Dear Families,  

COVID-19 update 

As you know, there is currently a great deal of uncertainty about how rapidly rising COVID-19 infection rates will impact on our lives in the coming days and weeks.  In light of this, the government and local authority advisors have asked schools to prepare for all eventualities. We have been asked to review our outbreak management plans in readiness for January and make sure that our remote learning offer is in place, and ready to be implemented at short notice.  

Whilst we very much hope that we will not be instructed to partially or fully close school in the coming weeks, it is clear that we must plan for this possibility.  You can access the contingency framework for education and childcare settings here.  Please be assured that we want to continue provide high-quality face-to-face education for your children and very much hope that we are not instructed to restrict attendance in any way.  

If the government or local authority impose attendance restrictions, we will ensure that the switch to remote learning is as smooth as possible.  The following actions will help us to achieve this:  

• Tomorrow, your children may come home with items that will help them to work at home.  This may include a class novel, exercise book and their pencil case.    

• Teachers are aware that lessons may need to be delivered via MSTeams and/or Tapestry.  Given that we now routinely use these systems, the transition should be smooth.  You will find a video introduction to MS Teams on our school website and a PDF linked to the remote learning presentation if you need further clarification.  Please email [email protected] if you need further assistance.  Reception families will receive MSTeams log in details before the end of the week.   

• We have a limited number of devices that we can loan to families and some of you will have already accessed these resources.  Please email [email protected] if you have not borrowed a tablet from us before, but would like to.  We are prepared to quickly distribute devices to families if a partial or full school closure is announced.  We will do our very best to accommodate everyone’s needs.  

• If the government requires schools to provide emergency onsite provision for what they describe as ‘vulnerable children’ or the children of critical workers, we plan to instigate this without delay.  We have our attendance registers from previous lockdowns and can use these to organise provision for children in year 1 to year 6.    

We ask that reception families, and parents/carers who have changed jobs, to email [email protected] as soon as possible if they feel that their child might qualify for onsite provision.  You will find details of what the government defined ‘critical workers’ to be in March last year, here.  Please be aware that the definitions might change if there is a future full or partial school closure in the future.  The existing guidance states that ‘Children with at least one parent or carer who is a critical worker can go to school or college if required, but parents and carers should keep their children at home if they can’.  

Whilst planning for the worst case scenario (attendance restrictions), we are very much hoping for the best case scenario.  We are eager to welcome everyone back to school at the beginning of the new year under our current risk assessment and protective measures.    

Please be assured that I will update you during the school holidays if we receive any more updates or directions from the local authority or government.  Thank you for your patience and understanding in these uncertain times. 

Yours truly,  

Alison Godfrey  

Headteacher