Dear Parents and Guardians,

I am writing to you in respect of the on-going coronavirus situation. Speculation is rife in the media about will/won’t happen; what should/shouldn’t happen and when it will/won’t happen. We are facing uncertain times and it is difficult to know what it is ahead. There is no doubt that we are in unchartered waters.

DFE Advice to Schools
We have been told that we all need to play our part and that includes our role as your child’s school. As a school, we receive a daily update from the Department for Education. This comes straight to my email and gives the latest advice for that day. The advice is often the same - keep doing what you have been doing. The current advice, as I write, is to:
 Keep the school open
 Encourage good hygiene especially hand-washing
 Advise parents to keep their child at home if they have
- a temperature of 37.8 or higher
- a new persistent cough.
We appreciate your co-operation in this matter.

Parents’ Evening
Each day, as a school we need to assess risk and make decisions. In light of the on-going situation and the fact that things may change in the very near future, I have decided to cancel Parents’ Evening as a precautionary measure. We all have families and loved ones to protect and many of the staff have close family members, who are potentially very vulnerable to the possible impact of contraction of COVID-19.
In the absence of a Parents’ Evening, we ask that any parent with a pressing concern to contact his/her child’s class teacher via the usual route. Conversely, if a teacher has a matter he/she wishes to discuss with a parent, then the parent will be contacted. As it is unknown how long this situation is likely to progress for, no alternative arrangements for Parents’ Evening will be made at this point in time. We will continue to review the situation.

St George’s Day Celebration for Grandparents – 23rd April
We always receive such lovely feedback from our more senior members of the community at this event. However, in light of the likelihood that people over 70 may be asked to self-isolate in the near future, it is with regret but would seem prudent that our St George’s Day celebrations are cancelled.

Potential School Closures
As per DfE advice, the school remains open. We have been given no indication that this is likely to change soon. However, as a point of reference, in any event that school was closed (for any reason) the scrolling banner on the top of our main web page, would indicate our status as closed. We would also inform you through our usual channels as well.

Let’s hope and pray that this coronavirus passes quickly and our school community does not feel its impact so that we can get our lives back to business as usual.

Thank you for your understanding.

Stay safe and well.
Kind Regards,

Mrs K A Melling
Executive Headteacher