Coronavirus Communication Update – school closure to most pupils

19^th March 2020

Dear Parents and Carers,

Firstly, may I take this opportunity to thank you for your patience and understanding during recent days surrounding the ongoing coronavirus crisis. It has been truly heart-warming to receive messages of support from our school community and for that, we are all very grateful.

Following on from my last update, I am now writing to let you know that we have been instructed to close the school to almost all children from closure on Friday 20^th March 2020, until further notice.

As advised by the government, we will do all we can to stay open for the children of key workers (e.g. NHS staff, police, social care staff, frontline workers and delivery drivers), children who fall into the vulnerable category and those with Education Health Care Plans.

We are waiting for the government to publish more information on what this means, but it would help us in the meantime if you could let us know if you think your profession might fall into the key worker band. Today, we will be estimating the number of families, who are likely to require this support, based on the information you have previously supplied about parental occupations and the understanding we already have of our vulnerable children. However, please notify us by email by no later than 10am on Friday 20^th March 2020 at office@greasley.notts.sch.uk if you and/or your child falls into any one of these groups.

Once we have a full understanding of the numbers involved, we can assess the requirements and finalise arrangements with the families concerned.　

All other children will need to stay at home, so we ask that you do not send your child into school from Monday 23^rd March onwards. Please note that this is a national closure – as you may have heard in the news – so while it is a challenging situation, we are not alone. We will re-open fully as soon as we can and will let you know when this will be by ParentMail.  

We have also pre-empted the requirement to make provision for the children of key workers or those children who fall into the most vulnerable category, and have plans in place ready to facilitate this as follows:

• The school will be open from 8.50am – 3.15pm Monday to Friday until further notice;
• Children will enter through the main entrance and we will register them in the hall and assess numbers for the day;
• For the children who need to attend school, you should still notify us that day if the children are poorly or self-isolating;
• Children will be supervised in groups with varying adults throughout the week;
• They will work through the home learning lessons, and other additional activities;
• Adults supporting will be teachers or teaching assistants;
• The secretary of state is clear: this is an entirely different role for school staff. It is primarily about care, not education;
• Children will not be required to wear school uniform;

We are currently planning what our arrangements will be for lunchtime, especially for those in receipt of free school meals, but packed lunches may be required by some.

I am sure there will be many questions about all the arrangements moving forwards, and I promise to keep you all posted as I have the answers.

Examples of what will not be able to go ahead:

• School trips;
• Breakfast or after-school clubs;
• Events;
• Internal testing throughout May and June;
• Rainbow Rewards.

What we’ll continue doing while your child is at home

Your child’s learning is of course important to us. Therefore, we will continue to help your child to learn at home as much as physically possible for us. Today, your child will come home with a learning journal book. This will include logins for all remote learning and suggestions of activities for them to complete throughout the week. General timetables are also provided as an example if you want to add some structure to your day. In addition, teachers will be posting daily onto the class story, using Class Dojo. For now, you will have activities for week one of the school closure. Moving forwards, we will continue to send you subsequent learning for future weeks, using the same structure and format. 

If your child usually receives free school meals, we will also be in touch with more information about how we will continue to provide help, with support from a scheme that the government are currently finalising.

This is as much as we know right now and we appreciate your continued patience as we deal with this ever-changing situation. We understand that this latest news will have an impact on you and your family and it is far from ideal. However, we will continue to keep in touch with any updates as the situation develops.

If you want to get in touch to share any concerns, please do not hesitate to do so via the school landline or office@greasley.notts.sch.uk. Also, remember: if you or your child feels ill and you want to know what to do next, please refer to the NHS guidelines.

We are all experiencing uncertain and difficult times; as a community, we aim to support each other as best we can. Above everything, we are totally committed to supporting our children and families throughout this process. Thank you to those parents who have sent in messages of support and encouragement to our staff - this is greatly appreciated. We continue to wish you and your family well. The children have been particularly brilliant and we have been smiling together daily!

I would like to take this opportunity to thank the staff also for their hard work and dedication over the last few days as we have prepared for this closure. Without this, we would not be able to function and remain open for those who need us most.

All that remains is for me to wish you and yours a healthy and safe time away from school, and to assure you that we will look forward to seeing everyone back in school well in the coming future.  Please keep safe, feel free to keep in touch and honestly I send my sincerest love and best wishes to everyone in the school community.

Keep smiling, children!

Best wishes,

 

Mrs Bates

Head Teacher