Dear Parents,
I appreciate that this has not been an easy time for you and I know that many of you have had to find childcare arrangements today. I also know that after missing so much of the previous school year it was a relief to us all to be finally back in school. The children have thrived during the autumn term and attendance has been fantastic. Although routines and systems have been different we have all worked together to create a safe environment which has helped to bring a small slice of normality back. It has been a joy watching the children falling back in love with their learning, something you all managed to nurture over those many months of home schooling.
Yesterday’s announcement has left us all feeling a sense of disappointment and weariness and for us in school, frustration that learning once again will be disrupted. Please know that the staff within school have also found it extremely difficult too.
Moving forward our aim now is to try our very best to meet the needs of our special school community and to endeavour to keep learning going so that all children are engaged and continue to develop that curiosity for finding out more.
Our plan is to reopen school tomorrow until half term for any children who are classed as vulnerable or those whose parents are Critical Workers. The criteria can be found at the end of this blog. To provide consistency we are only offering full time places which will follow the current school day. Depending on numbers starting and finishing times may vary but these will be published once numbers are collated.
For those children who remain at home, Remote Learning will be made available on a weekly basis on the school website within the class learning areas. This will follow a very similar pattern to what you experienced during the previous lockdown and children will be using platforms they are familiar with.
To help us with our planning, if you feel you urgently need a full time place for your child at school during lockdown as you are a critical worker, please could you complete the online form which can be accessed using the button below before noon this morning. This will greatly help the teachers as they plan their lessons to support learning both at home and school.
Throughout these next five weeks we will try our very best to support every family and continue to offer advice when needed. We have to remember that we have been here before and although this was not wished for we have already proven that together we can ride the storm and emerge triumphant. We are all in the hands of God and together we can gain the strength that He fills us with so that we can each do that very task He has given us to do.
You are all in our thoughts and we pray that we will all be able to return safely to school soon.
God bless
Miss Haggerty
Vulnerable children and young people
Vulnerable children and young people include those who:
· are assessed as being in need under section 17 of the Children Act 1989, including children and young people who have a child in need plan, a child protection plan or who are a looked-after child
· have an education, health and care (EHC) plan
· have been identified as otherwise vulnerable by educational providers or local authorities (including children’s social care services), and who could therefore benefit from continued full-time attendance.
Critical Worker
Parents whose work is critical to the coronavirus (COVID-19) and EU transition response include those who work in health and social care and in other key sectors outlined in the following sections.
Health and social care
This includes, but is not limited to, doctors, nurses, midwives, paramedics, social workers, care workers, and other frontline health and social care staff including volunteers; the support and specialist staff required to maintain the UK’s health and social care sector; those working as part of the health and social care supply chain, including producers and distributors of medicines and medical and personal protective equipment.
Education and childcare
This includes:
· childcare
· support and teaching staff
· social workers
· specialist education professionals who must remain active during the coronavirus (COVID-19) response to deliver this approach
Key public services
This includes:
· those essential to the running of the justice system
· religious staff
· charities and workers delivering key frontline services
· those responsible for the management of the deceased
· journalists and broadcasters who are providing public service broadcasting
Local and national government
This only includes those administrative occupations essential to the effective delivery of:
· the coronavirus (COVID-19) response, and the delivery of and response to EU transition
· essential public services, such as the payment of benefits and the certification or checking of goods for import and export (including animal products, animals, plants and food), including in government agencies and arms length bodies
Food and other necessary goods
This includes those involved in food:
· production
· processing
· distribution
· sale and delivery
· as well as those essential to the provision of other key goods (for example hygienic and veterinary medicines)
Public safety and national security
This includes:
· police and support staff
· Ministry of Defence civilians
· contractor and armed forces personnel (those critical to the delivery of key defence and national security outputs and essential to the response to the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak and EU transition)
· fire and rescue service employees (including support staff)
· National Crime Agency staff
· those maintaining border security, prison and probation staff and other national security roles, including those overseas
Transport and border
This includes those who will keep the air, water, road and rail passenger and freight transport modes operating during the coronavirus (COVID-19) response and EU transition, including those working on transport systems through which supply chains pass and those constructing or supporting the operation of critical transport and border infrastructure through which supply chains pass.
Utilities, communication and financial services
This includes:
· staff needed for essential financial services provision (including but not limited to workers in banks, building societies and financial market infrastructure)
· the oil, gas, electricity and water sectors (including sewerage)
· information technology and data infrastructure sector and primary industry supplies to continue during the coronavirus (COVID-19) response
· key staff working in the civil nuclear, chemicals, telecommunications (including but not limited to network operations, field engineering, call centre staff, IT and data infrastructure, 999 and 111 critical services)
· postal services and delivery
· payments providers
· waste disposal sectors
