Dear Parents,

I’m sure that many of you will have been following the news closely and have already picked up on the statement regarding school openings but, for those of you who may not have had the chance to see it yet, we wanted to make sure that everyone was as up to date as possible.

 

Since the start of this pandemic, schools have rarely been provided with much clarity or advance notice but we are pleased that we now have some information about what will be happening in the coming weeks. However, we are, of course, disappointed that we will not have everyone back in school for a little while yet. 

 

The key announcements from parliament this week were as follows:

 

·     The earliest schools might ‘begin to re-open’ will be Monday 8^th March. 

(This is the start of the third school week after the half-term holiday)

 

·     There will be a plan/review set out on Monday 22^nd February with further updates

(This is the first day after the half-term holiday)

 

·     When a decision on the exact date of return has been made, schools will get two weeks’ notice

 

I know that the above will be disappointing for many families and children to hear, but I know that it provides some hope that there might be an end in sight – at least in terms of getting the children back into school.

 

We also received clarification from the Department for Education (DfE) yesterday that schools would not be asked to open over half-term for children of critical workers as was the case in the first lock-down.

 

At this point, I need to say a huge ‘thank you’ for the time you have taken to support your children at home with their learning. We have been both delighted and impressed by the photos of work and the accounts of activities you have been sharing with us. At times, this way of working may not have suited your child perfectly but we have been reassured by the way you have adapted tasks, materials and resources to support them and how you have used other learning opportunities to help your child learn. As a school community, we will be taking all these positives and techniques forward as we develop our practices further. 

 

Please stay safe and try to remain optimistic – let’s keep our fingers crossed that your children will be able to return to school very soon.

 

Kind regards,

 

Mrs Sarah Jack