Dear Parents and Carers,

Further to the Government announcement yesterday please see the information below for all parents and carers and for those parents who fit into the critical worker category. 

From Tuesday 5^th January, Eastcroft Park School will be open only for those children of critical workers and children who have been identified as vulnerable.

Critical Workers

To request a place for your child both parents/carers must meet the requirement detailed in the critical worker list below and provide appropriate proof of employment including days/hours of work. 

There is no automatic entitlement to a child care place in school. Please consider if your role is critical to the Covid-19 response. All critical workers will be considered for a place, as long as their job cannot be done from home and both parents/carers are critical workers. Even if you are key workers, please ask whether you have ANY other alternative childcare options. Sending your child to school should be an absolute last resort; every child who can safely be cared for at home should be .The fewer children making the journey to school, and the fewer children in educational settings, the lower the risk that the virus can spread and infect vulnerable individuals in wider society.

If requests for places are too high and we believe that both children and staff are at increased risk because of this, then we will introduce a ‘tiered’ system for allocating places. All places will then be reviewed and considered in the light of each family’s particular circumstance / job roles etc. Some places may need to be withdrawn at that point.

If you wish to request a place for your child please contact the school by Friday 8^th January.  Places may not be available after this date.

Vulnerable children

The school will continue to provide care for vulnerable children. Parents and carers will be contacted individually if this is the case. 

Vulnerable children and young people include those who:

• are assessed as being in need under section 17 of the Children Act 1989, including children and young people who have a child in need plan, a child protection plan or who are a looked-after child
• have an education, health and care (EHC) plan
• have been identified as otherwise vulnerable by educational providers or local authorities (including children’s social care services), and who could therefore benefit from continued full-time attendance, this might include:
  • children and young people on the edge of receiving support from children’s social care services or in the process of being referred to children’s services
  • adopted children or children on a special guardianship order
  • those at risk of becoming NEET (‘not in employment, education or training’)
  • those living in temporary accommodation
  • those who are young carers
  • those who may have difficulty engaging with remote education at home (for example due to a lack of devices or quiet space to study)
  • care leavers
  • others at the provider and local authority’s discretion including pupils and students who need to attend to receive support or manage risks to their mental health

Children in Care / with an EHCP

All children in this category will be offered a place.

For all other children

As of Wednesday 5^th January learning for most children will be accessed remotely via the school website and Seesaw. Your child’s teacher will be in contact with you via email with the arrangements and to explain how work can be accessed. Given that this announcement and action has come into effect so quickly and with limited notice, further details will be provided as soon as possible.

The remote learning offer will match the current curriculum for your child’s year group. It is important that your child completes as much of the work as possible to ensure that progress is made. Your child’s progress through their work will be monitored and checked by their teachers and feedback provided as appropriate.

Please note that teachers are providing lessons in school each day in addition to the remote learning offer. Therefore, they will respond to any parental queries when time allows and within the school day.

I apologise for the unavoidable but short notice of the latest changes and the potential disruption this may cause you.  Our aim, as always, is to ensure the safety and wellbeing of the children and staff at Eastcroft Park.

We will update you as the situation develops and keep you informed of any changes as soon as we are able to.

I thank you for your support and work in keeping us all safe at Eastcroft Park and our wider school community.

Yours Sincerely

Miss J A Withey

Critical workers

Parents whose work is critical to the coronavirus (COVID-19) and EU transition response include those who work in health and social care and in other key sectors outlined in the following sections.

Health and social care

This includes, but is not limited to, doctors, nurses, midwives, paramedics, social workers, care workers, and other frontline health and social care staff including volunteers; the support and specialist staff required to maintain the UK’s health and social care sector; those working as part of the health and social care supply chain, including producers and distributors of medicines and medical and personal protective equipment.

Education and childcare

This includes:

• childcare
• support and teaching staff
• social workers
• specialist education professionals who must remain active during the coronavirus (COVID-19) response to deliver this approach

Key public services

This includes:

• those essential to the running of the justice system
• religious staff
• charities and workers delivering key frontline services
• those responsible for the management of the deceased
• journalists and broadcasters who are providing public service broadcasting

Local and national government

This only includes those administrative occupations essential to the effective delivery of:

• the coronavirus (COVID-19) response, and the delivery of and response to EU transition
• essential public services, such as the payment of benefits and the certification or checking of goods for import and export (including animal products, animals, plants and food), including in government agencies and arm’s length bodies

Food and other necessary goods

This includes those involved in food:

• production
• processing
• distribution
• sale and delivery
• as well as those essential to the provision of other key goods (for example hygienic and veterinary medicines)

Public safety and national security

This includes:

• police and support staff
• Ministry of Defence civilians
• contractor and armed forces personnel (those critical to the delivery of key defence and national security outputs and essential to the response to the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak and EU transition)
• fire and rescue service employees (including support staff)
• National Crime Agency staff
• those maintaining border security, prison and probation staff and other national security roles, including those overseas

Transport and border

This includes those who will keep the air, water, road and rail passenger and freight transport modes operating during the coronavirus (COVID-19) response and EU transition, including those working on transport systems through which supply chains pass and those constructing or supporting the operation of critical transport and border infrastructure through which supply chains pass.

Utilities, communication and financial services

This includes:

• staff needed for essential financial services provision (including but not limited to workers in banks, building societies and financial market infrastructure)
• the oil, gas, electricity and water sectors (including sewerage)
• information technology and data infrastructure sector and primary industry supplies to continue during the coronavirus (COVID-19) response
• key staff working in the civil nuclear, chemicals, telecommunications (including but not limited to network operations, field engineering, call centre staff, IT and data infrastructure, 999 and 111 critical services)
• postal services and delivery
• payments providers
• waste disposal sectors