Author: Edmund Waller

We know how strange it is for parents not to be able to come on to the school site and regularly see their child’s class teacher and learning environment.

To try and give you all a flavour of what everyone’s first couple of weeks has been like, we will be posting a short film made be every class.

These short videos will feature the work that children have created as they delve into discovering more about their class name. Each class this year has been named after a unique habitat, or biome.

We are hoping to have these videos available by the end of this week.

As we prepare to return to school and work, there are various resources designed to support us all. Please use the links below for up to date advice:

Government Advice:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/what-parents-and-carers-need-to-know-about-early-years-providers-schools-and-colleges-during-the-coronavirus-covid-19-outbreak/what-parents-and-carers-need-to-know-about-early-years-providers-schools-and-colleges-in-the-autumn-term

NHS Advice:

https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/coronavirus-covid-19/

Transport for London Advice:

https://tfl.gov.uk/info-for/schools-and-young-people/travel-guidance-for-schools?intcmp=63366

Dear Parents/Carers, 

We are looking forward to welcoming all our families back to school for the first time since the government closed schools to help fight the spread of Covid-19. To ensure that we can open the school as safely as possible, we are following all of the Department for Education and Public Health guidance.  

One of the challenges for all of us is how to get nearly 500 children in and out of the school site, whilst minimising the risk of crossover and reducing the chances of groups of children and adults gathering. To achieve this, we are initially going to operate staggered opening and finishing times, using multiple access points (details of these are available on the website and have been emailed to all parents/carers). We understand that this will present a logistical challenge, particularly for those of you with children in different year groups.  

In these unprecedented times we ask, in the first instance, that you try the new system to see how it works in practice. Gates will be staffed by Senior Leadership Team, who will be continually assessing and are on hand to troubleshoot. If after trying the arrangements, you find that you are struggling in any way then please telephone the office and we will do everything we can to help. We would like to remind you that measures are in place to mitigate the risk of the spread of Covid-19 for all members of the school community. Without these (and other) measures we could not fully open the school which alongside protecting all our health, is our paramount concern. 

We are committed to making the experience as user friendly as possible. We will review the arrangements after the first two weeks of school and update all parents and carers about any amendments or changes that are to be made. 

Thanks for working with us.

Senior Leadership Team

Whilst we recognise that a dialogue between home and school is vital, control measures for communication have been put in place to protect everyone’s safety.

• At present, there will be NO walk-in access to the school office without an appointment.
• If you wish to make an appointment you may do so by telephone (0207 639 0436) or email (office@edmundwaller.lewisham.sch.uk)
• If you would like to contact your child’s class teacher, you can do so by using the above contact details or leaving a message with a member of the Senior Leadership Team at the school gates.
• You can also leave written messages in our lovely new post box. You will find this by the entrance to the main office – this will be checked daily.
• Where a response is required, teachers will telephone parents after the school day has finished. Please do not email any member of staff directly.

Further information about the measures put in place to mitigate the risk of transmission of Covid-19 are detailed in the letter below.

We are really looking forward to welcoming back all our families next week. Please take the time to read over the letter below to ensure you are familiar with each year group’s start time and entrance and exit, as these differ depending on year group.

It is really important, for the health and safety of our staff, learners and the continued opening of the school that we adhere to the organisation as detailed below. Thanks in advance for your support with this.

The details of start days and start times for year groups 1- 6 are available by following the link below.

We are very excited to announce that Edmund Waller’s second webinar, will be available to view at 4pm today, 10th July 2020.

The recording can be found here, and can be viewed at any time after 4pm:

If the video does not appear embedded above, please try this link: https://youtu.be/lCjOqrlPPAw

After watching, we would appreciate your feedback on the form below:

Thank you for your ongoing support.

Edmund Waller Senior Leadership Team

Thank you to all the people who tuned in for our First Webinarl, last week. This was hosted by the Senior Leadership Team and the Chair of Governors, and was intended to offer a school response to the uncertainty around the ‘Wider Opening of Schools’.

If you were unable to access the webinar on the day, you may use the links below to view a recording of the session

Topic: Parent Webinar – Wider Opening of Schools
Start Time : Jun 30, 2020 15:56 *PLEASE NOTE – the webinar content does not start until around the 16:30pm mark*

https://us02web.zoom.us/rec/share/4sxEd-387V5JHLPX2Grje_cbWbjKeaa8gHBIqaVezU0tv5Gb-FA6YnvroOWvoraA

Password: 1Z%90=^V

*Note this link will NOT allow access to the second webinar -10th July 2020*

Please follow the link below to see the results of Spring’s Parental Survey. These results have been collated by the Governing Body of Edmund Waller and are intended to show how the parents view the school.

Please take a moment to have a read over and see if these reviews reflect your own feelings about the school.