Dear Parents,

I hope this email finds you all safe and well. I am really missing seeing you and your children. School is not the same without you.

I want to keep you updated about what’s going on:

Case numbers in Birmingham and Sparkhill.

There is no good news about the rising cases in Birmingham. Here is the data from the Birmingham dashboard which you can find here:

https://www.birmingham.gov.uk/info/50231/coronavirus_covid-19/2305/birmingham_weekly_covid-19_statistics_dashboard/2

New Cases in Birmingham- they are the highest they have ever been.

• This week 8291
• Last week 6513

Wards with the highest rates:

Three of the wards with the highest case rates in Birmingham are around our school:

1. Lozells (1366)
2. Sparkhill (1289)
3. Hall Green North (1196)
4. Castle Vale (1192)
5. Acocks Green (1141)

Given that this is the case; I would urge you not to send your children into school if you can safely keep them at home.

We have found that the demand for numbers of critical worker places is far higher than in the Summer lockdown, and whilst we have tried to accommodate people’s requests, we are mindful of the safety of both the staff and the children.

Last term, my focus was on enabling staff to distance from other adults. At that time, the government advice was that staff were more likely to catch Covid from each other, than from the children. We were told that children were less susceptible to catching Covid and so they were less likely to spread it. That guidance has now changed.

We have been told that the new UK Variant of Covid-19 is just as infectious for children as adults. Although they don’t usually become as ill as adults, they do nevertheless spread it to the adults they come into contact with.

Please consider whether sending your child into school is the right thing to do. Speaking as a parent, I am well aware of the negatives in keeping your child at home- both for your child and for you. However, whilst I have tried to put a system of controls in place to keep children and staff safe, (increased handwashing, hand sanitiser, enhanced cleaning), any place where people gather brings an increased risk of infection. I cannot guarantee that any child or adult in school will not catch Covid, no matter how careful we are.

Best wishes,

Mrs Seymour