Letter to Parents re Key Workers 20th March 2020

Dear Parents & Carers,

As outlined in my letter to you yesterday, the school will be closing for most students for the foreseeable future from Monday of next week as part of the government’s attempts to limit the spread of the coronavirus. The 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.

Parents whose work is critical to the COVID-19 response are outlined in the ‘Key Sectors’ sections below. Many parents working in these sectors may be able to ensure their child is kept at home, and every child who can be safely cared for at home should be.

The government asks, therefore, parents to 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, is vulnerable or has a parent who is a critical worker (see ‘Key Sectors’ below), then educational provision will be available for them.
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.

The school has already made individual contact with our parents and carers whose children are vulnerable or who need specialist support.

Key Sectors – if one or more parent/carer works in the sectors listed below, their children are eligible to attend school from Monday onwards: -

Health and social care

This includes but is not limited to 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, social workers and those specialist education professionals who must remain active during the COVID-19 response to deliver this approach

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

In order for us to plan effectively to accommodate and teach the children of these eligible parents, it is essential that you inform us at the earliest opportunity - and if possible by 3:30pm today (Friday) - if you intend to send your child to school on Monday morning. All children attending school from Monday must be present at the normal time of 8:35am and wearing full school uniform.

To inform us that your child will be attending from Monday, please email admin@theradclyffeschool.co.uk and include

• Your child’s full name
• Their Year group
• Their RAD number
• The days of the week they will be attending school

I will publish a separate letter regarding the arrangements for students who are eligible for Free School Meals.

Yours faithfully,

J Cregg
Headteacher