Dear Parents/Carers

First of all, I would like to say thank you to all our community for once again trying so hard to make our school as safe as possible. The overwhelming majority of parents and adults bringing children to the school are walking up Elms road from the shops, wearing masks and walking as distantly as possible when entering and leaving the school grounds.

I would also like to say thank you to our pupils who are also trying very hard to be as safe as possible, while still enjoying time in class learning and time outside playing with friends. Our older pupils have been taking greater responsibility and our year 5 pupils, who have been studying persuasive writing, have made fantastic safety posters to put up around school.  I have added some examples at the bottom of the page.

As I have previously written, we are constantly trying to find the best ways to keep our community safe and are reviewing and adapting our risk assessment and procedures wherever we see an opportunity to further lessen the risk of infection and keep us all as safe as possible. Here are this week’s updates.

Morning arrival

The morning arrival one-way system appears to be working well. The arrivals are more spread out across the whole 25-minute window, and the one way in and out of school is generally being adhered to.

Unfortunately, on Monday we have a very near miss on Elms Road for one of our pupils arriving in school. This was obviously distressing for the child and parent involved and for those nearby who witnessed the incident. In line with our commitment to keeping our pupils safe, we have reported the near miss to the local police team and have requested their attendance on Elms Road to observe the traffic and help us ensure the safety of our community.  All parents can help with this by ensuring that:

• Children and pupils do not cross the road directly behind any home school transport taxis waiting for the gate to the car park to open – please wait until they are in the gate before crossing.
• You do not drive up Elms Road to drop children off outside the school gates as this causes an obstruction and small children are out of the line of sight.
• You park by the shops and walk.

Afternoon collection:

As there is less time for parents and adults to arrive and the majority of people are on site or leaving at the same time, we trialled a new system yesterday, which we feel provided greater distancing for parents and children as they come to collect. From today, please:

• Enter through the car park gate when arriving at school for collection.
• Leave the school by following the pathway close to the building with your children.

This system allows for greater distancing for parents whilst still avoiding children walking through the car park. As it has been since the start of term, the car park will remain closed to moving vehicles from 3pm until 3:30 to facilitate this plan and keep adults arriving safe as they walk through the car park to the playground.

Thank you again for your support of the staff at Botley School while they work hard to keep your children safe.

Mrs Reid