Dear Parents/Carers,
Following last night’s announcement from the Prime Minister and a further national lockdown to reduce the transmission of COVID-19, I thought it would useful to clarify how this impacts on our previously communicated plans regarding the Spring Term.
Firstly, I would like to empathise with students and families regarding the feelings that you will be processing following this announcement. These will doubtless include frustration, anger, sadness and no small sense of loss. It is important that we recognise these, and voice them constructively in order to move on. I hope as a community we can move quickly to a feeling of acceptance and then a sense that the best we can do is to face the reality that we now see before us.
Remote Learning
Remote Learning following student’s timetables will now be in place for all year groups up to and including Friday February 12th in the first instance. I understand this will put considerable demands on you as parents, students and staff but it is important that we all work together to keep students engaged in learning.
Key Worker Provision
During this period of lockdown, the school will remain open for the children of ‘key workers’ and for students supported with an Education, Health & Care Plan (EHCP) or those who have a social worker. If parents whose children meet these criteria wish to make use of a school place for the following week, they must inform the school by emailing office@bromfords.essex.sch.uk by midday the previous Friday i.e. by 12pm Friday 8th January for the week beginning Monday 11th January. The school will be open for these students from 8.30am to 3.00pm and students will be following their year group’s remote learning timetable using our IT facilities. Students must attend in school uniform with a face covering as part of their school equipment and there will be no catering facilities so students will need to bring a packed lunch and a drink. Students who attend will be given a temperature check on arrival at student reception and if your child presents with a temperature of above 37.8 degrees C we will require them to go home. Equally we must ask that if you child presents with any of the symptoms of COVID-19, you inform us and the student does not attend and takes a COVID-19 test. A reminder that the main symptoms of COVID-19 are:
- New and continuous cough – coughing a lot for more than an hour, or having three or more coughing episodes in 24 hours
- Fever – a temperature above 37.8C
- Change in smell or taste – either you cannot taste or smell anything, or these senses are different to normal.
Free School Meals
Arrangements for the distribution of vouchers for Free School Meals will be the same as the during the previous period of school closure. If you are in receipt of Free School Meals and do not receive a voucher during this period of lockdown please contact the school via office@bromfords.essex.sch.uk in the first instance.
Public Examinations
We await guidance from the Department of Education on how students in taking Public Examinations this summer will be assessed. As soon as we have this information and understand how it impacts on our students we will share this with you. For those students taking vocational units this January, the current guidance is that these exams will take place as planned and students should prepare for these and follow the previously communicated arrangements. Again, as soon as we have any updates to this guidance then we will share this with you.
Please continue to follow the Public Health guidance and keep both yourselves and your families safe,
Yours faithfully
Neil Dunn
Headteacher