Contingency plan for a school closure – March 2020

The news is dominated by updates of the Covid-19 virus and the impact that it is having on societies across Europe.  We are following guidance and advice from the Department of Education who are liaising with the Department for Health.  Currently, we have been advised to continue as normal; if a child develops a high temperature or a new cough, it has been advised that they are isolated for 7 days; this is also the case if another family member develops the symptoms – the whole family should self-isolate.  Accessing 111 online  (https://111.nhs.uk/covid-19) is the first course of action for anybody displaying these symptoms.  If you are self-isolating, please telephone the school office to inform us that this is the case so that we are able to record this on our daily register.  A record of children/families who are self-isolating will be kept by our Education Welfare Office (EWO) as a way of tracking pupil attendance. 

In the meantime, as we remain open, we are putting the following measures in place:

• Assemblies will be cancelled (beginning Monday 16^th March) as a means of minimising the number of children in an enclosed space at one time.
• We will continue to encourage the children to wash their hands regularly and provide them with hand sanitiser throughout the day – please encourage your children to wash their hands after returning home from school – “shoes off, coats off, wash your hands!”
• Our LKS2 play has been postponed until the Summer Term; we will set a new date after the Easter holidays.
• Our EYFS Linger and Learn sessions will be postponed until further notice.
• Monks Abbey’s Got Talent will also be postponed until the Summer Term.
• Our Easter services at the Lincoln Baptist Church (KS1 and KS2) and All Saints Church (EYFS)

If schools are told to close by the Department of Education, the staff at Monks Abbey have a number of plans in place to ensure that the impact of being closed is minimised for all parties:

• All children will be sent home with an exercise book and pen/pencil to complete home learning activities.
• We will upload activities, tasks and ideas to support home learning on our school website – more information regarding this will be available as/when required.
• The Monks Abbey Food Bank will be available during the time we are closed to provide emergency food parcels to families who need this; again more information will be provided if/when we are forced to close.
• If you wish to contact the school during a period of closure with any concerns/questions/sharing of work, you can email enquiries@monksabbey.lincs.sch.uk or Ben.Carver@monksabbey.lincs.sch.uk and this information will be shared/answered by the relevant members of the Monks Abbey team.
• We will provide regular updates on our school Twitter feed (@monksabbey).

A school closure is never an ideal situation; we will ensure that we do everything that is possible to reduce the impact of a closure.  If you have any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to contact the school office or email one of the email addresses above.

We will continue to keep you updated with any developments.

Many thanks

The Monks Abbey Team