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If you are unable to receive Holy Communion at this time, you can pray the prayer for Spiritual Communion:

19 March 2020

Dear Parents/Carers

Re: Coronavirus update – school closure to most pupils

Following on from my last update, I’m now writing to let you know that we have now been instructed to close the school to most children after this Friday until further notice.

As advised by the government, we will do all we can to stay open for the children of key workers (e.g. NHS staff, police, teachers, school support staff, others in frontline services – please see the government website for the full list) and children with certain needs (those in receipt of free school meals, EHCO, EHCP (mid process) CFW, edge of care, CSC or an open CAF).  If you feel that your family is vulnerable but may not meet the specific criteria, please contact us to discuss what arrangements can be made to accommodate your child.

Attendance by children in the ‘vulnerable’ category is not optional.

Attendance by children of a key worker is optional.  However, we recommend that your child attends school to enable you to continue to do your job to the benefit of us all.

Any attendance is a full time commitment and is not provided on an ad-hoc basis.

We are waiting for the government to publish more information on what this means, but it would help us in the meantime if you could let us know if you think your child may fall into one of these categories. We request all families to complete this electronic questionnaire https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/9NVQ7H5  and return it to us by 9am tomorrow morning, 20 March 2020 to allow us to make preparations for next week.

All other children will need to stay at home, so we ask that you do not send your child into school from Monday onwards.

Please note that this is a national closure, as you may have heard in the news, so while it is a challenging situation, we are not alone.  We’ll re-open fully as soon as we can and will let you know when this is by Groupcall text and notification on our website and Facebook page.

With effect from Monday 23 March 2020 and for the next 2 weeks up to and including Friday 3 April 2020, the arrangements for provision only for children of key workers and any children who fall into the ’vulnerable’ category are as follows:

• School will open at 9am and close at 3.30pm.  Arrangements during the day will differ as normal timetables are suspended. Details will follow.
• All children attending school should wear full school uniform as usual and all rules and expectations regarding behaviour remain unchanged.
• Lunch will be provided as usual for all children present.
• All children in receipt of free school meals (whether in school or not) will also be provided with a meal. 
• If your child is expected to be in school but can’t attend due to illness or having to self-isolate, please contact Mrs Dean, Attendance Manager, to report their absence as normal.

These are the arrangements for the next 2 weeks only.  The situation is evolving at a rapid pace.  If our plans need to change, we will contact you via the usual channels.  Arrangements for during the Easter holidays and beyond if necessary, will be provided nearer the time.

While your child is at home, they will be expected to complete the work which has been set by their teachers on the various electronic platforms used in school.  Teachers may be contacted during school hours with any queries via their school email address which can be found on the school website.

This is as much as we know right now and 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 want to get in touch to share any concerns, please don’t hesitate to contact us on the usual number: 01282 865299.

And remember: if you or your child feels ill and you want to know what to do next, please use NHS 111 online.

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

Yours faithfully

Ms C Hayes

Headteacher

Not everyone has the things they need to make a happy home, but Caritas, through the St Joseph’s Penny Appeal, reaches out to those vulnerable children and families in our communities.   They offer support in lots of different ways – from food parcels to counselling sessions, from providing clothes and household goods, to giving young mums and their babies somewhere safe to live; Caritas means something different to everyone they help.