School Provision

Dear Parents,

In the past two days we have received further advice from the Department for Education regarding eligibility of pupils who can have access to school provision.

It states that, ‘Children and young people are eligible to attend school or college if:
• At least one parent or carer is a critical worker, and they can’t keep their child at home. Critical workers are those whose work is critical to the coronavirus (COVID19) and EU transition response.
• They meet the definition for vulnerable children and young people
Schools and colleges will not allow other pupils to attend at this time. If your child is not in one of these groups they will receive remote education.
(What parents and carers need to know about early years providers, schools and colleges – January 2021)

We have met with our Local Authority Advisor and Governors to discuss this and Governors have agreed the following criteria:

Criteria
• Vulnerable children (as defined in guidance)
• Families where both parents are critical workers and cannot work from home / Single parent families where the parent is a critical worker
• Children who school deem vulnerable (must be agreed by SLT and CoG). This will be decided on a case by case basis and single cases should not be taken as precedence for any other cases.
• Families where both parents are critical workers but one or either CAN work from home
• Families where one parent is a critical worker and the other parent cannot work from home but is not a critical worker
• Families where one parent is a critical worker and the other parent is working from home but is not a critical worker

Where children have split residence, care can be shared between homes. If a parent is at home, then the children should not be in school as they can be looked after at home.

Safe numbers
• EYFS – 12 per classroom maximum
• Year 1 to Year 5 – 15 per classroom maximum
• Year 6 (due to different layout) – 14 per classroom maximum
• Whole School Cap suggested at 90

Please note that up until this point we have been accepting children where one person is a critical worker and the other parent is not working and is at home. This will no longer be the case.

If you feel your child fits into our criteria and you have not applied for in school provision, please email Mrs Noble and a member of SLT will contact you by telephone. If you have already applied for a place for your child next week, we will be in touch to confirm whether this has been successful.
If you have already applied for a place next week and this needs to be discussed, please contact Mrs Noble.
If you are eligible for a place and you do not complete the weekly form on time each Thursday, your child will not have a place.

Government guidance is changing rapidly. If criteria changes again, we will let you know as soon as possible. In the meantime, all children at home have access to video and live lessons using our Google Classroom or Tapestry for EYFS. We know that this lockdown is extremely challenging for families working at home and we are here to support you as best we can. Please stay in touch with your child’s class teacher. Thank you all for working with us so that your children continue to learn and have interaction with our school community.