18th May 2020
Last week the Government announced that the next phase of school reopening will begin from June 1st 2020 provided that it’s key tests are met. This marks a first tentative staging point on the road to recovery. Fully opening schools is seen as essential for the sake of our children’s education and our nation’s future.
The wellbeing of all our pupils and staff is paramount. We are committed to implementing protective measures, advised by public health experts, to keep them safe at all times and alleviate any worries you may have. Rigorous risk assessment at school level will be a precursor to any of our schools opening to more pupils.
It is important to balance the short term risks to public health (related to the transmission of the virus) with longer term public health considerations. If a child loses out on the basics of education, this can have an impact on that child across their whole lives – their economic prosperity and long-term health. We know that children benefit hugely from being at school. It is, therefore, important to take the first steps towards opening our schools more widely.
The Government has confirmed that it believes education settings are best placed to understand the risks in their individual circumstances. We agree and are waiting to see further details about the medical and scientific evidence so we can make a decision for our academies. For now we are simply making plans for how we might open our schools to more pupils from 1st June 2020. The Government is due to make the final decision on whether schools are allowed to open more widely when it reviews the latest science, including transmission rates, on 28th May 2020.
I would like to reassure you that the decision to fully open Wave academies has NOT been made. We will provide you with further information as well as a more detailed plan of the measures that will be in place should the academies open to substantially more pupils, before any action is taken.
Please find attached a letter that has been sent out to all parents/carers today. (The letter is attached but without the link to the survey which is texted directly to parents).
