Tuesday 7th September 2021, Dear Parents, It was fantastic to see such a busy and happy playground on the first morning as we welcomed our children and their families back to Cropthorne for another school year. We were also very proud of all of the children, especially those new to the school and how wonderfully they began what is such a big day in their lives as they start their journey here together. A new school year is always full of feelings of excitement and of course some understandable nerves, but seeing how the children have settled quickly into their learning with their classmates, I have been very impressed indeed! Thank you to all of our families for their cooperation at collection and drop offs, what seems new today will quickly become routine we are sure. Our staff team as ever will continue to endeavour to keep you as well informed as possible via our weekly class letters, these are extremely important as they detail information about events which will be happening in your child’s class in the weeks ahead. The first of these will be issued via email this week, and normally on each Friday after that along with our Whole School Newsletter. Both these are also easily accessible on our School Website, www.cropthorneschool.org, from the home page and on our Class Pages. Please do check regularly, and if you find you are not receiving these weekly updates, do please contact Mrs Evans so we can explore why this might be. In the meantime, if you do have questions or queries please email Mrs Evans at office@cropthorne.worcs.sch.uk so we can answer your query or pass information on promptly to class teachers to help us best support your child in school. Mrs Evans and I will also be around at all entrances throughout the week to help where we can. We know that our families very much value the importance of education and support us by promoting excellent attendance but the Department of Education have asked all schools to communicate to parents that school attendance is mandatory and that it is a parent’s duty to ensure that their child attends regularly at school. We at Cropthorne also fully appreciate that many parents have adopted a very cautious approach to sending pupils to school when they are unwell, and we know that families will continue to follow government guidance if a pupil displays symptoms of COVID-19, this is available here. As outlined in our FAQs, issued prior to the start of term, all schools are required to have contingency procedures in the event of a number of COVID-19 cases within a setting. It is worth you knowing in advance that this will mean the school will need to run differently for a short period of time. In the event we were instructed to implement these procedures, it would see a return to bubbles, the use of different entrances, face coverings for adults on school premises and the postponement or cancellation of large events or visits. We of course hope that these measures do not become necessary but also want our families to be as informed as possible. It has been a brilliant start to the new school year and we look forward to a more normal and enjoyable year ahead. Yours Sincerely, Rob Bothma Headteacher