Dear Parents/Guardians
I am sure that many of you will be aware by now that schools in Wales will be closed from this Friday, March 20th “at the latest.” The Education Minsister’s statement can be found online here;
https://gov.wales/statement-minster-education-kirsty-williams-school-closures-wales
This is all the information we have at the moment, but we will keep you updated as well as we can with the latest information and guidance. In the meantime, life goes on as usual and we will continue to do all we can to keep your children safe and well here in school.
Can I just take this opportunity to thank you all for your patience and understanding during what is proving to be a very challenging and worrying time for everyone. I am also very proud of the way our pupils have responded to the change in routine and the very worrying messages they must be receiving from the news and media. They have been remarkable. I would also like to thank those of you who have posted such kind messages on social media about the staff here at Ysgol Craig y Don. I have had a sneaky peek, and you are right! The staff here at Ysgol Craig y Don really are wonderful.
What happens now.
So, we will continue business as usual, apart from the extra measures that we continue to take in light of the Covid19 outbreak.
The current position, which will prevail until Friday 20th March 2020 (“at the latest”) is as follows:
- The school remains open as per current official guidance.
- All non-essential extra-curricular activities have been cancelled.
- Staff will not be attending any courses or meetings off sight.
- We continue to discourage visitors to the school
- We’ll keep you up to date with any changes to the current situation
What we’re doing to protect and support pupils and staff:
- We are reminding pupils about hygiene and the importance of regular hand washing.
- We will continue with our increased cleaning routines during the day as well as the normal evening routines.
- We have additional hand sanitizers in various locations in the school. These are for staff and other adults who might need to disinfect their hands but cannot get to a sink.
- We have ensured that there are hand washing facilities in all classes now as well. This is in the form of solid bars of soap as it has been impossible to get any liquid soap for this purpose.
- All water fountains in school have been switched off. We kindly ask again that you make arrangements for your child to bring water with them to the school.
What we need pupils to do:
- Wash hands often – with soap and water especially when they arrive in school, after visiting the toilet, after break, before eating food and before leaving school.
- Covering their mouth if they cough or sneeze with a tissue and throwing the tissue in the bin
- If they feel unwell, please stay at home.
- If they start feeling unwell during the day we will phone you to take them home.
- Avoid touching eyes, nose and mouth with unwashed hands.
- Avoid close contact with other people, especially if they are unwell.
Education at home
Mrs Sophie Durkin has ensured that a comprehensive package of online learning activities will be available for our pupils during any period of school closure. We hope that you can support your child in accessing and following these activities. Between us, we can ensure a continuity in your child’s learning. It will not be possible to assess and to give feedback as effectively as we would normally, but teachers will monitor your child’s learning and add activities as and when necessary. I thank Mrs Durkin greatly for her efforts.
If you have any queries:
If you have any specific questions regarding COVID-19, we kindly ask you to visit the guidance supplied by Public Health Wales on the link below:
Undoubtedly, this is a difficult and worrying time for us all. We appreciate that you will be concerned about the impact this might have on the health and education of your child. It is very important we work together to keep everybody safe and that we follow the guidance from the government.
Thank you for your continued support. I wish you all the very best.
Yours sincerely,
Iwan Lloyd Jones
Headteacher.