Write an informal letter to your mother telling her about Covid
precautions taken by your hostel and school management
Answers
Answer:
Dear parents and carers
We are writing to keep you appraised of our plans to begin the phased re-opening of William Ford Junior School to some pupils.
The government has asked us to plan a reopening of the school from any date on or after Monday 1 June 2020. It is our responsibility to plan a phased reopening based on our judgement of what is safest for our school’s children, families and staff. This letter explains to you our plan, although it is provisional and could be changed or postponed at any moment based on our interpretation of the ever-changing advice and evidence.
As things stand, we hope to open our doors to Year 6 pupils only from Monday 8 June. This is in addition to the children of key workers and a small number of other families from any year group who are already in attendance. We have chosen this date rather than the government’s preferred date of 1 June so that we can be more confident that the government’s five tests for the lifting of lockdown have been sufficiently well met. The government is due to release essential up to date information on 28 May. Opening our school on 1 June would not give us time to analyse this information well enough in order to make our school premises as safe as possible. When this information is published on 28 May, we may decide that we cannot reopen the school after all, and cancel any plans to do so.
You may well wonder why it is up to us, as two primary school teachers, to analyse this information and make such a momentous decision. In other countries, government experts have made these decisions and given schools clear nationwide instructions. In England, the ultimate responsibility falls to us, and you may be assured that we will take it very seriously. Our prime minister has said that he wishes to ‘support’ us to reopen as soon as possible, but he has also asked us to teach children in groups of no more than fifteen pupils. We have neither the classrooms nor the staff to do this. Our main concern must always, therefore, be the minimisation of risk to children, families and staff rather than prioritising the aspirations of the government, however well-meaning those aspirations may be.
For us, the most pressing of the government’s tests is the availability of sufficient personal protective equipment (PPE) for our staff to be confident that we will not run out before the end of the summer term. We have already secured most of what we need, but still have some gaps to fill.
If our provisional plan to open for Year 6 pupils on Monday 8 June goes ahead and is successful, we may be able to welcome some pupils from other year groups into school before the end of the summer term. This plan is, however, tentative and provisional and could be modified or postponed at any time. We will keep you informed about this.
Accompanying this letter is an online response form for parents to let us know your intentions. Please complete this, but in making your decision please take into account the following information:
You do not have to send your child to school. The government has requested that we encourage you to do so, but our local authority has told us that they will not support us in any attempt to fine families who do not send their child to school. You will, therefore, not be fined if you choose not to send your child to school before the end of the summer term.
We may only be able to offer your child a part-time timetable. This means that they may only be able to attend school on some days and not others. This is because we do not have enough classrooms or teachers to teach lots of small groups at the same time. We may also need to close the school for regular deep cleans.
In school, your child will be educated in a small group known as a ‘bubble’. Each bubble will probably contain about ten pupils with one teacher and one teaching assistant. It is very likely that these staff members will not be your child’s usual teacher and teaching assistant. Each bubble will have no contact whatsoever with any children or staff from any other bubble. This means that your child will not see or speak to anybody outside their bubble for the entirety of the summer term. This includes lunchtimes and break times.
Pupils will follow a well-planned and worthwhile curriculum, but this will not be their normal curriculum. It may not be as broad and balanced as usual, and is likely to emphasise activities to support pupils’ safety and wellbeing ahead of some of the more traditional subjects.
Within each bubble, hygiene will be the highest priority. Your child will be instructed to wash and sanitise their hands regularly. School cleaners will be on site throughout the whole school day and will repeatedly clean anything that is touched frequently such as surfaces and door handles. Pupils may not bring any equipment into school. They may only use the equipment that we provide them with. They may not share anything with another pupil.