Dear Parents / Carers,

 

As I mentioned in my last update the Government has now announced its recovery strategy which includes a plan for the partial re-opening of schools from the 1^st June at the earliest.

 

Please see the link below that will take you to the official Government website with the guidance that has been produced for parents:

 

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/closure-of-educational-settings-information-for-parents-and-carers 

 

As the guidance states, primary schools will be asked to welcome back certain year groups and for Gilbert’s that is defined as Nursery, Reception and Year One - which is ¾ of the school! Therefore, this involves a lot of thinking on our part and does not mean automatically mean that the children in these year groups will return to a normal Gilbert’s and normal lessons.

 

We have lots of factors to consider - so as ever, we appreciate your patience in this matter as we discuss the implications with groups of staff to ensure that we are able to operate in line with the Government Guidance.

 

In addition to the above, and as a parent myself, I need to ask the honest parent emotional question – If we open in line with the government guidance will you actually send your children to school? I know we all joke and say – ‘Yes Mrs Mappin, we can’t to wait to get them back’  but now this is a stark reality, I need to know if you are going to do this or not - so I can plan with my staff.

 

To do this I will be sending out a questionnaire online via a text for the required year groups.  just some simple questions, nothing complex.  I would really appreciate if you could complete this to enable Gilbert’s to plan for the weeks ahead.

 

Contact details

Please use the info@gilbertheathcote.derbyshire.sch.uk email to keep us informed of any concerns, worries or questions you may have. You can also contact the school office each morning and if needed you can leave a message, someone will get back to you.

     

Look after each other,

Joanne Mappin