29th May 2020
Dear Parent / Carer
As you know, Waddington All Saints Academy is part of the L.E.A.D. Academy Trust. The Trust is responsible for 25 academies across the East Midlands, and is legally responsible for our academy. This means that the decision for reopening of our academy rests with L.E.A.D. Academy Trust. The safety of pupils, staff and parents is the Trust’s main priority.
The following decisions have been taken after consideration of the latest government updates. In light of this, the Trust has taken the following decisions:
- the readmission of pupils in YN, YR, Y1 and Y6 will be deferred until the week beginning 8th June;
- pupils should be readmitted in a phased way so that YN, YR, Y1 and Y6 can be invited back to school in full by Monday 15th June.
These decisions are subject to further review during next week, and are subject to the Trust being satisfied that it is safe to proceed as described above.
These decisions have not been taken lightly, and the decisions have been based around the following main points:
- Safety – Risk Assessments: a huge amount of work has gone into the completion of risk assessments. However, due to the volume of government updates and the timing of these, more time is needed to fully implement all of the actions identified in academy risk assessments. This is so that each academy is as safe as possible, and that the level of risk is tolerable;
- Safety – Track and Trace: the government have said that the Covid-19 track and trace system is a key strategy in helping to keep people safe by monitoring potential infection outbreaks within the community. This system only went live yesterday and experienced some technical difficulties. More time is needed in order to allow this system to settle and operate in a way that best supports us to keep staff, pupils and parents safe;
- Preparedness: whilst we all want pupils to return to school, the timescales for ensuring schools are properly prepared for pupils to return has been too short, despite staff working through their holidays. We are very aware of the extraordinary lengths Headteachers and their teams have gone to in order to be ready to welcome pupils back to school, but believe that one extra week of preparation time is essential. This is so that all relevant policies can be amended prior to pupils returning, with staff fully trained as to how policies have changed due to Covid-19.
We appreciate that you will have been planning for the return to school next week, but the Trust’s priority is to keep people safe. The challenges Covid-19 presents, means that decisions are taken based on information as it becomes available – often at short notice. Thank you for your understanding.
For our academy, this means that pupils will not be returning to school next week as previously planned and communicated. Instead, subject to the Trust considering it being safe to do so, we are now planning to readmit pupils as follows during the week beginning Monday 8th June:
- 8th June – Foundation Stage
- Year 1 between 9th and 11th June
- Year 6 between 10th and 15th June
We will work hard to make sure that you are kept up-to-date regularly via Weduc and will try to get the updated information to you as soon as we can.
Thank you once again for your understanding.
Yours sincerely,
Paul Martin
Headteacher