Dear Families,

You will be aware that the Prime Minister and the Chief Medical Officer updated the nation on measures relating to the containment of the Coronavirus outbreak. The current guidance is for schools to remain open. You will appreciate that this is proving to be an enormous challenge.

The school will remain open for all students apart from those in years 8 and 10 for the next two days (Wednesday 18th March and Thursday 19th March) in the first instance.

Should staffing levels fall any further, we will prioritise examination classes in years 11 and 13 as well as year 7. Every effort will be made to communicate decisions in good time, however, it is likely that the decision will be made on the day itself. Please keep an eye on the school website and your mobile devices for texts, emails and tweets. If possible, we will try to provide such information the day before any school closure decisions are applied.

In addition to above, I have outlined below an update of key measures which we are undertaking in school:

1. Cancellation or postponement of all non-essential extra-curricular activities, trips and meetings –  This includes Governor meetings, Parents Evenings and the Spring Concert which was due to take place on Tuesday 31st
2. Planning for school closure – Currently, the government intends to attempt to keep schools open for as long as possible. This position may change in the next few days. In the event of school closure, we will do our best to provide work for our students using Firefly. If you have a child who is not in school, please ask them to log on. We will try our best to provide as much work on there as possible, but you must bear with us during this busy period. We are working on systems to allow students to complete work at home and in the event of a full school closure announcement, we will contact you by email, update our website and provide further details of work for students to complete.
3. Further possible partial school closure in the short-term – I anticipate that in the coming days, more staff will be required to self-isolate. We will do our best to keep school open but we are already stretched. Should we be stretched any further, we will consider shutting the school to more year groups.
4. Student Illness or self-isolation – The current guidance is that you should not come into school if you are displaying the following symptoms:
   • A high temperature (37.8 degrees and above)
   • A new, continuous cough

If your child displays any symptoms as described above, please keep them at home for 14 days. On the first day of absence please contact the school on 01625 610220. Your child will also need to remain away from school for 14 days if anyone in the household has these symptoms.

The latest Government guidance can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/topical-events/coronavirus-covid-19-uk- government-response

In addition to all the measures above, we have increased our cleaning capacity and they are working around the clock to ensure that the site is clean and that surfaces are regularly sanitised. We are encouraging students to regularly wash their hands and avoid unnecessary contact. We are also working closely with our caterers, Innovate, to ensure that our lunch provision continues as normal. Should anything change, we will keep you posted.

Should you have any further concerns on this issue please do email me at ebotwe@tytheringtonschool.co.uk

Many thanks for your help and understanding during these exceptional circumstances.

Kind regards,

Mr Botwe – Headteacher