Dear parents and carers,
As a
country, we all need to do what we can to reduce the spread of the COVID-19
virus. Government has asked parents to keep their children at home, wherever
possible, and asked schools to remain open only for those children who absolutely
need to attend.
As a school we will do our upmost to adhere to this, however, with staff
illness, staff having families to care for and also those with underlying
medical conditions, you can imagine the pressure to organise this successfully.
This is why I ask you to consider carefully before contacting the school
office.
The most recent scientific advice on how to further limit
the spread of COVID-19 is clear. If children can stay safely at home, they
should, to limit the chance of the virus spreading.
School
is not open to support childcare but to ensure that we keep children safe who
most need it and also to support key workers in continuing their necessary work. The
current situation is, as you know, a Global Pandemic and families need to take
seriously the guidelines on social isolation.
We
will be sending any children home who show signs of ill health or a
temperature. Currently, we are only permitted to use head strip thermometers
and while these are not accurate to a decimal point, they are an indicator. Any
children showing signs of illness will be isolated until collection.
Please,
therefore, follow these key principles:
1. If it is at all possible for children to be at home, then they should
be.
2. If a child needs specialist support as identified above, is vulnerable
or has a parent who is a critical worker, then educational provision will be
available for them. Government advice is
that every child who can be safely cared for at home should be.
3. Parents should not rely for childcare upon those who are advised to be
in the stringent social distancing category such as grandparents, friends, or
family members with underlying conditions.
4. Parents should also do everything they can to ensure children are not
mixing socially in a way which can continue to spread the virus. They should
observe the same social distancing principles as adults.
School have already contacted all eligible families, however if you feel
that your children fall into the following categories please contact us with current
evidence before 12pm today.
Vulnerable children:
·
Those supported by social care
·
‘looked after’ children, young carers
·
Those with education, health and care (EHC) plans.
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, however, this may not be guaranteed at Bannockburn and
may be in an alternative setting.
Health and social care
Doctors,
nurses, midwives, paramedics, social workers, care workers, and other frontline
health and social care staff including volunteers; the support and specialist
staff required to maintain the UK’s health and social care sector; those
working as part of the health and social care supply chain, including producers
and distributers of medicines and medical and personal protective equipment.
Education and childcare
This includes nursery and teaching staff and social workers
Key public services
This includes those essential to the running of the justice system,
religious staff, charities and 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
This
only includes those administrative occupations essential to the effective
delivery of the COVID-19 response or delivering essential public services such
as the payment of benefits, including in government agencies and arms length
bodies.
Food and other necessary goods
This
includes those involved in food production, processing, distribution, sale and
delivery as well as those essential to the provision of other key goods (for
example hygienic and veterinary medicines).
Public safety and national security
This
includes police and support staff, Ministry of Defence civilians, contractor
and armed forces personnel (those critical to the delivery of key defence and
national security outputs and essential to the response to the COVID-19
pandemic), fire and rescue service employees (including support staff),
National Crime Agency staff, those maintaining border security, prison and
probation staff and other national security roles, including those overseas.
Transport
This
includes those who will keep the air, water, road and rail passenger and
freight transport modes operating during the COVID-19 response, including those
working on transport systems through which supply chains pass.
Utilities, communication and
financial services
This
includes staff needed for essential financial services provision (including but
not limited to workers in banks, building societies and financial market
infrastructure), the oil, gas, electricity and water sectors (including
sewerage), information technology and data infrastructure sector and primary
industry supplies to continue during the COVID-19 response, as well as key
staff working in the civil nuclear, chemicals, telecommunications (including
but not limited to network operations, field engineering, call centre staff, IT
and data infrastructure, 999 and 111 critical services), postal services and
delivery, payments providers and waste disposal sectors.
If workers
think they fall within the critical categories above they should confirm with
their employer that, based on their business continuity arrangements, their
specific role is necessary for the continuation of this essential public
service. School will ask for a letter as evidence.
If your school is closed then please contact your local authority, who will seek to redirect you to a local school in your area that your
child, or children, can attend.
We
are grateful for the work of teachers and workers in educational settings for
continuing to provide for the children of the other critical workers of our
country. It is an essential part of our national effort to combat this disease.
Once
again, thank you for your support in helping to reduce the spread of this
virus. Stay safe.
