Letter to Parents (18/03/2020)
Dear Parent/Carer,
I am writing to you to share our present position in response to COVID-19. You will be aware that Havelock Academy has been closely following Government guidance. At present, schools are continuing to remain open where they have sufficient staffing levels and will not close fully without approval from the Department of Education. We have put measures in place to ensure we continue to operate a safe environment for our pupils and staff. Due to the number of staff who are self isolating following government guidance (including where the staff member, or a member of their immediate household are in at risk categories), we are currently operating under a partial closure, with the academy open for Years 7, 11, 12 and 13 only, and other year groups accessing work from home.
Firstly, we are continuing to follow the guidance by the Department for Education, which is now as follows:
New guidance for households with symptoms:
- If you live alone and you have symptoms of coronavirus (COVID-19), however mild, stay at home for 7 days from when your symptoms started
- If you live with others and you or another member of the household have symptoms of coronavirus (COVID-19), then all household members must stay at home and not leave the house for 14 days. The 14-day period starts from the day the first person in the house became ill. It is likely that people living within a household will infect each other or be infected already. Staying at home for 14 days will greatly reduce the overall amount of infection the household could pass on to others in the community
- For anyone in the household who starts displaying symptoms, they need to stay at home for 7 days from when the symptoms appeared, regardless of what day they are on in the original 14-day isolation period.
The symptoms are:
- A high temperature (37.8 degrees and above)
- A new, continuous cough
The full stay at home guidance for households with symptoms can be found here:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/covid-19-stay-at-home-guidance
The government also advises those who are at increased risk of severe illness from coronavirus should be particularly stringent in following social distancing measures. The link to this information can be found here:
This new guidance has resulted in the enforced absence of some staff and pupils. We are monitoring the situation on a daily basis, to ensure the wellbeing of the Havelock community. As a result of reduced staffing, we are now open to fewer year groups. For now, we will continue to expect students in Years 7, 11, 12 and 13 to attend school unless they are self-isolating or are ill. Other year groups should work from home using the online materials provided.
Our school will only fully close if we are officially advised to do so or if staffing reduces to such an extent that it poses a health and safety risk to pupils. You can be reassured that we will keep you fully up to date via MCAS and the school website.
Teachers have created online work for our partial closure. Whilst there is no substitute to being in a classroom with a teacher, we will do our best to ensure all our students can access our high quality curriculum from home and have regular remote contact with their teachers.
All our online work will be set via Show My Homework which can be monitored and supported by parents/carers and teachers. This can be accessed at home by visiting www.secondary.dret.cloud
Please contact us if you need any support with this.
If you anticipate your child having difficulty accessing online resources from home, please contact us on pupilservices@havelockacademy.co.uk .
We will, of course, keep you fully updated with our plans. The situation is likely to change daily, so we would urge you to download the MCAS app if you have not done so already. Should you need to reset your password please visit www.mychildatschool.com
Thank you for your continued support and understanding during this challenging time. Please be reassured that we are doing our very best to safeguard our children.
Yours sincerely,
Emma Marshall
Principal
