Further to Mr Pett’s letter to all parent/carers on Wednesday 20 January I am writing in more detail to all parent/carers regarding our on site provision. We are taking this step as we have significant concerns regarding the growing number of students and the impact this has on the school community. I hope that by working with us we can find a way of accommodating all students that really need to access the school provision. This may involve some parent/carers reducing the number of days their child attends the provision where there is still a responsible adult at home.

The Government has sent out updated advice to schools on their Keyworker and Vulnerable Student Provisions. As a result, I would like to clarify the criteria and process for requesting a place at Welling School’s provision during these challenging times.

Requests for places at the school’s on-site provision should only be made where key workers need to have children in school to enable them to travel to their place of work. If you are a key worker and are working from home or at a place of work outside of school hours then your child should be at home with you. If one parent/carer in the household is not a key worker, and he or she is at home, your child should stay at home. This is because the purpose of the government’s policy is to reduce the number of social interactions, with staying at home being one of the most effective ways of doing this.

Please note that in order for teaching staff to provide the statutory requirements for home learning, children in the school’s Key Worker & Vulnerable Provision are supervised by the Senior Leadership Team and support staff. Students are following the same remote learning curriculum as those who are learning from home.

Students who meet the Government’s ‘Vulnerable’ criteria will be contacted by the school’s welfare team. It is essential that places in the provision are reserved for our most vulnerable students and those whose parents/carers meet the criteria for Key Worker status and who have absolutely no means of keeping their child at home. The aim is to reduce the need to travel, therefore reducing the risk of transmission and ultimately being part of the national effort to reduce the rate of infections.

We are working hard to protect all our students and staff within the provision and their families at home, and the fewer staff and students present, the lower the risk of transmission.

In light of this letter please can I ask all parent/carers who are currently using the school’s provision to review their current circumstances and consider when their child is able to work from home.

Yours faithfully

Mr T Loizou

DIRECTOR OF LEARNING: ENGAGEMENT