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 almost all 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, others in frontline services) and children with certain needs.  We are waiting for the government to publish more information on what this means, and as soon as we have this we will let you know.   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. Please contact us via email admin@castletiverton.school with the following information:

• Child’s name
• Reason (for instance, you are a key worker and what your job is)

We’ll be in touch again as soon as we are sure who this does apply to and to give you further information.

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 using the school website, school email and text messaging.

What we’ll continue doing while your child is at home

Your child’s learning is of course important to us, so we’ll continue to help your child to learn. In the first instance we shall be putting work onto the school website in the ‘Class Information’ section.  We have set up class emails and will send more information home later this week.

During Term time, your child is still in education.  Your child’s education is a priority to my staff.  My expectation is that all children at home, unless they are ill, will be engaging in education.  We are doing our absolute best to ensure we do all we can to help you with this.  Please explain to your child that they are still in education during this time and it is NOT a holiday.

Please bear with us, we will provide you with more information just as soon as we have it.

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If your child usually receives free school meals we will also be in touch with more information about how we will continue to provide this, with support from a scheme that the government has just announced.

What we won’t be able to go ahead with

• School trips – more information will be provided just as soon as we have it.
• Internal exams or tests

This is as much as we know right now and we appreciate your continued patience with us 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 will continue to keep in touch with you with any updates as the situation develops.

If you want to get in touch to share any concerns, please don’t hesitate to do so via email admin@castletiverton.school .  Please keep phone calls to the school office to a minimum as staff are trying to make lots of arrangements for your child’s continuing education.

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 sincerely

Mrs Noble & The School Team