Latest News
Keep up to date with all the latest news happening in school at the moment.
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What Parents and Carers Need to Know About Schools and Education During the Coronavirus Outbreak
Mon 27 Apr 2020Please follow the link below to read information for parents and carers about educational provision for critical workers, school closures, exams, free school meals and home schooling.
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Public Health England - Every Mind Matters
Mon 20 Apr 2020Public Health England has launched new mental health advice on their Every Mind Matters platform to support people’s mental health and wellbeing, particularly through this period of lockdown.
Please visit https://www.nhs.uk/oneyou/every-mind-matters/ for more information.
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Easy Read Information Regarding Coronavirus from Public Health England
Wed 08 Apr 2020Below is a link from Public Health England to an easy read document about Coronavirus:
This document is also available in alternative languages - please see the link below for access to these:
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Latest Government Corona Virus Advice and Information 06.04.20
Mon 06 Apr 2020GOV.UK
Latest Department for Education Coronavirus Advice
New guidance for children’s social care services
We have published new guidance for local authorities and their partners to support and protect vulnerable children during the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak.
You can read the guidance at:
Updated guidance for schools about temporarily closing
We have updated our guidance on the temporary closure of schools to include information on the workforce, critical workers and safeguarding.
You can read the guidance at:
Updated guidance on maintaining further education provision
We have updated our guidance for further education providers on maintaining education and skills training provision. This guidance now includes more information on funding, ongoing and online learning, and supporting vulnerable young people.
The guidance can be found here:
Updated handwashing advice
The most important thing individuals can do to protect themselves is to wash their hands more often. Soap and water and regular handwashing for at least 20 seconds is the best way of staying safe. Hand washing with soap employs mechanical action that loosens bacteria and viruses from the skin, rinsing them into the drain. Drying hands afterwards makes the skin less hospitable to the virus. Hand sanitiser can be effective if soap is not available or the situation makes using soap less feasible (i.e. when outside) but using hand sanitiser provides none of the virus-destroying friction that rubbing your hands together and rinsing with water provides.
A video on hand washing can be found at:
The e-Bug project is led by Public Health England and has a dedicated webpage for learning resources on hand washing and respiratory hygiene.
Resources are currently available for KS1, KS2 and KS3 and can be used in various settings including schools and at home:
Collection of guidance for educational settings on GOV.UK
All of the Department for Education’s coronavirus guidance for educational settings can now be found in one place on GOV.UK at:
Our main guidance for schools, the ‘school closures guidance’, will be regularly kept up-to-date. Any new advice for schools on specific issues, such as food, exams or safeguarding, will be linked from it:
Department for Education coronavirus helpline
The Department for Education coronavirus helpline is available to answer questions about COVID-19 relating to education and children’s social care. Staff, parents and young people can contact this helpline as follows:
Phone: 0800 046 8687
Opening hours: 8am to 6pm (Monday to Friday), 10am to 4pm (Saturday to Sunday)If you work in a school, please have your unique reference number (URN or UKPRN) available when calling the hotline.
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Latest Government Coronavirus Advice & Information 01.04.20
Wed 01 Apr 2020Latest Department for Education Coronavirus Advice & Information
Guidance for parents and carers: keeping children safe online
The DfE has updated their website information for parents and carers to include a section on keeping children safe online. It provides links to online resources that will help support parents and carers in keeping their children safe online.
Full details can be found in section 6.3 of the guidance for parents and carers on the closure of educational settings:
National voucher scheme launched for schools providing free school meals
Children eligible for free school meals can benefit from a national voucher scheme whilst they stay at home. This delivers on the Government’s commitment to provide ongoing support for the 1.3 million children that would receive benefits-related free school meals at their school.
Schools can now provide every eligible child with a weekly shopping voucher worth £15 to spend at supermarkets while schools are closed due to coronavirus.
Schools can continue to provide meals for collection or delivery themselves, but where this is not possible, the scheme will allow schools to provide vouchers to families electronically, or as a gift card for those without internet access.
Parents will receive the voucher through their child’s school, which can then be redeemed online via a code, or sent to their house as a gift card and used at supermarkets across the country.
Be aware of scam emails
The DfE have been informed that some parents in the UK have received an email stating the following: ‘As schools will be closing, if you’re entitled to free school meals, please send your bank details and we’ll make sure you’re supported’.
The DfE have confirmed that this is a scam email and is not official. They urge parents that if you receive any emails like this, please do not respond, and delete it immediately.
Stay up to date with the latest coronavirus information
You can now sign up to receive updates from GOV.UK regarding the Government’s response to coronavirus (COVID-19). Sign up is quick, free and means you will be alerted when information is published.
Sign up here:
Follow the Department for Education on Twitter for the latest updates:
Handwashing advice
The most important thing individuals can do to protect themselves is to wash their hands more often, for at least 20 seconds, with soap and water. Public Health England recommends that in addition to handwashing before eating, and after coughing and sneezing, everyone should also wash hands after using toilets and whenever you return home.
The latest guidance and video on hand washing can be found here:
Guidance on Social Distancing for Everyone in the UK
Please visit the link below for the most up-to-date government information regarding social distancing during this time:
Department for Education coronavirus helpline
The Department for Education coronavirus helpline is available to answer questions about COVID-19 relating to education and children’s social care. Staff, parents and young people can contact this helpline as follows:
Phone: 0800 046 8687
Opening hours: 8am to 6pm (Monday to Friday), 10am to 4pm (Saturday to Sunday)
