Announcement

Dear Parents and Carers,

I am writing to you at perhaps the most challenging time for schools across the country in many years.

Following on from my parent mail on the 1st of January there have been many developments nationally which have significantly impacted on school opening next week.

Teaching and support staff unions have communicated to their members that it is not safe for schools to fully reopen at this time. This includes all schools including special.
This is due to a number of factors including SAGE advice that schools should not open, transmission rates, rising numbers of cases, the new Covid 19 variant which remains a huge concern and the critical situation in our hospitals.

A significant number of our teachers and support staff have written to me today and yesterday to exercise their rights under section 44 of the Employment Rights Act 1996, not to suffer detriment if they do not attend a workplace that is unsafe or causes danger to others.

Whilst staff are fully supportive of pupils, their families and the school, a significant proportion feel that our complex school environment means that despite best risk assessment practice Fordwater cannot be Covid secure at present.

Therefore, we do not have enough staff who feel able to work to open the school fully over the next week.

During this time Fordwater will support children of critical keyworkers and those pupils that need to be in school due to a range of complex reasons including safeguarding.

The following will happen in the coming days to ensure we are supporting pupils and families as best as we can.

Monday 4th January – â€‹â€‹â€‹â€‹â€‹â€‹

• School will be closed to all pupils.
• Teachers will call each family to discuss any concerns, discuss critical keyworkers roles and arrange communication over the next week.
• Governors will hold an extraordinary meeting to discuss the current situation.
• School leaders will revise and prepare risk assessments and support the outcomes of welfare calls.

Tuesday 5th January –

• School will be closed to all pupils.
• School leaders will again assess staff numbers and organise a rota for critical keyworkers families and pupils who cannot be at home.
• Teachers will ensure remote learning resources and planning are distributed to pupils and families.

Wednesday 6th – Friday 8th January

• School will be open to pupils who are children of critical keyworkers and pupils who for complex reasons, including safeguarding, can not remain at home.

Throughout next week the school will be continuing to review the situation at all points and aims to re-open the school to all pupils as soon as is possible. We will also be considering and planning for testing and screening in school.

Alongside the union action, we also have a number of staff who are currently isolating, who are poorly or who fall into the vulnerable category.

I know we also have a number of our pupils who fall into the extremely clinically vulnerable category and have had correspondence with some parents who have felt worried about sending their children back considering the escalation of the virus.

I am deeply sorry for the disruption and challenge this will cause our children and their families. Please engage with your class teacher tomorrow when they call you for your welfare call. You can also contact support@fordwatersch.co.uk

The number of staff we need to keep pupils safe means that we have to rely on a high number of staff to open fully. We will do our upmost to resume normality as soon as it is safe to do so and staff feel able to return to their full duties.

On behalf of the staff I would like to say that I am in no doubt that each one is committed to your children and their work at Fordwater. I know through their letters to me today they have found their decision extremely difficult.

We continue to prioritise the safety of our whole school community.

The national response to the pandemic is changing day by day and I will communicate with you regularly and by the latest Tuesday, following further discussions with parents, staff, governors and the local authority.

Please stay safe.

Sophie