Please find below a letter sent via email this afternoon:
Dear Parent/Carer
Re: Confirmation of school closure
As you will be aware, the Government has asked all schools to close with effect from Monday 23rd March 2020 until further notice. This action has been taken to help to reduce the spread of the COVID-19 virus. Sadly, this is therefore the last day of usual school arrangements for our Springfield Community.
The Government is asking parents/carers to keep their children at home, wherever possible; if children can stay safely at home, they should, to limit the chance of the virus spreading. We need parents/carers to ensure that this message is understood and followed by their children in order to the lower the risk that the virus can spread and infect individuals in wider society. Children should not be ‘out and about’ in the community.
The Government has asked schools to maintain an on-site provision for a limited number of children. This provision is for: the children of emergency/key workers with essential roles; children who have Education, Health and Care Plans; children who have a Social Worker (Child in Need or Protection Plan); and Children who are looked after by the local authority.
https://www.portsmouth.gov.uk/ext/coronavirus-covid-19/schools-and-families-coronavirus-information
Parents/carers of children in the categories above will be contacted by a separate letter to confirm that their child is eligible to attend this provision on Monday. If you do not receive a letter confirming this, please assume that your child has not been allocated a place in the provision. (If you do not receive a letter, but believe that your child is eligible, then please telephone the school – please do not send your child to school until you have received confirmation from the school.)
For all other pupils, teachers will be setting work via the Google Classrooms System. These pupils must not come near or onto the school site. Information regarding free school meal provision will be sent out separately.
Parents/Carers will understand that these are unprecedented times and that schools have been asked to make significant changes at very short notice and to support social distancing where viable.
As outlined in my letter of 18th March, other than in exceptional circumstances, staff will liaise with parents/carers via telephone rather than by on site meeting if required. We would ask that parents/carers do not come onto the school site unless they have an appointment or have been asked to do so by staff.
We are continuing to ask all members of the school community to be vigilant to the symptoms of coronavirus – a high temperature, a new continuous cough – and to follow the Government’s guidance to self-isolate.
Thank you for your understanding and continued support at this difficult time. We will be keeping in touch via our website and newsfeed, so please continue to refer to these routinely.
Yours sincerely
Ms S F Spivey
CEO, Headteacher