19th March 2020

Dear Parents/Carers,

As you will be aware, the government yesterday announced the closure of schools in England on Friday. From Monday 23rd March schools are being asked to open to provide care for vulnerable pupils and those whose parents or carers are key workers. Today, through the Cabinet Office, the government is publishing a full list to clarify this further.

Key workers Vulnerable pupils
Yet to be announced Yet to be announced

 

As soon as we receive this information we will pass it on.

We are working hard to put together the organisational arrangements to fulfil our new duty and would ask for your cooperation and understanding as we now move to implement them. There will be two strands to our work. In school provision for those children who will be attending and remote learning for those children who are remaining at home.

In school provision

For those children who will be attending school please be aware that the current arrangements around self-isolation remain in place and it is really important that they are adhered to. Activities will be arranged making full use of the school’s facilities and the expertise of the staff and further details on this will follow in the coming days. It is inevitable that the children will be mixed age groupings.

Remote learning

For children who will be remaining at home we have prepared a range of online resources to support their learning including many of the online learning platforms that they are familiar with in school such as Purple Mash, Mathletics, Times Table Rockstars, Accelerated Reader and Google Classroom.

An accompanying letter provides more details and login information to access these resources. Children are also being sent home this week with a bundle of reading books to enjoy. We are taking a dynamic approach and will be regularly checking in, reviewing  and updating our remote learning offer over the coming days and weeks.

Free School Meals:

Further details regarding the arrangements and provision for free school meals will follow soon.

Safeguarding

During the closure, we encourage all parents to be responsible for safeguarding children in our communities. If you have any concerns, please contact MASH, The Multi-agency Safeguarding Hub: 0345 155 1071 For more information on safeguarding children visit www.devon.gov.uk/childprotection

Out of hours: Emergency Duty Service 0845 6000 388

Alternatively contact the police on 101 or 999 in an emergency.

Please rest assured that everyone across the entire staff team are working hard to ensure that we can support you all as much as possible during these unprecedented times. We will keep you updated with any further developments.

Yours faithfully

 

Mark Gilronan