Dear Parent/Carer
Last night, I received notification from the Secretary of State for Education that:
'To provide parents, students and staff with the certainty they need we are announcing that schools, colleges and early years settings will be closed to everyone except children of key workers and vulnerable children from Monday, as part of the country’s ongoing response to coronavirus.'In addition, he states:
'We can confirm that we will not go ahead with assessments or exams, and that we will not be publishing performance tables for this academic year.
We will work with the sector and Ofqual to ensure children get the qualifications they need.'
This announcement, confirmed by the Prime Minister, is being widely reported by the media this evening.
Springfield School will be open as usual tomorrow and Friday to all pupils (unless unforeseen staff shortages require the school to partially close). We will continue with the planned mock assessments for Year 11 pupils as we believe that the information from these papers may support subsequent assessment requirements. Rest assured that staff will be working with the examination boards and Government to ensure that Year 11 pupils get the examination results that they deserve.
We realise that this will be challenging news to the whole school community.
We anticipate receiving more detailed information from the DfE tomorrow and will revise our plans accordingly. We hope to receive more guidance on key worker designation and may need to contact parents/carers for a quick response as to their status.
I will update parents/carers on arrangements as soon as they are known. Please continue to check the school website/newsfeed regularly.
May I also remind parents that lessons finish at 12:25pm today due to the pre-planned INSET afternoon
Kind regards
Sara Spivey
CEO, Headteacher