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Announcement

Coronavirus (COVID-19) Update

Re: Coronavirus update – school closure to most pupils

We hope you and your families are well during this time. I’m writing to let you know that we have now been instructed to close the school to almost all children from the end of the day on Friday 20thMarch 2020.  There has been no date set currently for when schools will reopen for students. 

As advised by the government, we will do all we can to stay open for those children who have an Education and Healthcare plan or a social worker.  Also, children whose parents are classified as key workers can continue to attend school if absolutely necessary. This is to ensure that vital services are kept operational during this testing time.  The government have defined key workers as:

  • Health and Social care
  • Education and childcare
  • Key public services
  • Local and national government
  • Food and other necessary goods
  • Public safety and national security
  • Transport
  • Utilities, communication and financial services

Please ensure you bring your work ID, or a letter from your employer, to prove that you are a key worker.

Please be advised that despite this service being available, if you are able to keep your child at home this is the preferred option. Every child who can be safely cared for at home should be. 

During this time, your child may not be attending Mulgrave; it is quite likely that the Local Authority may identify one central location for children of key workers and/or EHCPs to attend.  As of yet, this has not been confirmed and I have no further information regarding where this would be etc. 

Please note that this is a national closure – as you may have heard in the news – so while it is a challenging situation, you are not alone. We’ll re-open fully as soon as the government inform us that we can and will let you know when this is by updating our website and sending information through Parent Mail.  Please ensure the office have the correct contact details for you.  

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

Your child’s learning is of course important to us, so we’ll continue to help your child to learn.  All children have been given printed packs to complete at home, they have either taken these home directly from school, or they have been posted out to you.  Children have also been provided with login details for the Google Classroom, where teachers will be uploading learning remotely.  Pupils can contact their teachers with any questions, and teachers will be providing children with feedback through this platform.  Whilst the school remains open for the above groups of children, any parents can continue to contact the school on 0208 317 9211. 

Please also continue to check our school website; ideas, activities and websites will be uploaded under the section titled 'Support during School Closure'.  

Free School Meals

If your child is normally entitled to a free school meal, and you would like this to continue, we will be providing packed lunches every day for the following two weeks. You will need to come and collect your child's packed lunch from the main school gate between 12:00pm and 12:30pm. In order to maintain social distancing guidelines, the lunch will be handed to you at the main school gate. Unfortunately, children will not be permitted to enter the school premises to collect or eat their lunch.

SATs 

The Government has announced that all examinations for this academic year have been cancelled. For us, this means that children in Year 2 and Year 6 will no longer be sitting their SATs tests. The children have been working extremely hard to prepare for this and I would like to take this opportunity to commend them for their efforts. The learning that took place in preparation for the SATs will really help prepare the children for the next stage of their learning. 

This is all the information that we have currently, 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’s far from ideal, but we’ll continue to keep in touch with any updates as the situation develops.  If you have any questions or want to discuss anything further, please don’t hesitate to contact the school office.  

Please remember that in line with guidance, all members of a household are advised to self - isolate for 14 days if anyone living with them has a cough and/or a high temperature.  Further information from the Government can be found at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/covid-19-stay-at-home-guidance/stay-at-home-guidance-for-people-with-confirmed-or-possible-coronavirus-covid-19-infection.  Please use NHS 111 online (https://111.nhs.uk/covid-19) for advice about symptoms and call NHS 111 if your symptoms worsen.

Thank you again for your continued support, and we will be in touch with more information when we can.