Update on school closure and arrangements for children and staff.22 March 2020 (by admin) |
Dear Parents and Carers, we hope you have had a good weekend with your families. Friday was a very difficult day in school as we tried to manage our respose to the coronavirus pandemic.
Thank you for all of your offers of help, patience and support. A special thank you to whoever was behind the lovely banner that was put onto the railings at the end of the day on Friday. All the staff were so appreciative of your kind words and the applause that was given to staff. It was such a lifting and positive end to what was a difficult and taxing day.
Our prime concern has always been, and still is the safety of our pupils, staff and their families. To that end, if you did not receive a telephone call or confirmation email from a member of staff on Friday, you must not send your children in to school.
Children expected in school tomorrow:
If you did receive a call and are planning to send your children in, we have to stress that must be an absolute last resort after exhausting all other options of care for your children. The Prime Minister is very clear that the safest place for children, including those of key workers, is at home rather than in school. If your job role is not corona-critical in managing the spread of the virus, please reconsider your child coming into school.
The head teachers and deputies will be at the opening to the school pathway tomorrow morning with a register of those we have spoken to. We will then direct you to the appropriate place where your children will be spending the day, with staff ready to meet them. Please don’t put yourselves in a position where we have to turn you away if you haven’t been given a place.
If your child is in the nursery please only come through the main Perry Road gates.
We are working together to put a skeleton rota of staff together to care for your children. The government have been very clear that the children will not be receiving an education in school; it will be purely care. Whilst we will be operating during normal school hours, if your shift starts or finishes in the middle of these hours please help us keep everyone safe by coming to collect your child promptly.
If you are registered with the after school club and are a key worker, Angela from the club will be contacting you.
Children are not required to wear school uniform.
Please send them in with suitable footwear and coats for playground as they will be outside for long periods in the day where we can. Please send your child in with any medication that they usually have in school, together with a named water bottle.
At the gate we will ascertain lunch requirements. Some parents have already agreed to bring in a packed lunch, which is fine. We can also provide hot dinners and can get those costs out to you as usual. If your child is in F2 or Key Stage 1, we believe that they are still eligible for free school meals. In KS2, children who have been in receipt of free school meals will still be able to have those. Otherwise, meals can be paid for through the Gateway as normal.
If your children have any symptoms of a cold at all they must not come to school. Similarly, if your family is isolating they must also not come.
If your child is not coming to school:
We sent out communications during last week of the pages on our website that you can access with examples of work that they can do at home. We also sent out the different forms of communication that you can use to contact us. If your queries are related to your child’s work, please use the email specific for your child’s year group and someone will get back to you. Please allow 24 hours or so for a response as we are working on a skeleton staff.
If your query is of a different nature, please use the email address for school closure. You can telephone in, but there may not be anyone on the desk to answer your call, so please leave a message and we will get back to you.
We are expecting the LA catering team to have food vouchers available for those that are eligible by Tuesday. We will be in touch about these.
Year 6 pupils:
We know that some of our year 6 pupils were concerned that they may not see each other as a year group again. Please look out for a letter which will hopefully reassure your children. If we are not back by the end of the summer term we will ensure that we organise something for them in September-the staff have lots of ideas and parents have been in touch with some too. Thank you.
Thank you for patience with us. The situation is changing in school every day.
Please help everyone by adhering to the social distancing rules and keep yourselves and your families safe.
We will continue to update you over the coming days and weeks via the school jotter. If you know anyone who hasn’t got the school app, can you please encourage them to do so as it will be our main means of communication.
Please avoid coming to school unless it is absolutely necessary.
Sally Pearce and Jacqui Newton
Co headteachers
Seely Primary and Nursery School
