PRE-SCHOOL

• As the number of children allows us to divide them in small groups, it will be easier to keep them in the same groups as much as possible each day and to avoid that different groups mix during the day.
• The same teacher(s) and other staff will take care of each group and, as far as possible, they will stay the same. Rotation of staff will be done for specialist teachers or in case of absences.

• Hand sanitiser will be applied on entry and at every re-entry to the classroom.
• All desks/seats will be a metre apart.
• Each pupil/student from Y1 onwards has their own desk all year long.
• All desks are single seat and have a shelf for books and stationery.

There will be no shared stationery, each student will use their own materials to be placed under their desk. Each Middle and High school student will also have their own locker, they will be able to use it respecting the social distancing rules.

• Doors will be open at all times.
• Windows will be closed for safety reasons. As all windows have the vasistas systems, it will be possible to air the rooms continuously. To further allow airing windows will be opened at the change of every lesson by the teacher in charge of the class only for the time the teacher is present in the classroom.
• All the classrooms have 2 or more windows.

• There will be no need to use labs, libraries, gyms as classrooms.

• Once used, the library books will be placed in a box so as to be sanitized before being placed back on the relevant shelf.
• Teachers will make sure pupils and students wash their hands, before and after handling library books.
• The big outdoor facilities and areas will allow teachers to choose whether to hold lessons inside or outdoor depending on the didactic objectives and based on the weather conditions.
• Unnecessary and non washable items will be removed from learning environments where there is space to store it elsewhere.

PRE-SCHOOL

• All stationery, toys and other materials will be used exclusively by either individual children or small groups depending on the activity and circumstances. All materials will be sanitized after use.
• Sheets and blankets will be sent home every week to be washed. Please note: sheets and blankets will need to be labelled.
• Teachers will make sure children wash their hands, before and after handling pupils’ books (a basin is in each class room, so they can wash hands as frequently as they need).

• Help will be available for children who have trouble cleaning their hands independently.
• Younger children will learn and practise these new habits through games, songs and repetition.

PRIMARY SCHOOL

• Teachers will make sure pupils wash their hands, before and after handling library books.
• Pupils from Y5 to Y6 will need to wear the trolley backpack on their shoulders instead of pulling it along.
• Books and stationery will need to be left at school except for the homework exercise book.

MIDDLE AND HIGH SCHOOL

• The stationery will need to be left at school except for what is necessary for the homework. The books will stay at school while the books’ CDs will be kept at home to be used for the homework.

The aim of this policy is to ensure safety in the garden. It has been written taking into consideration the guidelines issued by the Ministry of Education for returning to school in September 2021 and the additional safety procedures which must be put in place to reduce the risk of COVID-19 infection.

RESPONSIBILITY OF TEACHERS ON DUTY

Teachers on duty are responsible for ensuring students’ safety to the best of their ability. This means remaining vigilant and constantly focused on the children. Teachers will remain in their assigned duty area spread out from other teachers on duty in order to ensure that all areas of the garden are being monitored.

Teachers will ensure that children are playing safely, that the children remain in their year group’s designated area, and that the children always maintain a social distance of at least 1 metre away from other children. Team sports are not allowed, and individual movement games will be encouraged.

CHANGES TO BREAK TIME ROUTINE FOR 2021-2022

In order to implement the guidelines issued by the Ministry of Education for social distancing and limiting the amount of contact between year groups please see the following:

1. Garden Division. Break and lunch times are staggered this year so that less year groups will play in each garden at the same time. Both garden B and garden C will be divided into 2 sections. Each year group will be assigned a section. The younger year group in the garden will always play on the left side of the garden if you stand facing the train tracks. For example, at 10:00 reception and year 1 are in garden B. Reception will play on the left side of the garden and year 1 on the right. Children must stay in their section and only play with students in the same year group. Children should maintain a distance of 1 metre from each other at all times. Reception and year 1 classes will have a designated section of the garden for each class to play in since the children do not wear masks and cannot be expected to maintain social distancing outside. Reception and year 1 children should not play with children from other classes (e.g. RK children should play only with RK children and not with RF). For years 2 and up, children may play with other children in different classes but the same year group.
2. Teacher’s Positions. In past years teachers have been assigned a certain area of the garden to monitor. This year, teachers will have a class to be responsible for instead of an area of the garden. Teachers should stand in the section of the garden designated for their year group and ensure that the students in the class they are responsible for are playing safely and maintaining social distance. Instead of standing in one particular area, teachers should move around within their year group’s section to ensure that they are monitoring all the students in their assigned class. For R-Y3 there is an additional teacher per year group who should stand near the gate to either take students to the toilet when necessary or substitute a teacher who goes inside to assist an injured child.
3. Handwashing. All students should wash their hands after coming inside from the garden and before entering the classroom. Social distance must be maintained on the stairs and in the bathrooms. In order to avoid overcrowding in the bathrooms, handwashing must be done in an organised, staggered way. 15 minutes before break time is scheduled to finish, the whistle should be blown. Children should freeze (not line up yet!) and listen to teachers’ instructions. One class from each year group will be called to line up with their duty teacher and go inside to wash their hands. Once the first class has made their way completely into the building, the second class can be called to line up and then go inside. Then the third and finally the fourth classes can be called following the same procedure. The classes will always go in alphabetical order (for example 6C, then 6MA, 6MG, 6S) but each week a different class will go inside first. For example, for the first week of school 6C will always be first. For the second week, 6MA will be first, then 6MG, 6S and 6C last. In this way it will not always be the same students having a shorter break. It will take the students some time to get used to this new procedure, but it is important for their health and safety. The teacher who is on duty with the class will take the class to wash their hands and will remain with the class until the teacher who teaches the next lesson arrives. It is important that the whistle is blown punctually for the first class so that the lesson after break starts on time.

BREAK PROCEDURES

1. The teacher bringing down the class should check the break duty rota to see which teacher is on duty with the class. The teacher bringing down the class should then inform the teacher of the number of students present and any other important information.
2. Teachers may not leave the garden until they have handed their class over to the break duty teacher.
3. Teachers on duty monitor students during break. If you are on break duty you must bring your whistle.
4. 15 minutes before the end of break the duty teacher whose class has the asterisk blows the whistle. The students freeze and listen for which class should line up. The teacher counts the students to ensure that they are all in line and takes them to wash their hands. Once the first class is completely inside the teacher of the next class should blow the whistle and get the next class ready to go inside.
5. Once the class has finished washing their hands the duty teacher should take them to their classroom and remain with them until the teacher of the next lesson arrives.

Teachers no longer collect students from the garden for the lesson after break. They should meet the students in the classroom

PROCEDURE FOR AN INJURED CHILD

• If a student is injured, the teacher should take the student inside to treat the injury. First aid kits are located in the bathrooms. The teacher on the gate for that year group should move position to supervise the rest of the class.
• If assistance with an injured child is needed, the nurse is called.
• The injury is written in the accident book kept in the school office and parents are informed of minor injuries at dismissal. For serious injuries or any injury to the head parents are informed immediately via telephone and then with a follow up email.

EXITING THE BUILDING TO REACH THE GARDEN

To avoid the possibility of overcrowding in the corridors and on the stairs, each year group must exit the building using a specific route to reach the garden and use the same route to re-enter the building at the end of break.

Arrows of different colours will be put on the walls to show the way to and back. It will be the same way to go and the same way to come back each time so as to keep social distancing (each corridor is 2.5 m wide)

• Reception– exit from classroom or Reception common room (big room at the end of the corridor);
• Year 1– exit from door by staircase A;
• Year 2– exit from 1st floor fire escape stairs A at 10:00 and re-enter from same stairs. At 12:00 exit from staircase B but re-enter from fire escape stairs A;
• Year 3 – exit and re-enter from staircase B;
• Year 4 – exit and re-enter from staircase A;
• Year 5 – exit and re-enter from staircase B;
• Year 6 – exit and re-enter from fire escape stairs A at 10:45. At 14:00 exit from staircase B but re-enter from fire escape stairs A;
• Year 7 – exit and re-enter from stairs C;
• Year 8 – exit and re-enter from stairs C;
• Year 9 – exit and re-enter from stairs C;
• Year 10 – exit and re-enter from stairs C;
• Year 11 – exit and re-enter from stairs C.

BRINGING TOYS FROM HOME

Children in Reception and Year 1 may not bring toys or equipment from home.

Pupils in Y2-6 may bring notepads and materials to draw/colour (this should not be their school pencil case), books to read, lightweight plastic balls and jump ropes. Except for balls and ropes, anything brought from home must be used only by that individual child and not shared.

USE OF SCHOOL GARDEN TOYS

Pupils in years 2-6 may use the school outdoor chess and checker pieces. As these pieces stay outside where they are exposed to UV light, they will be cleaned once a day at the end of the day. Children must always stay 1m apart from others when playing with the chess and checker pieces. There will be no other school outdoor equipment for years 2-6 this year.

Children in reception and year 1 will have boxes of toys (duplo, etc.) to use outdoors. There will be one box labelled ‘morning’ and one box labelled ‘afternoon’ for each year group. When the children have finished playing with the ‘morning’ toys they will put them back in the appropriate box and leave the box outside the grey trunk for the cleaning staff. The same procedure will be followed in the afternoon.

USE OF BALLS

Pupils and students are allowed to bring a soft, lightweight plastic ball to shoot baskets in the garden. No team sports are allowed.

The bus companies will give parents the bus service safety protocol.

For this period fire drills will be held by the EHS consultant, procedures will be given and updated by them.

• At the start of the year all teachers will plan time first of all to speak with students on how they have lived this period and to make sure they are serene about the new school year and then to explain the new routines and procedures.
• Students need to see parents and family members share the school approach by being positive, hopeful and in control.
• The psychological corner for the Middle School students is confirmed as last year, students will be free to use it whenever they feel necessary as long as the parents have given their consent (a form will be sent).

Click here for the recommendations flowchart provided by Ministero della Salute.

WHAT HAPPENS IN CASE STUDENTS DEVELOP A FEVER DURING THE SCHOOL DAY?

• The parents are immediately called in order to collect the pupil/student.
• The student will be accompanied to the covid room, a room that we have set up in addition to and separate from the normal infirmary.
• In order for the student to be allowed back at school, we are waiting for the instructions from the relevant authorities.

WHAT HAPPENS IN CASE STUDENTS HAVE FLU SYMPTOMS?

• The child will be promptly taken to the Covid room, isolated and supervised by the Covid responsable identified by the school.
• Parents will be immediately notified and asked to come and pick up the child as soon as possible.
• The child’s doctor must be immediately contacted by the family and he/she will illustrate the procedures in the event of a possible Covid case.

WILL THERE BE A WEBCAM IN CASE OF FORCED HOMESCHOOLING?

• Each teacher will be able to activate their laptop’s webcam during their lessons.