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Coronavirus Update - School Closure to Most Pupils​​​​​​​

Dear Parents/Carers,

19th March 2020

Re: Coronavirus update – school closure to most pupils

Following on from my last update, I am now writing to let you know that we have now been instructed to close the school to almost all children after this Friday until further notice.

As advised by the government, we will do all that we can to stay open for the children of key workers (e.g. NHS staff, police, others in frontline services) and children with certain needs.

We are waiting for the government to publish more information on what this means, but it would help us in the meantime if you could let us know if you think your child may fall into one of these categories and you would like them to continue attending school. If you could contact us by lunchtime on the 20th March with this information it will help us to plan and provide for your child from next week. Please contact dsmith@thornleigh.bolton.sch.uk or call reception on 01204 301351.

All other children will need to stay at home, so we ask that you do not send your child into school from Monday onwards.

Please note that this is a national closure so whilst it is a challenging situation, we are not alone. We will re-open fully as soon as we can and will let you know when this is. We will post regular updates as and when we have them on our school website and we will send you information via the School Gateway.

What we will continue doing while your child is at home

Your child’s learning is of course important to us, so we will continue to help them to learn. Over the next few days our staff will be uploading work onto your child’s Show My Homework page. Here there will be resources and activities that your child can do and there will be ways of them staying in touch with their teachers. In the meantime there are some really useful websites where students can access resources for a wide range of subjects. The links for these are below

  • Seneca Learning link

https://www.senecalearning.com/blog/senecas-free-distance-learning-home-study-programme/?utm_source=email&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=uk&utm_content=DistanceLearningBlog

  • Chatterpack link

https://chatterpack.net/blogs/blog/resources-list-for-home-learning

 

  • BBC Bitesize link

https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize

 

If your child does not have access to ICT facilities at home we will provide work packs for them to be completing. Year 9 & 10 students received these on Wednesday and Year 7 & 8 students will receive them today or Friday. If your child needs one of these and is currently off school sick or self-isolating then please let us know and we will post one out to you.

If your child usually receives free school meals we will also be in touch with more information about how we will continue to provide this, with support from a scheme that the government will announce.

If your child is in Year 11 or Year 13 we will update you as soon as we have any further information from the government and examination boards. I am acutely aware of how devastating this news is for your child but please be assured that we will do all that we can to continue to support them in the coming months.

This is as much as we know right now and we appreciate your continued patience as we deal with this ever-changing situation. We understand that this latest news will have an impact on you and your family and it’s far from ideal, but we will continue to keep in touch with any updates as the situation develops.

If you want to get in touch to share any concerns, please don’t hesitate to do so.

And remember: if you or your child feels ill and you want to know what to do next, please use NHS 111 online and follow the guidance from Public Health England – the link for this is below;

https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/public-health-england

 

At a time of real uncertainty and worry it is important that we all work together as a school community. These are unprecedented events and we are all trying to navigate through them as best we can. We remain totally committed to your child’s future and we will continue to do our best for them.

 

Please keep checking our school website for any updates.

May I take this opportunity to thank you for your patience, your understanding and your support at this difficult time. I hope that you will join me in keeping in your prayers all that are being deeply affected by the current situation.

 

Yours faithfully

A O’Callaghan

Headteacher