Welcome to latest news
KING'S PARK PRIMARY AND NURSERY SCHOOL
(EDUCATION AUTHORITY – SOUTHERN REGION)
17 March 2021
To all Parent/Carers,
As you will already know our school will open for all children on Monday 22nd March for one week. Our Easter holidays begin on Monday 29th March and end on Friday 9th April – dates are inclusive.
As things stand at present all children will return to school on Monday 12th April for the third term which will end on Wednesday 30th June.
There are 3 holiday dates for children in the third term, these are 3rd May, 28th and 31st May.
PLEASE NOTE
Re-start procedures:
OPENING TIMES: School will open at 8.45am for staggered arrival times for children. This will be in alphabetical order as follows:
8.45am Children with surname A to L
8.55am Children with surname M to R
9.00am Children with surname S to Z
Children MUST enter school through the entrance door they used before Christmas. Staff will be on duty to direct everyone on the first few days.
Parents are asked if possible to leave their children to the school gates and allow them to make their own way to class. It is understandable that the very youngest children may need to be left to and collected from their entrance by their parent/carer and this is allowed. Adults should NOT enter the school building.
CLOSING TIMES: Will be staggered – please see attached timetable. Note: P5/6/7 will be going home at 2.05pm on Thursdays and Fridays to allow for a 10 minute interval after P3 and P4 children leave at 1.55pm on a Thursday and Friday.
Queen’s Place – there will be a one-way entrance and exit system in place at Queen’s Street – please observe the directional arrows when entering and leaving by Queen’s Street.
Break and lunchtimes will continue to be staggered in order to maintain class bubbles throughout the day.
Meals: School meals will be available as normal for all children and parents are reminded to pay in advance through ParentPay. A menu will be available soon on our website. Parents should also be aware that the Education Authority has introduced a new menu for all primary schools in this area. All school meals are organised by the Education Authority and the principal and Board of Governors have no responsibility for menu content etc. Issues regarding school meals should be taken up directly with the School Meals Section of the Education Authority on telephone number 028 3751 2200.
Next Term: starts on Monday 12th April 2021
At this time our understanding is that all nursery and primary aged children will start back to school on 12th April. If there is any change in this guidance we will be informed by the NI Executive.
At this time the timetable for arrival and departure will remain in place for the first two weeks of the summer term. A review of these times will be carried out by the Board of Governors on the 15th April and communicated to all parents/carers immediately thereafter.
It would be our hope to extend the school day at some point during the third term subject to the advice from the PHA, the Department of Education and local community/school context. The health and safety of our pupils and staff will always remain our top priority.
Key Worker Cover: This will end on Friday 19th March. We hope all of our Key Worker parents/carers found the support given by the school helpful in allowing them to carry out their important employment. The numbers of Key Worker children who attended school over this past year was consistently more than 100 and on occasion numbers exceeded 130+ children.
The Board of Governors would like to express their thanks to all of our staff, teaching, support staff and administration staff for their dedication and commitment over this past year of what can only be described as an extremely challenging situation. This thanks is also extended to parents and carers regarding your fine work in supporting your child/ren with Remote Learning.
Parent/Teacher telephone interviews will be timetabled for everyone early in the third term.
Finally, we would again thank all our families for their continued support and co-operation at these most challenging of times remembering to: wear face coverings, stay 2 metres apart and to keep your child at home should he or she show any signs of illness.
Yours sincerely
T Shields
……………………
DTO Shields
Principal
KING'S PARK PRIMARY AND NURSERY SCHOOL
12 March 2021
Returning to school – Minister of Education Announcement on 11th March 2021
Dear Parent/Carer,
Nursery, P1, P2, P3 – all children in these year groups will continue with in-school face to face teaching through to and including Friday 26th March. Our Easter holidays are from Monday 29th March to Friday 9th April inclusive.
Primary 4 to Primary 7 classes – we await further guidance from the NI Executive regarding when these children will return to face to face teaching.
Yours sincerely
T Shields
……………………
DTO Shields
Principal
King’s Park Primary & Nursery School
WEEK 10 – Commencing: Monday 15th March
* Primary 4 to Primary 7 only *
10 March 2021
School will be closed to ALL pupils on Wednesday 17th March for Staff Training.
Extended School Closure, remote learning and supporting children of Key Workers
PLEASE NOTE: Due to the large number of children being presented in school each day we would again ask parents/carers to only use the school as a LAST RESORT on days you are working.
To: PARENTS/CARERS,
Nursery to Primary 3 pupils returned to school on 8th March for 2 weeks. In place of face to face teaching “remote learning” will continue to be offered to Primary 4-7 classes by each class teacher using the class dojo until schools re-open. Parents/carers are asked to make every effort to support their child/ren with remote learning.
If you are classified as a Key Worker, please refer to the information below on Key Workers, and unable to access childcare provision, we will provide in-school ‘supervised learning’ for your child/ren. Please note that children who attend school will not receive additional teaching but will be supervised while they access remote learning provided for their class by their class teacher. Children who attend school are asked if possible to bring their own device to access this facility.
Parents of children who are known to Social Services, or who are Looked After, or attend or have attended CAHMS or have a Special Educational Needs Statement may also avail of in-school supervised learning at this time. Parents/carers of these children and of Key Worker children must complete the reply form on the following link and submit it before 8.00AM on THURSDAY 11th MARCH if they wish to avail of in-school supervised learning. See Appendix 1 and 2 for further details on vulnerable/Key worker categories. Please note the reply form covers the week beginning Monday 15th to Friday 19th March ONLY. Parents will be asked to apply for places on a weekly basis each Wednesday.
https://forms.gle/KjuB912eAB89zYx78
In-school supervised learning – points to consider before deciding whether to send your child into school or not:
Children who attend school should bring with them:
Before we can accept your child the form must be completed and submitted to school as outlined above. Upon receipt of your form we will contact you later on the 11th with further details.
Again we would emphasise to everyone that the health, safety and wellbeing of all of our children and staff is and will remain our number one priority and with the new variant of Covid19 being highly transmittable it is increasingly important that everyone entering our grounds wear a face covering and observe at least 2 metre distancing at all times.
If your situation changes during next week you are asked to immediately contact school and inform the staff of any such changes.
Tel 028 3832 2450
Finally, we want to thank you for your continued co-operation in this important matter.
Sincerely
T Shields
Principal
IMPORTANT NOTICE
Return to School Nursery – P3 children only
The NI Executive has announced that all children from Nursery to Primary 3 will return to school from Monday 8th March until Friday 19th March. From Monday 22nd to Friday 26th March these year groups will return to remote learning with supervised learning in school for Key Workers’ children and vulnerable pupils. It is planned that Nursery to Primary 3 children will then return again to full time face-to-face teaching after Easter although that is to be confirmed.
Arrival Times: 8.45 am to 9.00 am
Departure Times: weeks beginning 8th & 15th March only:
Nursery - 12.55 to 1.10 pm
P1 & P2 - 1.45 pm
P3 - 1.55 pm
P4 to P7 Key Worker children will leave at 2.00pm each day.
Please note: Change of times for P1-P3 are to facilitate a staggered exit across all classes.
School meals will be available both paid and free for Nursery to Primary 3 pupils only. Meals should be ordered in the normal way through ParentPay. Primary 4 to Primary 7 children should continue to bring a packed lunch each day.
T Shields