out what’s going on.

Stay safe and please stay connected

Kind Regards

Lucy Driver
Headteacher and National Leader of Education

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