Coronavirus update 17 March 2020

Firstly I would like to thank you all for your continued support and understanding in these difficult times. We are certainly experiencing unprecedented times and are all having to make difficult decisions. Our priority first and foremost is the health and well-being of our children, their families and our staff.

The current advice from Public Health is that all schools should remain open. However, the situation is continually changing and schools must risk assess what measures they must take to stay open safely. We have not had any suspected or confirmed cases of coronavirus but we have a number of pupils and staff who are following official advice to self- isolate. 

New guidance states to stay at home for 14 days if someone in your household has symptoms of COVI-19, however mild.  If anyone develops symptoms at any time they must not leave the home for 7 days from when the symptoms started. 

Due to the increasing number of staff absent from tomorrow (Wednesday 18th March) we will not be able to maintain appropriate staffing levels to keep all of our pupils safe without taking action. We have made the difficult decision to close 3 of our classes (Acorns, Bluebells and Fern) for the rest of the week (Wednesday 18th, Thursday 19th and Friday 20th March). We have made attempts today to speak directly to all of the families of children in these classes. There are a number of factors influencing which classes have been chosen including the vulnerability of pupils and the number of absent staff. We are concerned that as the week progresses we may have to close further classes. If the situation continues we will look to rotate the classes that are closed.
 

This is not an action that we have taken lightly. We have informed the Local Authority and the decision has been approved by our Chair of Governors, Clare Mills.
 

Following official advice, we are restricting the number of visitors into school. Therefore all parent meetings including EHCP meetings will be postponed until further notice. We will contact those with scheduled meetings to rearrange when we have clarity on when they can take place. 

All indoor educational visits will be cancelled for the rest of the term including swimming, Harris House and Victoria School and College. However, at present we are planning to continue with outdoor-based trips to parks because of the limited contact involved. We will be risk assessing each of these trips individually as appropriate.  

We will be updating our website and providing you with resources and links to use with your child if they are unable to attend school.

If your child is entitled to a free school meal and is in one of the classes that will be closing this week then please phone school directly if you would like to make arrangements to collect this.

If you are concerned about anything, please do not hesitate to contact school. Thank you again for your continued support and understanding.

Warm Regards

Amy Findlay

Head of School