Dear Parents and Carers,
Re: Newhaven school closure 15/12/20-18/12/20
You may have heard in the media that Greenwich council has decided that all schools should close between now and Christmas. This means that Newhaven will be closed from tomorrow except for your child if you are a key worker and cannot make alternative arrangements or if the mental wellbeing of your child is compromised by not being in school for these days. We will be in touch with people we think are in these groups today but please call in or email if you think your child should be in school and you haven’t heard from us. I have attached the letter to parents from council leader Danny Thorpe.
I am gutted that we have to make this decision as we have worked very hard to stay open as much as possible at a time that has been extremely difficult for families, children and my staff. I have to say, however, that I do support the decision. The escalation of Covid-19 positive cases in Greenwich, particularly in the 10-19 age group has been rapid. We have had more positive cases since last Thursday than we have had since the start of this in March. This means that the risk of contracting Covid in school is rising.
Our priority as a school is to keep everyone safe and as such we will move most learning online until the end of term. Please do the following:
- If your child is already self isolating then please continue to do so until the date specified in my email last week.
- Most other children will also be working at home. Please ensure they are completing at least 2 hours of work a day until Friday. This will mainly be on Google Classroom where teachers will be setting work but could also include revision of topics they have studied by accessing online resources of watching relevant videos on YouTube. Any difficulties then please contact the school. You will be called by mentors and tutors over the next couple of days to make sure everything is OK.
- If you are a key worker and cannot make alternative childcare arrangements. Please make sure you let us know today. We will be contacting all parents in this category that we know about but if we don’t by early evening then send an email to this address so we can welcome your child in the morning.
- If your child’s emotional wellbeing is better served by being in school rather than at home for this week, then please let us know and we will be happy to see them tomorrow. Again, if we have not contacted you to discuss this by this evening then please email this address and we will welcome your child in the morning and ring you tomorrow.
The curriculum offer will be adapted in school depending on how many children we have in. If your child is in school, then please remind them of the importance of social distancing, wearing a mask if they can and regular handwashing. Staff will be doing their utmost to make sure all are as safe as possible.
Finally, thanks very much for your continued devotion to your children and the way you have worked with us to keep the school going this year. I am hopeful things will improve after the Christmas break but in the mean time, stay well, keep yourselves safe and please get in touch if you need to discuss anything.
Yours faithfully,
Jon Kelly (Headteacher)
Newhaven School
