Coronavirus Update

I hope you are all keeping well. I recognise that for some of you, this may be a difficult time at home and wished to let you know, that the advice line for families who might be having issues with relationships or well-being is now up and running can be accessed on the Family Information Service (FiND) https://find.redbridge.gov.uk/kb5/redbridge/fsd/site.page?id=0XTUXqqZ8B0

Stay safe and healthy, best wishes from Debbie Keigwin

A message from London Borough of Redbridge

Parents/Carers

All of the Council’s Children’s Play Areas and Ball Courts are closed to help reduce the spread of coronavirus, because it can survive for 12 hours on metal and 36 hours on plastic.

Please do not put your children at risk by ignoring these closures. The Council has taped off all play areas as hazardous or locked those with fences. Please don’t remove that hazard tape or lift children over locked fences because it creates an unnecessary and significant risk to you and your children. The Council would prefer not to have to close parks completely and hopes to avoid this with everyone adhering to the request not to enter areas that are marked with hazard tape or locked

If you do visit a park for walking or exercise, please remember to keep a distance of 2 metres, or 6.5 feet apart from other people. If you find a park is too overcrowded please visit at another time or view Google for real time visitor numbers. We know parks are a vital lifeline for many of you so please help us keep them open by not entering the play areas and ball courts that are out of bounds so that you can still access the space but do what is necessary to protect you and your family and to support the NHS.

25th March 2020

Dear Parents and Guardians,

The Department for Education (DfE) has received reports from parents and guardians saying they’ve received an email stating:

‘As schools will be closing, if you're entitled to free school meals, please send your bank details and we'll make sure you're supported’.

Please be advised that this is a scam email. We would never ask you to email us your bank details. Please do not respond and delete the email immediately.

Thank you and best wishes,

Feeding Hungry Minds

Friday 20th March 2020

Dear Parents / Carers
Closure of the school due to Coronavirus
Thank you so much for your patience at this difficult time.

As you will have heard, the Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, ordered the closure of all schools on Friday this week and as a result, we ask you to comply with the Government’s instructions and keep your children at home until further notice. At the moment we do not know when we will re-open.

Child Supervision at Home:

One of the reasons for the closure of schools is to help prevent the spread of COVID-19 (Coronavirus). When children are working at home, they should be staying at home and not making arrangements to meet with friends or mix with other, perhaps vulnerable, people. Please ensure your child generally stays at home during the period of school closure, and as per government advice, does not congregate in large groups. Equally, the government have asked us to remind parents that children should not be left in the care of elderly people (e.g. grandparents) as they are one of the vulnerable groups.

Homework:

As previously advised, work for the children can be accessed via the school website – www.spps.org.uk Learning – Homework – Year group and on the Mymaths and Sumdog websites. Specific tasks will set on Mymaths for years 1 – 6 and on Sumdog for years 4 – 6. Both of these programmes have educational games which children can access as they wish.

On our website under Learning – Links for Kids, there are also many links to additional educational websites that the children can use. Please check the website regularly for updates on homework and encourage your child to do as much as possible.

Staying Safe While your child is at home, they may be spending much more time than usual online using their own devices, which may not have the internet filtering and blocking systems that we have in school. Please ensure that you have appropriate systems in place at home to monitor your child’s internet use.

Free School Meals:

The government had indicated that they intend to put in place a scheme to support children entitled to free school meals. We do not yet have any details of this scheme, but as soon as I do, I will let you know how to access it.

Who is the school open to?

We have been asked to keep the school open for vulnerable children and the children of key workers. On Monday 23rd March, the school will be open for the children of parents who work in the following sectors:

NHS & Healthcare, Education, Refuse collectors, Military Transport, Food industry, Social Care, Prison Service, Religious institutions, Police Utilities, Undertakers,

Fire Service, Justice system, Journalists and broadcasters, Local and National government, Public safety & national security, Finance

The school will also be open to: Vulnerable children including children who are supported by social care, those with safeguarding and welfare needs, including child in need plans, on child protection plans, ‘looked after’ children, young carers, disabled children and those with Education, Health and Care Plans.

If your family falls into one of these categories and you require them to attend school, please let the school office know by 10am on Friday 20th March 2020 so that we can have the correct number of staff in school and to cater for any school lunches. My apologies for the late notice, but the Government delayed the release of the key worker list. Children will not need to wear uniform.

The government has issued the following advice:

1. If it is at all possible for children to be at home, then they should be.

2. If a child needs specialist support, is vulnerable or has a parent who is a critical worker, then educational provision will be available for them.

3. Parents should not rely for childcare upon those who are advised to be in the stringent social distancing category such as grandparents, friends, or family members with underlying conditions.

4. Parents should also do everything they can to ensure children are not mixing socially in a way which can continue to spread the virus. They should observe the same social distancing principles as adults.

Communication

We will communicate with you through the period of school closure through the usual channels: via WEDUC, by email and on our website. I will try to write to you at least once a week with an update on our plans. Please do also continue to communicate with us. The school phone lines will be staffed between 7.15am-3.30pm each day. Should you need to contact Gaynor White our wellbeing lead or Kate Raley our safeguarding lead, you can also use our dedicated mobile number which is: 07534 496241. Kate and Gaynor will also use this number to call some families to undertake welfare checks.

Thank you for all your kind words of support and encouragement over the last few days. It is sad to think that we may not see some of you and your children again if this continues to the end of the academic year. In particular, I would like to wish our lovely Year 6 children the very best of luck if they are unable to come back before they move on to secondary school. You are a fantastic group of children who we will miss very much.

I do hope that you and your families remain well, stay safe and please do stay in touch.

Yours sincerely

Debbie Keigwin

Headteacher