17^th March 2020

 

Dear Parents,

 

I am again writing to you in relation to the extraordinary position that we find ourselves in, due to COVID-19. 

 

As you know the Prime Minister is giving daily updates on the Pandemic, this means that we may be reacting to these updates and issuing new advice and information as this evolves. 

 

As a school, we are affected by falling staff numbers as staff are forced to self isolate because their children, themselves or another family member are forced to self isolate due to a cough or a fever . These falling staff levels mean that some activities will need to be changed or cancelled. 

 

1. From today there will be no extra curricular activities after school; we need to be sure that we have the right number of staff to cover these clubs and this is not possible at the moment. 
2. It may be that we need to cancel the end of day after school club if staff numbers continue to fall. 
3. Children will no longer be lining up in the mornings before school and will be to enter school from 8.45am to 8.55am, if they don’t attend breakfast club. 
4. Parents are no longer entering the school building to act upon the “social distancing “ advice given by central government. I ask that you just drop off and pick up your children from school swiftly.   
5. All non-essential meetings will be cancelled, as will visitors to the school. 

 

 

We are currently working hard to minimise the impact of the pandemic on learning; soon work will be available for those children who have needed to self isolate. This work will be in the form of packs and on class pages on the school website. As you will appreciate this is taking some time. 

 

We are also working hard to produce activities should the government make the decision to close schools or indeed staffing levels become too low to keep the school open safely. 

 

THIS IS A DIFFICULT SITUATION FOR ALL AND AN UNPRECEDENTED STATE OF AFFAIRS . I WOULD THEREFORE LIKE TO THANK ALL PARENTS WHO HAVE ACTED IN A SUPPORTIVE MANNER AND ACTED ACCORDING TO GOVERNMENT ADVICE. 

 

HOWEVER, I MUST STRESS THAT PARENTS MUST NOT COME TO SCHOOL AND VENT THEIR FRUSTRATIONS AT STAFF, WE APPRECIATE THAT THIS IS A VERY STRESSFUL TIME FOR ALL. WE ARE MERELY ACTING UPON THE ADVICE GIVEN TO US DIRECTLY BY DFE, LOCAL AUTHORITY, THE PRIME MINISTER AND HIS ADVISORS. 

 

Kindest Regards 

Karen Hutchings