Holy Cross Catholic Primary School
'Living, Loving, Learning Together'
Key Workers
4th January 2021
Dear Parents/Carers,
Firstly, I would like to thank you for your continued support in a rapidly changing world. As I am sure everyone is now aware, schools are getting their information about Covid-19 restrictions in the same way as everyone else (mainly by watching the news!), so we don’t have any updates about schools being open or not in the coming weeks. As far as we are concerned, this means that we continue to work on the basis that we are open for all children until we are told otherwise.
Having said that, we are also aware of the lack of notice that we tend to get from the government when changes are made and so it would be really helpful for us to prepare for the possibility that primary schools will have to close again at some point (once again, we have no more information regarding this than what we see and hear in the media). The teaching team have plans for remote education in place, but what we do need to consider is how many children might require a place in school under the provisions for children of ‘critical workers’ I have attached information to help you decide if you meet these criteria.
If you feel you do, could you email ao@holycrossprimaryschool.co.uk stating your child’s name, your mobile number and your work details.
By having a sense of numbers, this will help us plan how we would deploy our staff and also what the setup would be.
Hopefully, we don’t have to enact any plans and we will continue to function as normal, but it would be good to be prepared for all eventualities and by informing us, you would be helping us with those preparations.
Can I remind you of the importance of following the school’s risk assessment including the wearing of masks when collecting/dropping off pupils. We would respectfully ask that Parents adhere to the timetable when dropping and collecting pupils and would ask that you do not remain any longer than necessary on or outside the school site.
Yours sincerely,
H. Bannon
Critical workers
Parents whose work is critical to the coronavirus (COVID-19) and EU transition response include those who work in health and social care and in other key sectors outlined in the following sections.
Health and social care
This includes, but is not limited to, doctors, nurses, midwives, paramedics, social workers, care workers, and other frontline health and social care staff including volunteers; the support and specialist staff required to maintain the UK’s health and social care sector; those working as part of the health and social care supply chain, including producers and distributors of medicines and medical and personal protective equipment.
Education and childcare
This includes:
childcare
support and teaching staff
social workers
specialist education professionals who must remain active during the coronavirus (COVID-19) response to deliver this approach
Key public services
This includes:
those essential to the running of the justice system
religious staff
charities and workers delivering key frontline services
those responsible for the management of the deceased
journalists and broadcasters who are providing public service broadcasting
Local and national government
This only includes those administrative occupations essential to the effective delivery of:
the coronavirus (COVID-19) response, and the delivery of and response to EU transition
essential public services, such as the payment of benefits and the certification or checking of goods for import and export (including animal products, animals, plants and food), including in government agencies and arms length bodies
Food and other necessary goods
This includes those involved in food:
production
processing
distribution
sale and delivery
as well as those essential to the provision of other key goods (for example hygienic and veterinary medicines)
Public safety and national security
This includes:
police and support staff
Ministry of Defence civilians
contractor and armed forces personnel (those critical to the delivery of key defence and national security outputs and essential to the response to the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak and EU transition)
fire and rescue service employees (including support staff)
National Crime Agency staff
those maintaining border security, prison and probation staff and other national security roles, including those overseas
Transport and border
This includes those who will keep the air, water, road and rail passenger and freight transport modes operating during the coronavirus (COVID-19) response and EU transition, including those working on transport systems through which supply chains pass and those constructing or supporting the operation of critical transport and border infrastructure through which supply chains pass.
Utilities, communication and financial services
This includes:
staff needed for essential financial services provision (including but not limited to workers in banks, building societies and financial market infrastructure)
the oil, gas, electricity and water sectors (including sewerage)
information technology and data infrastructure sector and primary industry supplies to continue during the coronavirus (COVID-19) response
key staff working in the civil nuclear, chemicals, telecommunications (including but not limited to network operations, field engineering, call centre staff, IT and data infrastructure, 999 and 111 critical services)
postal services and delivery
payments providers
waste disposal sectors