Dear Parents,
JANUARY 2021 SCHOOL RE-OPENING FOR ALL PUPILS

The year 2020 has been the most challenging in the history of our school. However, we have worked hard to make the best of it, with the interest of our pupils and staff in mind. We have done our best to ensure that our pupils continued learning throughout the year and that a number of our staff were able to keep busy themselves and earn some pay to keep them going during the challenging period. We put in place adequate safety measures to enable Grade 4 and Standard 8 pupils return to school for the official Term 2 of 2020 in October and learn safely. While Covid-19 continues to pose a major challenge, we are preparing to resume regular learning in January 2021, as per Ministry of Education directives.

The Ministry of Education has directed schools to re-open for all classes from January 4, 2021. PP1 & 2, Grade 1, 2, 3, and Std 5, 6, 7 will reopen for Term 2, while Grade 4 and Std 8 will reopen for Term 3. However, to ensure a safe resumption of learning at Roseve, we have taken the decision to phase the re-opening of various classes over a period of one week to allow proper orientation of pupils, safe processing of school formalities by parents, and observation of safety protocols by all as follows:

Boarders (inclusive of all Std 8 pupils) will report on Tuesday, January 5th 2021. Boarders should report back to school by 2:30 pm at the latest to allow us sufficient time to receive pupils and orientate the boarders on safety protocols. All boarders should endeavor to arrive on this date to ensure that they do not miss the orientation sessions, and to avoid disruption to the rest of the week’s program. Grade 4, Standard 5, and 6 day scholars will report on Wednesday, January 6th 2021 by 8:00 am.Grade 1, 2 and 3 pupils will report on Thursday, January 7th 2021 by 8:00 am. Playgroup, PP1 and PP2 pupils will report on Monday, January 11th 2021 by 8:00 a.m.

Parents are requested to avoid dropping children at the last minute to avoid unnecessary overcrowding. Parents are also encouraged to make fee payments before school opens so that our Accounts staff can credit pupil accounts and prepare receipts in advance to avoid unnecessary crowds on opening days.

Parents who reside in Kapsabet, but have children in boarding, are now encouraged to let their children be day scholars during this pandemic. This, however, does not affect Standard 8 pupils who will continue to be boarders until they complete their KCPE in March 2021. This new policy will assist us in reducing the number of boarders so that we can manage safety protocols better, as well as provide additional learning space.

The Government has directed that we operate our school transport at half capacity only to ensure that social distancing requirements are met. This means that we will not be able to transport most of the pupils that were previously on school transport. As you know, most buses were operating above full capacity, with some doing more than one trip each time. In view of this, therefore, parents of day scholars are now expected to drop and pick pupils themselves rather than putting them on school transport. We need to work together on this to enhance safety of pupils.

Only parents facing major difficulties in making this work should liaise with the School Administrator to arrange school transport if room is available. With a limited number of pupils on school transport, you will assist us in ensuring that we meet transport safety guidelines without having to do many trips per vehicle which could cause delays on class starting time. This is the time for all of us to make sacrifices to ensure that our pupils are able to get to and from school, and learn safely.

Please arrange to pay the fees promptly so that we can quickly purchase requirements for the new term. Any parent who had fees arrears from Term 1 must clear the arrears, and pay the fees for the new term, before their children are allowed back in school. A new charge for Health and Safety has been introduced, to enable us do our best to maintain safety protocols for our learners. Because of the current situation facing our country, we have not introduced any fees increase.

We have and are continuing to put in place safety protocols in school to ensure that pupils and staff can resume learning safely. We have set up a School Covid-19 Management and Response Committee. The committee has put together Covid-19 management protocols as guided by the Ministry of Education, Ministry of Health, and Kenya Private Schools Association. We are attaching these for your information and to guide you during the term. Please read the attached document carefully and prepare/guide your child/children as necessary. They will receive additional guidance with frequent reminders once they report to school.

Parents should be rest assured that we have put in place strong safety measures to ensure that our pupils and staff can learn/teach safely. We have had Grade 4 and Std 8 pupils in school since October 12th and things have worked well so far with no incidents of concern noted. We have also had two visits by Ministry of Education officials who have notified us of their satisfaction with the measures that we have put in place. However, the Covid-19 pandemic is a challenging problem, and we must all work together in partnership to ensure safety and hope that all shall be well when all pupils and staff return to school.

If, for whatever reason, there will be pupils who will not be able to return to Roseve in 2021, it is of paramount importance that parents contact our School Secretary, Head teacher or Administrator to let them know. This will assist us in the planning of our available space, especially as we are trying to space pupils dining hall furniture and classroom desks in accordance with safety protocols. We also have a long waiting list of pupils who have applied to join the school.

In the meantime, our teachers are preparing lesson plans, schemes of work, and timetables in readiness for re-opening. We shall continue to update you in the coming days. Please feel free to contact the school if in need of any clarification. We look forward to being of service to you in 2021. In the meantime, we wish you all a safe and happy Christmas and New Year season with your families.