UPDATED 20th March 2020 at 8.30AM
THE SCHOOL WILL CLOSE FOR EDUCATION PURPOSES AFTER FRIDAY 20TH MARCH
SATS TESTS IN YEAR 6 HAVE BEEN CANCELLED FOR THIS YEAR
I can now give you information about who we are allowed to have in school and the conditions around that as set out by the government. PLEASE CONTACT SCHOOL URGENTLY VIA PHONE OR MY EMAIL a.mcdonough101@durhamlearning.net if you think at any point in this crisis you could require childcare. It would be helpful for us to know anyone who works in any of these sectors now so we can forward plan potential provision
GOV.UK statement states:
- If it is at all possible for children to be at home then they should be
- If a child needs specialist support, is vulnerable or has a parent who is a critical worker, then educational provision will be made for them
- Parents should not rely on those in the stringent social distancing category for childcare such as grandparents, friends or family with underlying conditions.
- Parents should do everything they can to ensure children are not mixing socially in a way which can continue the spread of the virus. The should observe the same social distancing rules as adults.
If your work is critical to the COVID-19 response, or you work in one of the critical sectors listed below, and you cannot keep your child safe at home then your children will be prioritised for education provision:
Health and social care
includes but not limited to: doctors, nurses, midwives, paramedics, social workers, care workers, other frontline health and social care staff including volunteer, support staff required to maintain the health and social care sector and those working in the supply chain to health and social care including producers and distributors of medicines and medical ppe.
Education and childcare
includes nursery and teaching staff, social workers and specialist education professionals
Key Public Services
includes those running the justice system, religious staff, charities ad workers delivering key frontline services, those responsible for the management of the deceased and journalists and broadcasters who are providing public service broadcasting
Local and National government
Food and necessary goods
includes those involved in food production, processing, distribution, sale and delivery as well as those essential to the provision of other key goods
Public safety and national security
includes police and support staff, MoD officials, armed forces personnel, fire and rescue services, border security, national crime agency staff
Transport
includes those who keep air, water, road and rail passenger and freight transport modes operating and those working on transport systems
Utilities, communication and financial services
includes staff needed for essential financial services provision (banks, building societies, financial market) oil, gas, electricity and water sectors, IT and data infrastructure, civil nuclear, chemical and telecommunications workers (field engineering, call centre staff, 999 and 111, postal services and delivery, payments providers and waste disposal sectors
KEEP BEING MINDFUL OF THE SYMPTOMS AND FOLLOW GOVERNMENT GUIDANCE ON SOCIAL DISTANCING AND ISOLATION
a) a fever (37.8) or a new ‘continuous’ cough;
b) anyone in their household showing symptoms (raised temperature 37.8 or a new continuous cough) the ENTIRE HOUSEHOLD should be isolated for 14 days.
Communication with school during this time is going to be crucial and there are several ways to keep in touch with us, depending on your enquiry.
- The school website- (this post will continue to be updated and class pages)
- via class dojo which all parents will have a login for by the weekend- this will be where children access future learning
- my direct work email- a.mcdonough101@durhamlearning.net
- the school telephone number- 0191 5843805 (messages will be picked up regularly when we have access to the building)
- teachers2parents text messaging system
There may well be potential going forward to allow time-slots for parents to collect printed work packs from school but because of how uncertain the future of this situation is, it is crucial that you remain in communication with us to find out about arrangements.
Please do not contact any of the staff through any personal means such as messenger or social media.
This is an unprecedented time, and I am really grateful for your patience and cooperation. We can’t wait to get back to normal teaching and learning!
We will keep you updated via this post and text messages if, and when, things change.
You can also follow the links below for more guidance:
https://www.gov.uk/government/topical-events/coronavirus-covid-19-uk-government-response