Partial School Closure: Wednesday 5th and Friday 7th July 2023

27 June 2023

Dear Parent/Guardian

Partial School Closure – Wednesday 5^th and Friday 7^th July 2023

I write regarding further strike action from the teacher’s union, NEU with the next dates for the national strike scheduled for Wednesday 5^th and Friday 7^th July. As per the previous strike days, we will not be able to open as normal on Wednesday 5^th and Friday 7^th July when the National Education Union (NEU) goes out on strike.

We have looked at our priority groups and plans for staff numbers to ensure that all students are kept safe and can be sufficiently supervised. We have, therefore, had to make the decision to only allow those students in Year 7 (in school on Wednesday 5^th July) and Year 10 (in school on Friday 7^th July) and students in Years 7-10 who are classified as vulnerable or a child of a first responder to come into school. We will contact families of children who are involved in the music concert next Thursday and invite those students into school on Wednesday 5th July; a separate communication will be sent home to those families by the music department.

The school will be open for vulnerable children and children of first responders, in Years 7, 8, 9, 10. Vulnerable children are those who fall into the any of the following categories:

Students who have an EHCP
Students who receive Free School Meals
Students who are classified as Pupil Premium
Students who are looked after by a Local Authority
Students with a Social Worker as they are on a Child Protection Plan or Child in Need Plan

If your child falls in to one or more of the above categories and you would like them to be in school on Wednesday 5^th and Friday 7^th July, we ask that you please complete and return the relevant form attached to this letter by 10.00am on Monday 3^rd July 2023. We will then respond to confirm eligibility and an allocated place for Wednesday and the Friday.

Children of First Responders. We do not want essential services to be disrupted and, therefore, we have made the decision to support these families by offering them the opportunity for their children to come to school. They will work online and be supervised by a member of our support staff. First responders are considered to work in the following professions:

NHS, including ambulance and paramedic staff
Ministry of Defence
Police
Fire and Rescue Services
Care workers
Social workers
Teachers at state schools (who are not on strike).

If you work in any of these professions and would like your child to be in school, we ask that you please complete the online form by 10.00am on Monday 3^rd July 2023. We will then respond to confirm eligibility and an allocated place for Wednesday and Friday.

We will be running a normal day from 8.40am to 3.05pm and students in school will be supervised to work online with staff. We would ask that you complete and return the form using by 10.00am on Monday 3^rd July 2023 so that we can allocate students to the required groups and rooms.

Free School Meals

If your child is in receipt of free school meals, but you do not wish them to attend school on

Wednesday 5^th and Friday 7^th July, we will be providing a school meal as a packed lunch. This can be collected at 1.00pm on Wednesday 5^th and Friday 7^th July from our main reception by your child, or by a parent/guardian. To help us cater appropriately, we do ask that you please complete and return the relevant form attached to this letter by 10.00am on Monday 3^rd July 2023, stating whether your child will need a free school meal on this day.

The link to the online form is here: Microsoft Forms

For students who are not in school, online learning will be provided for those students who are able to access it. This will include some live lessons from staff who are in attendance at school and online tasks that can be completed at any point in the day. We know that due to childcare arrangements, it will not be possible for all students to be online or access IT and there is no expectation for students to catch up on this work set this day, but we strongly encourage all students to engage with remote learning where this is possible.

Yours faithfully,

Zoe Andrews

Principal