Dear Parents/ Carers, 

 

Firstly, Happy New Year to you all. 

 

At this time, we will be opening on Tuesday 5th January to all the pupils as we have enough staff to open and to still follow the guidelines expected of us.

 

Please find below a publication from the Suffolk Local Authority about schools opening, which contains information about shielding and isolating. 

 

We look forward to welcoming all the children back for 2021.

 

Best wishes, 

Mrs K. Butler

 

 

Coronavirus and attendance at Early Years, Primary, Secondary and Special Schools and Colleges in Suffolk

Returning to school in January 2021

Primary and Special schools and Early Years settings

Primary schools may need to stagger the return of children to school from the week starting Monday 4 January 2021. Your school will let you know if they cannot open for your child from Monday. Some schools won’t be open on Monday 4 January for planned teacher training.

The rate of COVID infection increased in Suffolk over the Christmas break. This may mean that some Suffolk schools do not have enough staff available to open safely. It is a Headteacher's decision, with their governing body/trust, as to whether they can open safely. Suffolk County Council will support any school leader who makes a decision not to open for the majority of pupils from 4 January 2021. Each school will be responsible for this decision.

Parents and carers should check their school communications to see if their school is open or closed.

If your school is closed, children of critical workers and vulnerable children will be invited to attend as soon as possible. In these circumstances, contact your school to confirm your place in school - every school must open for those children.

It may take schools a day or two, or more, to know whether they have enough staff to reopen to all children safely. Keep looking out for messages from your child's school. Children will be given some remote learning if their school is closed and they are at home.

Secondary schools and colleges

Following the government announcements on 30 December, there have been some changes to pupils returning to secondary schools and colleges:

·         4 January: secondary schools will only provide on-site education to vulnerable children and children of critical workers, and prioritise remote education to those in exam years

·         11 January: Students in exam years should return to on-site education at school

·         18 January: All students are required to return to school for on-site education 

More information about the return to school is available on the GOV.UK website.

Vulnerable children and children of critical workers

Secondary schools will provide on-site education to vulnerable children and children of critical workers. If you're a key or critical worker and you require your child to attend school from 4 January please contact your school. A list of key worker roles and vulnerable children criteria can be found on the GOV.UK website.

Keeping your child off school

The Government has said it is vital that children attend school. School attendance became compulsory again from the beginning of September. However, we understand that many parents will feel anxious about the children attending school at this time. If this is the case, we’d urge you to speak to your school’s headteacher to discuss it.  In general, where schools are open for your child, attendance is compulsory. However, we understand parents’ anxiety and in general do not expect sanctions for non-attendance in the current circumstances.

What to do if you have safety concerns

If you have concerns about your child returning to school or college, you should discuss these with your school or college as soon as possible. Schools are putting in place a number of different measures and they should be able to explain ways they are changing things to reduce risks.

Children who are shielded

Shielding advice is currently in place in Tier 4, so all children still deemed clinically extremely vulnerable are advised not to attend school.

Children and young people whose parents or carers are clinically extremely vulnerable can continue to go to school.

See the guidance on shielding and protecting people defined on medical grounds as extremely vulnerable for the current advice.

Children and young people under the care of a specialist health professional may need to discuss their care with their health professional before returning to school or college. This should usually be at their next planned clinical appointment.

If children are not able to attend school because they are following clinical and/or public health advice, you will not be penalised.

Children who are self-isolating

A small number of children and young people may be unable to attend in line with public health advice because they:

·         are self-isolating

·         have had symptoms or a positive test result themselves

·         are a close contact of someone who has coronavirus (COVID-19)

If your child is unable to attend school or college for these reasons, ask your school or college what support they can provide for remote education.

Children and young people under the care of a specialist health professional may need to discuss their care with their health professional before returning to school or college. This should usually be at their next planned clinical appointment.

If children are not able to attend school because they are following clinical and/or public health advice, you will not be penalised.