School Closure from 23rd March 2020

As I am sure you are aware, the government has announced that all schools in England will close at the end of the day on 20th March until further notice.

The Secretary of State explains:

'The government has asked parents to keep their children at home, wherever possible, and asked schools to remain open only for those children who absolutely need to attend.'

This follows scientific advice to further limit the spread of COVID-19:

'the fewer children making the journey to school, and the fewer children in educational settings, the lower the risk that the virus can spread and infect vulnerable individuals in wider society'

Schools, including Wood Farm, are going to continue to enable a small number of children to attend.  These will be the children of parents who are vital to the national effort against COVID-19, and who cannot arrange care for their children at home - and some children with vulnerabilities.

The government has reminded parents and schools that: if it is at all possible for children to be at home, then they should be. Parents should also do everything they can to ensure children are not mixing socially in a way which can continue to spread the virus. They should observe the same social distancing principles as adults.

Schools are under a great deal of pressure at the moment, with staff needing to self-isolate for periods of time.  For this reason in order to help protect the NHS and vital services we will need to limit our provision to just those children who are vulnerable, or who have parents who are in priority work and who cannot arrange for their children to be safely at home.

You can see the government's guidance to schools here and guidance to parents here

We have already identified parents of children who work in vital care services and will be contacting them.  If you believe your work means you are counted as a critical worker, and you cannot arrange for your child to be at home you should complete the critical worker school request and return it by email to office.2589@wood-farm.oxon.sch.uk

Critical Worker School Request