Friday 20 March 2020

Dear Parent/Carer

Firstly, can I thank you for your support regarding the preparations you have made towards your child’s home learning that will start next week. Keeping your children focused and occupied will make an enormous difference during this crisis.

Students already have the details they need regarding the Student Portal and have begun accessing their folders. We would suggest that they follow their timetable as if they were in school to give them a structure and routine to their day. Staff will continue to update their subject area over the coming weeks to ensure there is sufficient work to keep students learning. In addition, the BBC has said that it will be increasing its range of resources to support children’s education in line with other providers.

As you know, the College will close as from Monday 23 March until further notice and from then on, there is no expectation for any child to attend school, until the advice from Government changes.

The Government has now released details for the support for Key workers and have stressed the importance of parents and carers adhering to the following key principles:

1. Your child should remain at home. We must minimise social interactions and we are absolutely dependent on parents and carers not taking advantage of this simply for their childcare.
2. If a child needs specialist support, is vulnerable or has a parent who is a critical worker, then educational provision will be available for them.
3. Parents and carers should do everything they can to ensure their children are not mixing socially in a way which can continue to spread the virus. Children should observe the same social distancing principles as adults.

If your work is critical to the COVID-19 response or if 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 and you need to complete the Key Worker survey form that we emailed to all parents and carers on Thursday. Key Worker categories include:

Health and Social Care

This includes 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.

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, contractors 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.

However, there is no expectation that children of these key workers have to attend school. If you fall into this group and wish to make other arrangements, then this may well be the safest option.

The Government is also asking that we continue to provide education and support for children who have an Education and Health Care Plan (EHCP), children who have a social worker assigned to the family, those from families receiving Early Help and children receiving support from the Primary Behaviour Service.

Again, there is no requirement that children in these groups have to come to school, but there will be provision should parents or carers choose this option.

Please be aware that if the College is forced to close due to an outbreak of the virus then the Local Authority will seek to redirect you to another local school in the area for your child to attend.

Free School Meals Offer:

Just to let you know, our offer to help those students who are eligible for Free School Meals will continue throughout the school closure. If you would like to pick up a free packed lunch for your child at home, then please email d.withers@applemore.hants.sch.uk before 10.30am in the morning to place your order, and the packed lunch will be ready to collect from the kitchen door at the front of the school between 12 noon until 12.30pm.

Finally, can I once again take this opportunity to thank you all for your support during these unprecedented times. Please rest assured, I will continue to update you as and when the situation changes.

Our very best wishes to you all.

Yours sincerely

Mr R Marsh

Headteacher