Middlesex Learning Partnership

Possible Reopening in June

Dear Parents/Carers

Re: possible reopening of school to more pupils in early June

I am writing to you about the news that schools may reopen in early June for Nursery, Reception, Year 1 and Year 6 pupils, if the government thinks it’s safe to do so. 

I think you’ll agree the last couple of months has been a very unsettling and unusual time for us all, and unfortunately the uncertainty continues around the ‘possible’ re-opening of the nation’s schools.  Our aim at our Trust, is to try and reduce risk and the anxiety in our preparations for re-opening.  With our community of parents, staff and pupils in mind, we have made all of our decisions using the principles that we will COMPLY SAFELY with Government advice and that we will go ahead using MAXIMUM CAUTION. We feel that we know our community well and that these principles will be of the most comfort to you.

At the moment schools will not definitely open in early June; the decision to open or not across the country will be made by the Government on Friday 28 May, during half term. This leaves us no working days left to get finalised information to you before the proposed earliest opening date of Monday 1 June. So, in line with our promise to keep your children safe and move with caution, we will be not be opening until Wednesday 3 June at the earliest, when we have had time to test plans robustly and to give INSET to our teachers on how to most effectively support your children in such an unusual environment.

The plans we are working on have taken into account many precautions and these include:

  • Creating small class sizes to comply with government guidelines and fit with our environments.
  • Staggering break times and also pick-up and drop-off times
  • Creating one-way systems around the schools and carefully zoned areas for play
  • Increased cleaning
  • Trying where possible to keep your child with the same member of staff when they are in school
  • Keeping pupils and staff with coronavirus symptoms at home
  • Keeping pupils who are extremely clinically vulnerable (shielding) or living with extremely clinically vulnerable (shielding) adults at home

*If your child has an underlying condition, but has not had a shielding letter, you should speak to your GP to decide if they should come back to school.

Many of you have asked if you could be fined for not sending your child back to school. I want to reassure you that we’re not going to be pressuring anyone to send their children to school and the Government will not issue fines under their current guidance. We’ll keep you updated with all of our preparations for making sure that our schools are as safe as possible, so you can make an informed decision.

In the meantime, our schools are still open only for vulnerable pupils and the children of key workers. We know some employers will be encouraging you to return to work, but we’re not in a position right now to extend places to other children until we receive further government guidance.

We’d like to thank you for your continuous support in helping your child learn from home. We’ll keep you updated once we know more about when schools will be able to reopen for other year groups.

If your child will remain at home beyond early June, we’ll continue to support you and them with home learning, and meal support for those eligible. Please do continue to stay in touch with us about how your child is getting on.

Finally, when the re-opening does start, to ensure we can implement the new ways of working this will be staged gradually, rather than have all of the selected year groups starting on the same day and at the same time. 

Mrs S Roberts and Mr P Bateman, Heads of our Primary schools, will be sending out more detailed plans closer to the possible date of opening.  In the meanwhile, if you have any questions, please contact me, by email at: themming@mlp.org.uk

Warm regards

Tracey Hemming
CEO Middlesex Learning Partnership

Our Schools