As you are aware, school will close at the end of today, Friday 20 March, and there is no expectation that pupils will then attend school until the advice from Government changes.

 

Emergency Service school will offer

 

While our school will be closed for general admissions, all schools across the country are being asked to run an emergency service for the children of key workers in essential services so that they are able to continue to work. It is important that for the wellbeing of us all that children and families stay at home wherever possible.

 

We have this morning received the list from the government of workers who are covered by the ‘key worker’ category.  Those covered are as follows:

 

Health and social care

This includes but is not limited to doctors, nurses, midwives, paramedics, social workers, care workers, and other frontline health and social care staff including volunteers; the support and specialist staff required to maintain the UK’s health and social care sector; those working as part of the health and social care supply chain, including producers and distributers of medicines and medical and personal protective equipment.

Education and childcare

This includes nursery and teaching staff, social workers and those specialist education professionals who must remain active during the COVID-19 response to deliver this approach.

Key public services

This includes those essential to the running of the justice system, religious staff, charities and workers delivering key frontline services, those responsible for the management of the deceased, and journalists and broadcasters who are providing public service broadcasting.

Local and national government

This only includes those administrative occupations essential to the effective delivery of the COVID-19 response or delivering essential public services such as the payment of benefits, including in government agencies and arms length bodies.

Food and other necessary goods

This includes those involved in food production, processing, distribution, sale and delivery as well as those essential to the provision of other key goods (for example hygienic and veterinary medicines).

 

Public safety and national security

This includes police and support staff, Ministry of Defence civilians, contractor and armed forces personnel (those critical to the delivery of key defence and national security outputs and essential to the response to the COVID-19 pandemic), fire and rescue service employees (including support staff), National Crime Agency staff, those maintaining border security, prison and probation staff and other national security roles, including those overseas.

Transport

This includes those who will keep the air, water, road and rail passenger and freight transport modes operating during the COVID-19 response, including those working on transport systems through which supply chains pass.

Utilities, communication and financial services

This includes staff needed for essential financial services provision (including but not limited to workers in banks, building societies and financial market infrastructure), the oil, gas, electricity and water sectors (including sewerage), information technology and data infrastructure sector and primary industry supplies to continue during the COVID-19 response, as well as key staff working in the civil nuclear, chemicals, telecommunications (including but not limited to network operations, field engineering, call centre staff, IT and data infrastructure, 999 and 111 critical services), postal services and delivery, payments providers and waste disposal sectors.

There is no expectation that children of these key workers have to attend school. If you fall into this group and wish to make other arrangements, then you are welcome to do so. Please remember that these moves are to stop the spread of COVID-19 and the best way to do this is through isolation.  If you feel you fall in to one of those categories please complete the attached form.  We would like to collate this list as soon as possible so we request these are returned by the end of school today, 20^th March 2020.

 

The Government is also asking that we continue to provide education and support for children who have an Education and Health Care Plan (EHCP), children who have a social worker assigned to the family, those from families receiving Early Help and children receiving support from the Primary Behaviour Service.  If this covers your child, you will receive a direct contact from us.

 

Again, there is no requirement that children in these groups have to come to school, but they will be welcome should parents or carers choose this option.

 

School will run 8:45-3:00pm, please note this is now the same for Key Stage 1 and 2, we will not be able to offer a breakfast club at present.  If your child is coming to school he or she will need to wear their school uniform.

 

Home to School Transport

 

The County Council will continue to make home to school transport available to those children that are eligible to receive it. In some instances that might require some changes to be made which may take a little time. We expect further information from the Local Authority if this is the case and will provide further information as soon as we have it.

 

Learning whilst at home

 

For those children who will be at home from Monday morning, there will be online and downloadable resources available to support children to continue to learn on our school website.   In addition, the BBC has said that it will be increasing its range of resources to support children’s education.

 

Please do make sure your child does engage with learning whilst at home as we do want to ensure they continue to learn.  And remember, unless they are ill or in self-isolation, exercise is still important.

 

I would like to take this opportunity to thank you all for your support through these unprecedented times. Please be assured that I will continue to update you as the situation changes and that we will continue to work for the best interests of the children at our school.

 

For anyone who is feeling poorly, we are thinking of you and wish you a speedy recovery.