Dear Parents and Carers,

Due to the unprecedented current circumstances all schools and early years providers in England will close from today for the foreseeable future.

We will miss each and every one of our families but understand the first priority of our country is to keep the most vulnerable within our population safe from COVID-19.

We will endeavour to stay in touch with you through email, telephone and social media until we can resume service as usual. We are hopeful that we will see you all again during in the summer term and we will have a party to say goodbye to all our leavers of 2020.

The second priority is to keep our country running including all health and emergency services and all logistics including food and utility services. Ripley Nursery School and the Childcare provision will provide a reduced facility to support as long as it is safe for staff and children to do so.

The Government have released a list of those classed as Key Workers. However if your role within the sectors listed is NOT directly related to the COVID-19 response it does not apply. If you are unsure you will need to check with your employer. Please also be aware that the government has stated that wherever possible children should be kept at home and that,

“Schools are being asked to continue to provide care for a limited number of children - children who are vulnerable and children whose parents are critical to the Covid-19 response and cannot be safely cared for at home.”

Schools are also being asked to limit their emergency places to 20% of the school population.

Key workers:

Health and social care - to include doctors, nurses, midwives, paramedics, social workers, care workers, and other frontline health and social care staff including volunteers; the support and specialist staff required to maintain the UK’s health and social care sector; those working as part of the health and social care supply chain, including producers and distributers of medicines and medical and personal protective equipment.

Education and childcare - to include nursery and teaching staff, social workers and specialist education professionals.

Key public services - to include those essential to the running of the justice system, religious staff, charities and workers delivering key frontline services, those responsible for the management of the deceased, and journalists and broadcasters who are providing public service broadcasting.

Local and national government - to only includee those administrative occupations essential to the effective delivery of the COVID-19 response or delivering essential public services such as the payment of benefits, including in government agencies and arms length bodies.

Food and other necessary goods - includes those involved in food production, processing, distribution, sale and delivery as well as those essential to the provision of other key goods (for example hygienic and veterinary medicines).

Public safety and national security - includes police and support staff, Ministry of Defence civilians, contractor and armed forces personnel, fire and rescue service employees (including support staff), National Crime Agency staff, those maintaining border security, prison and probation staff and other national security roles, including those overseas.

Transport - includes those who will keep the air, water, road and rail passenger and freight transport modes operating, including those working on transport systems through which supply chains pass.

Utilities, communication and financial services - includes staff needed for essential financial services provision ie workers in banks, building societies and financial market infrastructure, the oil, gas, electricity and water sectors (including sewerage), information technology and data infrastructure sector and primary industry supplies, as well as key staff working in the civil nuclear, chemicals, telecommunications (including network operations, field engineering, call centre staff, IT and data infrastructure, 999 and 111 critical services), postal services and delivery, payments providers and waste disposal sectors.

Even if you have one of these roles but can safely care for your child at home please do so.  I am operating a skeleton staff from Monday due to staff unable to come to work for their own health needs. Please, also only send your child to school on your working days.

Next steps:

If you require an emergency place at school:

•             Email kerry.hartwell@derbyshire.sch.uk with proof of your role (ID badge)

•             Include in your email the days that you require

Please do this immediately.  School will then collate a final list and parents will be notified by close of play today. We will priotise places in accordance with Government guidelines.

To ensure we are able to support you please continue to adhere to the safety guidance to prevent the spread of COVID-19. Do not bring your child to school with a persistent cough and/or a high temperature for 7 days. Do not bring your child to school if you or a member of your immediate family are self isolating due to symptoms of COVID-19 for 14 days.

I understand that this is an anxious time for you and your family; we have never before been subjected to a health scare on this scale in our life times and with this comes real fear of loss and of financial insecurity.

We all need to continue to support each other, to stay connected, to be kind and courteous and to carry on being part of our friendly and caring school community.

Kind regards,    

Cathy Bednal, 

Headteacher of Ripley Nursery School and Ripley School Childcare.