Dear Parents/Carers,

I hope this email finds you all safe and well.

I am emailing to talk to you about how decisions are made around who can access provision at school. As you know, school is currently open for children of critical workers and vulnerable children.

Critical Workers are:

“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. Children with at least one parent or carer who is a critical worker can go to school or college if required, but parents and carers should keep their children at home if they can.

• Health and social care
• Education and childcare
• Key public services
• Local and national government
• Food and other necessary goods
• Public safety and national security
• Transport and border
• Utilities, communication and financial services”
•  

Vulnerable children are not just those who have a social worker. There are other reasons why a child might be classed as vulnerable, and these are issues that the school is aware of and results in the child being invited into school.

What does this mean?

Up to this point, we have been able to make space available for most of the parents that have asked, although some year groups have filled up quicker than others. We have not asked for proof of critical worker status, and have tried to do our best to support everyone.

We have tried to keep numbers at a manageable level in order to allow for social distancing, low staff levels in school and fewer parents accessing the site. This is becoming very difficult now that demand is rising sharply.

The most recent guidance for schools, published yesterday, “Restricting attendance during the national lockdown: schools Guidance for all schools in England February 2021 “ says:

“Schools should speak to parents and carers to identify who needs to go to school. If it proves necessary, schools can ask for simple evidence that the parent in question is a critical worker, such as their work ID badge or pay slip. Parents and carers who are critical workers should keep their children at home if they can.”

As per this guidance, we are now asking for evidence of your position as a critical worker if your child is currently accessing on-site provision. If both parents are critical workers, we would ask to see evidence for both, so that in the event of having to prioritize provision, we would start with these children.

We will need to see a work ID badge/ lanyard or a pay slip from 2021. You can show it to a member of staff when you are dropping off your children in the mornings. We will not be photocopying this data- we just need to see it to ensure we are giving provision to children who need it most.

We would like to see this evidence by next Wednesday 10^th February.

Best wishes,

Mrs Seymour