KING'S PARK PRIMARY AND NURSERY SCHOOL
(EDUCATION AUTHORITY – SOUTHERN REGION)
11 December 2020
Christmas Holidays – letter to schools from the Minister of Education dated 8 December 2020
Dear parent/carer,
The following extract is taken from the above letter.
“I have previously stated that there are no plans to extend the Christmas holidays for schools, indicating that this would only cause further disruption to children’s education and lead to an increase in levels of stress and anxiety. It is, therefore, my expectation that, unless advised to do so by the Public Health Agency (PHA) due to health related reasons, or other non-health emergencies …………………… , all schools should remain open to all year groups for face-to-face teaching for the remainder of this term until their planned Christmas holiday.”
It is our intention to comply with the Minister’s expectation. School will therefore remain open as planned until the staggered home time on Monday 21 December. Dinners will be served as normal on this date.
Staggered times: 12.00 Nursery, P1, P2
12.15 P3, P4
12.30 P5, P6, P7
Yours sincerely,
Mr W Jennett Chairman of the Board of Governors
Mr T Shields Principal
Road Safety:
We would ask all parents/carers to remind your child/ren of the road safety rules and the importance of using the marked crossings, outside the school, properly at all times.
Should you require any information regarding this year’s admission into Nursery please refer to the following website. Here you will see a range of presentations to assist you when applying for a Pre-school place for September 2021.
Copies of this year’s Nursery prospectus are available from our office. Please telephone the school to request your own copy. In addition to the prospectus we have added a link to our Nursery page. We would ask that you take the time to look at our fabulous facilities and see photos of our Nursery staff.
https://www.kingsparklurgan.com/nursery-26/
Please see below our staggered finishing times for Monday 21st December.
Nursery, Primary 1 and Primary 2: 12.00 noon
Primary 3 and 4: 12.15pm
Primary 5, 6 and 7: 12.30pm
To view our Admissions Presentation Video please go to: Key Information; Admissions
Kidz Patch - Tel: 028 3834 5339
Full Day Care 7.30am-6pm spaces still available for Monday 4th January 2021
1st Child £28
2nd Child + £20
Spaces still available for Breakfast and Afterschool Club
7.30am Breakfast Club £5
8.20am School drop off £3
2pm-3pm Club £6
2pm-6pm Afterschool Club 1st child £17.50
2nd Child + £15
KING'S PARK PRIMARY AND NURSERY SCHOOL
(EDUCATION AUTHORITY – SOUTHERN REGION)
27 November 2020
RE: Length of the school day/opening and closing times
To all parent/carers,
At yesterday’s Board of Governors meeting the Governors again considered very carefully the current length of the school day taking into account all of the factors that impact on this important matter.
Their three main priorities were firstly and most importantly, the health and safety of your child/ren and indeed your extended family, and the school staff. Secondly, given the above and restrictions placed on all schools by Covid-19 to maximise the length of the school day, and thirdly, to give everyone a consistent and a clear forward plan so that everyone can have stability to plan accordingly.
To this end maintaining class bubbles is critical in minimising the numbers of staff and children who will have to self-isolate for up to 14 days if and when we have positive Covid-19 tests reported in our very large school community.
Prior to covid-19 our teachers and children had a 15 minute break time each morning and a 40 minute lunch. In August our teachers agreed to remain with their class over break time and reduce their lunchtime to 30 minutes (a legal requirement) in order to maintain class bubbles. The Governors also employed an additional 12 supervisors over the new staggered lunchtime, again to maintain class bubbles. To date the arrangements put in place have we feel worked well in keeping positive Covid-19 tests to a minimum across the school.
Afternoon classes from 2.00 to 3.00pm have been particularly problematic in that if they were to function as previously then teachers would have had to cross into a number of other classrooms which could break the class bubbles and potentially expose 3 or 4 classes and families to 14 days of self-isolation if we had/have positive test results.
To try to avoid this Primary 5, 6 and 7 teachers agreed to continue with their class until 2.30pm on three days and until 2.00pm on two days. We are very appreciative of these teachers agreeing to remain with their class so as to minimise the effect of Covid on teaching times.
Having taken all the relevant factors and what appears to be a second wave of Covid-19 in the coming weeks into consideration, the Governors have concluded that the current staggered opening and closing times will continue until the end of January when they will again be reviewed.
We would thank everyone in our school community for your continued support during these extremely challenging times.
Yours sincerely and stay safe,
Mr W Jennett Chairman of the Board of Governors
Mr T Shields Secretary to the Board of Governors
Nursery and Primary One applications for September 2021
The closing date for receipt of applications for children starting Nursery and Primary One in September 2021 is 12 noon on 29th January 2021.
Application must be completed online and the procedure opens on Thursday 7th January 2021 at 12 noon.
All applications must be submitted online at www.eani.org.uk were a link will be found on the homepage.
Our Admissions Criteria for both Nursery and Primary One can also be found on our website at "Key Information"; "Admissions". Please read the criteria carefully before completing your online application.
SCHOOL HOLIDAYS 2020/21
Date are inclusive
2020
December 22nd – 31st
2021
January 1st
February 15th - 19th
March 29th – 31st
April 1st – 9th
May 3rd
June 30th Last day of term
Five additional staff training days have been agreed.
School will also be closed for children on:
4th January, 22nd February, 17th March, 28th May and 31st May