Covid-19 Information
Children will continue to be kept in ‘bubbles’ and will not mix with other bubbles to reduce the risk of spreading the virus. However, from September our bubbles are our year groups rather than groups of 15; this is fully in line with government advice.
Our drop off and pick up times will still be staggered and once the children are on site, we will separate them into their bubbles. The staggered times gives us a chance to get the children on site, in their classrooms/ out of their classrooms and off site, whilst avoiding direct contact with other bubbles. We will expect children and adults to adhere to social distancing as we currently are.
For this reason, we ask that you help us by sticking to your child’s allotted time slot and helping the start and end of the day to be as smooth and quick as possible. Please note, no parents or carers will enter the main site and all children will be dropped off and picked up at their usual entrance site:
Nursery and Reception: Gates at Nursery Close end
Y1 and Y2: Side gates by hall (Y2 will go through the doors into the corridor by Y1 outside area)
Y3-6: Side gates by the hall and walk straight around the back of the school to enter their classrooms by the class doors.
We will have plenty of staff on hand to supervise and take care of the children and they will be taken straight into their classrooms.
We recognise that for working parents and parents with more than one child in school, the staggered starts are tricky. Therefore, we have timetabled in a flexible ‘Holding Time.’ This is supervised time in class, but it does not count as part of the statutory teaching hours. Holding Time starts from 8.30 am and if you need this facility (as you are a working parent or a family with more than one child and therefore different start times), your children can enter their bubble outside of their start time.
For example, a parent with a year 1 child and a year 4 child may wish to do the following: when they drop off the year 1 child, the year 4 child can also enter at 8.45 when the gates open for this wave, go straight to class for Holding Time, and wait for the year 4 teaching day to officially start at 9.00.
Children who do not need holding time will not miss out on any teaching and learning.
If your child arrives on site 15 minutes after the time their Teaching Day has started, they will be marked as late in the usual way. We have always recorded lates in this way.
This must be booked through our online booking system for the whole term. This is to enable us to plan carefully for our provision. You don’t need to use every day but we are asking for planned commitment to allow us to plan for everyone’s safety.
We will not be taking temperatures on arrival from September. If any children or adults in school display Covid symptoms as per the government guidelines, they will be isolated immediately and we will phone home so they can be collected. That person will need to be tested. If the test is negative they will be able to return to school as soon as they have recovered. If the test is positive, they will need to self-isolate for 7 days. We will also be forced to close their bubble for 14 days.
In the case of a bubble being closed we will inform parents and send all children and adults home from that bubble. The teachers of those bubbles will then revert to home learning, from the next school day. More details will follow re this.
In order for us to meet the guidelines, we have also found it necessary to restrict parents on site for the time being. We understand this is not ideal and we hope you will continue to feel able to contact us and approach us if you need to discuss anything about your child. Therefore, the following applies;
-Parent meetings can be made by appointment but 24 hours’ notice must be given
-Meetings to happen in open spaces where possible
-No parents on site without an appointment
-Appointments at the office or with a member of staff need to be made via the phone
We are clear about the measures that need to be in place to create safer environments in school to minimise any risks from coronavirus.
You can view our Covid-19 Risk Assessment here:
Richmond Academy is a Primary School in Sheerness
If you want to know more about our school, please take a good look around our website where you can find lots of information about our school. You can scroll through this page and then use the navigation at the top of this page for even more information.
One of the best ways to get a feel for what our school is like is to look through our newsfeed below. Here you will find just a taste of what it is like to be a pupil at Richmond Academy. Click on the ‘Load more’ button to view even more examples or take a look at our facebook page.
The Easter Prize Draw has been completed and the video of the draw is attached for your home viewing. If you’re a winner please bring your ticket along the front office to collect your prize.
Please remember to respect social distancing by waiting outside the office if there is someone at the hatch.
A BIG THANK YOU to everyone who purchased tickets for the Easter draw, we raised £213 for the school.
I have 851 but only just seen the post xx
Puffins had a lovely afternoon making their final catapult design, we then tested them to see who’s catapult would go the furthest, well done to Rosie! All of us enjoyed being able to catapult marshmallows across the room and we had a great discussion about what it might have been like aiming our catapults at a castle during a siege with balls of fire and we all thought it would be quite scary and would rather stick with marshmallows!!
Joining our EYFS
Take a look at the video we made for our EYFS children and parents who started with us this September.
We have a School Nursery!
Early Birds Nursery is a school nursery for 2, 3 and 4 year old’s led by a qualified Teacher; supported by a team of experienced Teaching Assistants and offering two attendance options across the 5-day week.
Video Tour of our school
Take a look around our school!
Rising 4s
To help children in Sheppey with the transition to EYFS, we will be sharing weekly videos and activities in our Rising 4s facebook group that children can watch complete at home!
Please share and join our group where you can:
- Get weekly video updates from EYFS staff
- Receive lots of fun activities for your children to complete at home – including FREE resources delivered to your door!
- Enjoy a story or fun activity with school staff
- Build new friendships with other parents and children
- Ask the EYFS Team questions about starting school
An Engaging Curriculum
Within carefully selected topics, our children make meaningful links between Art, Music, History, Geography, Design Technology, English, Mathematics and Science.
They are helped to understand how these subjects bring a deeper understanding to their lives, other people and the world.
Children are given the opportunity to attend numerous educational visits linked to their topic and are regularly visited by a variety of interesting professional who give talks or provide exciting workshops.
Wrap Around Care
We recognise the importance of providing childcare options to assist working parents.
Richmond Academy is open from 7:30am – 5:30pm Monday to Friday.
As well as our Breakfast Club and After School Club, we offer a range of free Extra-Curricular Clubs every term that children can take part in after school.
Engaging and rich EYFS experiences
Our children are excited and motivated to engage in rich and challenging experiences, both inside and outside of their classroom. We have high ambitions for all of our children, with staff planning carefully to meet each child’s needs and stage of development, ensuring our children get off to a great start in their education. Child initiated play based learning is at the heart of our practice. where we carefully plan for opportunities, activities and experiences that develop all of our children into independent, resilient and confident learners.
More popular pages
A LOVE of reading
Our broad and balanced curriculum ensures that teaching of reading is tailored to the children, with a clear understanding of the skills needed to be a successful reader and how these develop during each term and year. Teachers are clear of the barriers to learning to read and are forensic in identifying these in individual pupils and groups and they use a range of strategies to overcome these, including careful deployment of skilled adults.
Take a look back at last year
It was a memorable year for all children, parents and staff at schools in The Stour Academy Trust.