Update from Mr Hanley 11th January

Dear parent/carer,

The lockdown announced by the Prime minister on the 4 January is not how we wanted to start the new term. Despite this, we hope that you and your family are keeping safe and well.

As a nation, local area and school we need to drive infection rates down, and to give the time and space to our critical services to deliver the care they need for both Covid and non Covid related conditions, and to allow the rollout of the vaccine at as fast a pace as possible.

The single most important action we can all take is to stay at home to protect the NHS and save lives. Only leave the house when absolutely necessary. People need to stick to the rules, and ask themselves just because they can do something, that does not mean they should.

In the spirit of this, we wish to remind you that your child should stay at home and access remote learning if it is appropriate to do so. This will lower the number of households mixing and reduce transmission of the virus.

There is an immediate challenge that the lockdown provides for us to ensure that your children can access their learning. Demand for places at our school is much higher than it was during the initial lockdown back in March 2020 and this creates challenges to facilitate the delivery of high-quality remote learning alongside safe on-site learning. This situation may mean that, as a last resort, we need to prioritise the return of children based on individual need, and on the safety of the school.
Vulnerable children and children of health workers may be allocated places before children of other critical workers, and the number of places available is based on our reviewed risk assessment, staffing available and the balance with the requirement to provide high quality remote education daily and welfare checks for those children not in school without overburdening staff. This will be reviewed throughout the lockdown period and may be increased/reduced depending on changes to the local situation, including staffing available, and on public health advice.

To reduce community transmission, we need to ensure that the number of children accessing learning in school is kept to the lowest number possible. Therefore, in line with updated government guidance issued on Friday, even if you are a critical worker, if your child(ren) can remain at home rather than attend school, on some or all days, then they should. Please only use the offer of provision in school when it is crucial for you to undertake your critical role.

Rapid testing is being rolled out across Knowsley, for example the test centre at Halewood Leisure Centre. This is one way to help drive down community transmission. Other protective measures recommended by Public Health England and the Department for Education to reduce the risk of transmission all remain in place. These include social distancing, hand washing, good ventilation, use of face coverings as appropriate, and ensuring people with symptoms do not attend school. These remain the most effective ways to reduce the spread of the virus, even with rapid testing in place.

We ask that you continue to show the same patience that you have demonstrated throughout this pandemic. We have learned from the first two waves that if we pull together, with everybody playing their part, we can and will get through this.

Please also see the attached letter from Councillor Graham Morgan, Leader of Knowsley Council, and Councillor Margaret Harvey, Cabinet Member for Children's Services.

Stay at home, protect the NHS and save lives.

Stay safe and take care,
Mr Hanley

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