COVID-19 Update number 9 Amendment

First of all I would like to sincerely thank all the staff at Brighton Primary School for undertaking a challenging role, under difficult circumstances with grace and good humour, albeit under stressful circumstances. It has been very challenging, particularly striving to manage a very dynamic and changing work place. It is greatly appreciated by me as Principal.

Thanks to our Assistant Principal Christie, who today posted the new DfE on line resource for parents, coupled with a myriad of other links which I am sure parents will find useful. I encourage all parents to explore. Christie would be more than willing to discuss with any parent if you have a query.

Thanks also to Adam who has posted the ‘Access to technology in the home’ survey which we ask all parents to complete. This will help with decisions we will make as a school if our site is ever closed due to COVID-19. Please do so at your earliest convenience.

As I have said previously there is no real reason for parents to come into the school grounds in the morning-there are 2 reasons actually for not doing so-firstly, social distancing and secondly your children will learn to develop their own independence, if given the responsibility of taking themselves to class. As for pick up, try to have your child meet you near an exit rather than coming right up to their classroom. This again, is a social distancing protocol, which, when combined with good hygiene (quality hand washing) will be the two most significant factors stopping the spread of COVID -19. As that famous band of sports clothing states-JUST DO IT!

At this stage our canteen will remain open, but with nearly 50% of our student body absent we are losing money each day with an almost 70% decline in sales. It is probable that the canteen will close in the near future, as sales continue to decline-this is a business decision as our canteen must be sustainable. I have sincerely appreciated Mandy’s resilience in these difficult times.

For parents’ information, there were 348 absences today, which equates to approximately 48% of our student population.

Thanks again to those parents who have posted comments of support-it is greatly appreciated by staff and me.

Ian