St Stephen’s (Kearsley Moor) C E School Bent Spur Road, Kearsley, Bolton BL4 8PB Telephone 01204 333642/333643 Head Teacher - Mr P Puckey e-mail – office@st-stephens-kearsley-moor.bolton.sch.uk www.ststephenskearsley.co.uk
Dear Parents/Carers, Late on Tuesday the Government issued guidance to all schools advising them to make Friday 18th December a non-teaching day where possible. I am writing to let you know that we have decided NOT to follow this advice, recognising that covering a full day can be difficult for working parents. However, we have decided to finish early at 1.30 pm, following our Virtual Carol Concert in the morning. This will also give us half a day for contact tracing purposes. The guidance explains that: Public Health England has agreed a 6 day window after the final day of teaching in which schools and further education providers are asked to remain contactable so they can assist with contact tracing where necessary. This will allow enough time for positive coronavirus (COVID-19) cases to be identified and confirmed by a test and for relevant contacts in the education setting to be traced. We are clear that beyond 6 days after the final day of teaching, school and further education staff are not asked to play a role in any contact tracing. It is also likely that the need to support the tracing process will reduce dramatically over the course of the 6 days as the majority of cases should be identified earlier in the week. This means that the last day of contact tracing involving the school will be the morning of 24th December and not just before Father Christmas arrives in the evening! The Government guidance recognises this communication has arrived with schools late in the term and have asked schools to share information with parents as soon as possible. I am sorry for the timing of this information but I do believe that it will go a small way to keeping families and staff safe over the Christmas period and reduce the chances of anyone needing to isolate during the break. It is important to remember that if there is a positive case in school after the 11th December then where children and families are informed of the need to isolate this will take them to or past the 25th December. We have been so grateful for all your support this term and I know that everyone in our school community has worked hard to reduce the risk of infection in school, enabling the children to stay in school as much as possible. We have had a super term and we have some exciting things planned to bring it to a close next week. On Friday, the school newsletter will include further information such as details for contacting school over the Christmas Break. Our after school provider Y2K will remain available on Friday 18th December from 1.30 pm. If you have any questions about the information in this letter please contact the school office. Many thanks for your continued support during these difficult times, Mr Puckey