While they confirmed new measures have now been put in place, most importantly the government confirmed that:

• UK schools should remain open and continue to operate normally at this time

Brooke Weston Academy will continue to follow the government’s advice and will remain open until we are advised otherwise.

At present there are no confirmed cases of Covid-19 at any of our Brooke Weston Trust schools.

Please ensure you are familiar with the detail of the most up to date Public Health England advice which can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/coronavirus-covid-19-information-for-the-public

Families who may recently have travelled abroad should make absolutely certain they are following the Public Health England guidance for returning travellers.

The government did announce an additional measure for schools that means:

• School trips abroad will not be permitted

As we have several overseas trips planned, we will be liaising with travel companies in the next few days and will then communicate separately to all those who have signed up for trips later this year.

We will continue to update you on the situation as new announcements are made by the government and want to reassure you that the school’s leadership team and the Brooke Weston Trust are preparing for all possible scenarios:

Home learning

We have various online platforms, non-digital resources and guidance to support learning that can be used to provide work to children at home. As you would expect, we are drawing up plans should home learning become necessary. We will explain what is on offer and how to access it at that time.

Domestic trips, school events and sports fixtures

All domestic trips and school events will be assessed on a case-by-case basis. You will be kept informed of any changes to published events in the school calendar with as much notice as is possible. Public Health England have not yet advised us to cancel sports fixtures, but in accordance with their advice on hand washing, all players, coaching staff and supporters should expect to be asked to wash their hands or use hand sanitizing gel on arrival and after their fixture.

Advice for all visitors to our school

We have reinforced some basic hygiene principles and introduced additional measures, so please do not take offence if you are asked to wash your hands or use hand sanitizing gel on visiting us. We would also remind visitors of the hygiene message, “catch it, bin it, kill it” in the event of coughing and sneezing. These restrictions are in place to protect our school community.

The latest advice requires anyone who has flu-like symptoms, a cough, breathlessness or a raised temperature above 37.8 degrees Celsius to stay at home and self-isolate for a week.

For previous Coronavirus information we have published please click here.

This is an extraordinary period of time for everyone, including schools, and I want to thank you for you continued patience and understanding in helping to keep our school community as safe as possible.

 

Yours faithfully

Pete Kirkbride.