Peterborough education chief writes to parents to clarify school reopening plans

Jonathan Lewis, Peterborough City Council’s director of education, said primary schools across the city will reopen next week and secondary schools will have phased reopening plans.

In the letter sent out on Thursday (December 31) he told parents: “We are monitoring the Covid-19 situation on a daily basis and we have, in conjunction with school leaders, taken appropriate action to limit the impact of positive cases by working closely with Public Health England and the Department for Education. Being in education is vital for children’s development and wellbeing.”

In the letter he said expectations for opening in January are:

- Early years - Parents and carers can continue to access early years settings as normal from January 2021.

- Primary schools (including Infant and Junior schools) - Primary schools will open and provide on-site teaching as planned from their advertised first day of term and will allow all pupils to attend as they have since the start of the school year. No Cambridgeshire or Peterborough primary school have been included in the areas where the government has indicated a delayed start will occur.

- Secondary Schools / Colleges – your school / college will be in contact with you to outline their plans for the phased opening which will happen in 3 phases until full return on the 18th January. Places for all vulnerable children and young people, and the children of critical workers will be prioritised. Schools and colleges are also busy developing their process for regular testing of all pupils and we kindly request that parents support schools through the prompt completion of consent forms to allow this testing to be undertaken.

- Special Schools – your school will be in contact with you in relation to the first week of term. Schools have been given flexibility this week on opening to ensure that testing arrangements are in place for your children.

- Out of school / Wrap around provision - out-of-school settings and wraparound childcare can continue to operate for face-to-face provision from the 4th January for children who are eligible to attend school for full-time on-site provision. If this doesn’t happen at your main education establishment, please contact the provider directly.

Mr Lewis added: “Time spent out of settings is detrimental to children’s learning, development and wellbeing, particularly for disadvantaged children.

“In line with government expectations, we expect pupils to attend their education establishment. If you are concerned about the safety of your child returning to their education setting, please speak to school/college leaders for further advice on the precautions they are taking. For school age pupils, attendance remains compulsory.

“Under tier 4 arrangements, clinically extremely vulnerable (CEV) people are advised to follow shielding advice. If your child is considered CEV, you should follow shielding advice and should not attend school, because the risk of exposure to the virus in your area may currently be very high. But all other children and young people in the household who are not CEV should continue to attend school. Children and young people whose parents or carers are clinically extremely vulnerable should also continue to go to school. There are a number of staff affected by the CEV change so there may be changes to how education is delivered.

“I appreciate this is a challenging time for parents and pupils. Education establishments in Cambridgeshire and Peterborough have worked tirelessly to put safety for pupils and staff first and these measures have been hugely effective.

“Safety remains our key priority, and we will take appropriate steps where we feel this could be compromised.

“It is important that all parents continue to observe social distancing rules both on school premises and in all places outside of your own home in line with the tier 4 arrangements. We also ask you to follow requirements arising from the education establishment risk assessment.”