SOME nursery and primary age pupils may return only part-time if Wellington schools re-open next month as planned by the Government.

And Year 10 students at Court Fields School can expect just two 30-minute sessions with tutors before the end of term.

The news was given to parents in a series of letters they received last week from head teachers and Somerset County Council children’s services director Julian Wooster.

While head teachers spelled out the steps they were taking to try to open for lessons again, Mr Wooster admitted that not all of them may be able to deliver full-time education.

Mr Wooster said the first to return to education would be those in early years and nursery settings, and primary school reception, Year 1 and Year 6, plus some face to face support for Year 10 and 12 students.

However, he said the priority would continue to be to make education provision available for vulnerable children and those whose parents were key workers.

Mr Wooster said: “Not all schools or settings will be able to offer full-time provision to the identified year groups given the guidance they have to follow around pupil numbers, safe working and staff availability. This may lead to a range of arrangements being put in place, for instance part-time provision, staggered start and finish times, and short weeks.”

Mr Wooster said schools would receive the full support of county council services, including public health, to plan the extension of provision.

He said: “Each educational setting is different and we all need to support the professionalism and judgement of education leaders who will be making difficult decisions over the next few weeks and months, based on the context of their school, setting and community.

“I appreciate that this position may cause difficulties for some, but I would ask that you understand that early years providers and head teachers and staff in schools have been working under a huge amount of pressure during ‘lockdown’ and they need time to plan in detail and make adequate preparations in order to be able to re-open for children, safely and effectively.”

One head teacher, Carly Wilkins, at Wellesley Park Primary School, said staff needed to carry out a thorough risk assessment and draw up comprehensive plans to ‘minimise risks for both children and staff.’

Mrs Wilkins said: “We have the dual desire of wanting to get as many children back to school as soon as possible while at the same time ensuring the highest level of safety for all within our community.

“The safety of children is our top priority and all of our decisions will be driven be this.

“Given the guidance we have to follow around pupil numbers, safe working and staff availability, any arrangements we put in place will need to be flexible, and will include part-time timetables for pupils, staggered start and finish times, and short weeks.”

Mrs Wilkins said to be fully prepared for re-opening she needed to action measures such as a deep clean of the school, re-organisation of classrooms to ensure social distancing and removal of toys which could not easily be cleaned.

“We will also need to consider how we ensure a smooth transition from our current childcare provision, and how we can best support the mental health and well-being of those who have been attending, as well as providing a clear physical and psychological break for our pupils and staff,” she said in her letter.

“I appreciate that these changes to school provisions will undoubtedly cause anxiety for many in our community.

“Please do rest assured, however, that the decisions you choose to make to meet the best interests of your own families will be your decisions alone and fully respected by us.”

Court Fields head Polly Matthews said in her letter: “The key message from the Government guidance is that for the present time we continue to operate as we have since March 20.

“In line with Government guidance our school will remain closed and all students will continue their ‘Learning@Home’.”

However, Mrs Matthews said an additional programme of support had been developed for Year 10 students, who would each have two 30-minute face to face tutorials during the second half of the summer term.

She said: “This will include academic and pastoral mentoring for each student. It will enable us to ensure Year 10 students are on track with their learning for September and their GCSE courses, and to support their well-being and progress.

“The tutorials will take place in two separate weeks, the week of June 8 and the week of July 6. This will allow staff to plan for and undertake these high-quality meetings in an effective and consistent manner.

“Year 10 students will also undertake an assessment week during the week of June 8 so that outside their first tutorial appointment, they can complete assessments to allow their teachers to identify progress and gaps in knowledge.

“This will then feed into their second tutorial and allow students to clearly plan to address any areas for development.”

Mrs Matthews said additional face to face appointments would be offered during the week of July 13 for any students where the school was concerned regarding their ongoing engagement with learning.