March 20, 2020 - 1680 views
Conwy's headteachers have provided some clarity to parents over the early closing of local schools in the midst of the Coronavirus outbreak.
As reported on Bayside earlier this week, Welsh Government asked that all schools in Wales brought forward their Easter holidays enabling young people to return home for an indefinate period of time. Initially this has been stated as a four weeks.
All schools in Conwy will be closed from the end of today (Friday 20th March) and some have already shut due to staff shortages brought about by self isolation and sickness.
In the letter from Ysgol Bryn Elian and signed jointly by the Headteachers of Conwy schools, plans for keeping some schools open for the children of 'essential' and 'key workers' have been outlined.
Dear Parents/Carers,
We write jointly as Conwy’s Secondary Head Teachers to inform you of the next steps following further guidance from Welsh Government and Conwy Authority around school closures and opening in response to the coronavirus crisis.
As you are already aware schools will be closed from the end of the day 20/3/20 for a 4 week Easter break.
Following a joint planning day on Monday 23/3/20 at school and cluster level, from Tuesday, schools will re-open for a new purpose. This purpose is to provide care for the children of essential/key workers where there is no other available childcare provision.
Essential/key workers have been defined as :
- health workers – all those employed within the NH
- blue light / emergency service officers
- social care workers
- supermarket delivery drivers
- prison officers and other prison staff
- probation service staff
- teaching staff and teaching assistants
We strongly recommend that if you are a keyworker and are able to provide alternative childcare provision for your children then you do this rather than send them to school. School is operating as a ‘last resort’ childcare facility for parents that don’t have another option. We will rely on your honesty and clarity in this regard and hope that you would not put school staff and any other children at unnecessary risk.
Schools will also be providing a school meal for students eligible for free school meals, and we will forward details of these arrangements to you early next week.
Transport will continue as usual to support this and both this and the provision needed will be continuously monitored over the coming weeks.
Thank you for your continued support in this difficult and challenging time. We wish all our pupils and families our best wishes over the next few weeks.
Yours sincerely,
The Headteachers of Conwy Secondary Schools.
