Somerset County Council County Hall, Taunton Somerset, TA1 4DY All Headteachers Please ask for: Julian Wooster Email: [email protected] Direct Dial: 01823 359024 Date: 12 May 2020 Dear Colleagues Prime Minister’s Announcement – Coronavirus and Schools I am writing to you following the Prime Minister’s announcement on Sunday night and DfE guidance issued last night. We are now being asked to prepare to extend school provision beyond the current arrangements from the beginning of June, dependent on the national position with the virus. I know that you and your colleagues have already been giving this a lot of thought, and we’ve established a support group of headteachers, public health advisers and LA representatives to look at how we can manage this together. It is disappointing that the guidance doesn’t reflect the complexity of providing education provision in areas like Somerset and makes a number of assumptions about the available provision. I do anticipate that the guidance will continue to be revised as there is still considerable uncertainty around the pandemic It is also clear that people are being encouraged to return to work. We do anticipate that this will result in more parents asking for their child to attend school so they can return to work. As it stands, our position is that the current DfE guidance remains in place, which is that schools are ‘closed’ to all, but the children of key workers or vulnerable children as defined in the current guidance. https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/covid-19-school-closures/guidance- for-schools-about-temporarily-closing I appreciate that this position may cause difficulties for you with some parents and carers, so we are seeking to manage expectations through local communications. Finally, and once again, I would like to thank you and your staff for all that you are doing during these incredibly challenging times and welcome your continuing feedback as how we can support you. Yours sincerely Julian Wooster Director of Children’s Services .