As I am sure you already know all schools in the UK closed on Friday 20 March until further notice. Not one person thinks that this, absolutely necessary step, is going to be easy to accommodate for any family but it is one we undoubtedly have to make.

For next week, Monday 23^rd March to Friday 27^th March, we will be open for the children of identified key workers, along with limited categories of vulnerable children, only. These parents have been contacted separately.

As you will probably by now have seen, the government has announced that schools, colleges and early years settings will be closed to everyone except children of key workers and vulnerable children from Monday 23 March, as part of the country’s ongoing response to coronavirus.

Examples of these key workers include NHS staff, police and delivery drivers who need to be able to go to work.  The definitions are not finalised and we are waiting for guidance from the government.

We have emailed all our parents an online form to complete, (by 12.00 noon on Friday 20 March), which will provide school  and the local authority with information to assess the provision needed.

Staff are working on how we will provide parents with the necessary resources to support their children during their period at home. Further information will follow.

Thank you for your support. Keep safe.

We are receiving, and following, daily updates and briefings from local and national government departments. All schools are being urged to remain open, fully if possible, and so this is what we are aiming to continue to do.

We want to continue children’s education and, vitally, not interfere with the essential work that many of our parents carry out in society by closing the school.

There are non-essential elements of what we normally do that are being deferred – meetings, sports events and performances for example – but we hope to remain open for all classes until and unless directed otherwise.

There are things we can all do that will help by putting Public Health England advice into practice:

·         children and staff should stay at home if they are unwell with a new, continuous cough or a high temperature to avoid spreading infection to others. Otherwise they should attend education or work as normal

·         if staff or children become unwell on site with a new, continuous cough or a high temperature they will be sent home

·         we will clean and disinfect regularly touched objects and surfaces more often than usual

·         we will direct children to wash their hands more often than usual with soap and water, and to catch coughs and sneezes in tissues

Other schools are in different positions to ours – they will experience different pressures and pinch points, and so they may have to make decisions that are different to ours.

Because the guidance we are receiving is changing almost daily we may make decisions that appear to contradict others. Please be assured that each is carefully considered in the light of the latest advice and guidance.

We have received clarification today on school trips, for example, that states that these may go ahead within the UK, as long as we have risk assessed any possible staffing impact on the capability of running the rest of school fully and safely. Without that clarification some activity was cancelled but with it we are now able to continue.

Unless we have been directly advised to close by the Public Health England Health Protection Team, we intend and plan to remain open. Please be assured that we are doing everything reasonably possible to continue as normal, to keep children and staff safe at school and to ensure a great experience at school for every pupil.

School Governors are fully informed about our response to the Covid 19 situation, and they unanimously agreed with this approach at their meeting last week.

We have sent out texts and emails to parents over the last few days about specific changes relevant to their children in school, and we will continue to do so.

We wish every member of our school community the very best at this difficult and challenging time. We will try to keep you informed about changes as they happen, with as much notice as possible.

S Jones

Headteacher

Well done to our pupils who raised an amazing £595 (to date) to support the bushfire emergency in Australia.  The children had a non-uniform day on Friday 24 January.