Latest News

Dukehouse Wood

Wed 17 Mar 2021

Dear Year 5 & 6 Parents,

Re: Dukehouse Wood Residential

As you know, children in Year 5 and 6 were due to go on their residential in September, but as a result of Covid restrictions, this was rescheduled to the end of April.

I can now confirm that the trip in April is unable to go ahead as the government restrictions do not permit school trips of this type at this time.

I have had extensive conversations with Dukehouse Wood and we are confident that we will be able to offer the trip at the later date of the 5^th-9^th July. We believe that government restrictions will have lifted by then and that we are able to offer a safe residential experience for the children by keeping the children together as a bubble, having our own separate accommodation (away from other schools), and by all staff (both from the school and the centre) using lateral flow testing.

I am really pleased we are can still plan to go ahead with the trip, as I think the children need something to look forward to and it will be a great end to Primary School for those children in Year 6.

Please can I ask that you now continue to make payments towards any outstanding balances you have for the trip. These can be found on your Scopay account and can be paid in instalments. Please ensure that all payments are made by the 11^th June. If you are experiencing financial difficulties, or have any questions then please do not hesitate to get in touch.

Best Wishes,

Craig Dewar-Willox

Headteacher

Update for Parents- Reopening

Sun 03 Jan 2021

Dear Parents,

The last two days have been incredibly busy, with significant announcements and communications being made by the Education Unions, Cumbria's Director of Public Health, Cumbria County Council and the Department for Education.

Throughout this pandemic, I have always aimed to keep you informed, to be honest and to make decisions in the best interests of our children, staff and community. The last update from the County Council came after 7pm tonight and provoked further questions. To that end, I regret to inform you that I am not in a position to make a definitive decision on the reopening of school tonight.

Whichever decision we take, we will be at odds with either the UK Government, or the Director of Public Health and Education Unions. To do justice to that, I need time to consider all the implications and the best approach to take for the good of our school and community. By delaying the decision until tomorrow, I am able to consult with governors, the staff, our health and safety consultants and the local authority.

As you know, term is due to start on Tuesday morning and I know this email will be frustrating, as many of you just want to know what to expect on Tuesday. I am truly sorry for that. I will write to you at the earliest opportunity tomorrow.

Best Wishes,

Craig Dewar-Willox

Headteacher

January Opening of Schools

Wed 30 Dec 2020

Dear Parents, Staff and Governors,

I hope you and your families have had a good Christmas.

I am sorry to bother you during the Christmas break, but wanted to reach out regarding some developments today.

You may have seen in the press that Cumbria will move to Tier 4 tonight and that the Secretary of State for Education has just made a statement to the House of Commons on school reopening. At this stage, I expect that our school will open as normal on Tuesday 5th December to all pupils. However, throughout this pandemic I have learnt to wait for a day or two after a government announcement to see the detail before making any plans.

Schools are due to receive information later today and I will review this in conjunction with our Health & Safety Consultants to see if any changes need to be made to our operational plans and risk assessments. I will communicate any changes with you as soon as possible, and will provide an update on Sunday 3rd January.

As ever, we will continue to do everything we can to keep our children, staff and community safe.

For now, enjoy the remaining days of the holiday.

Best Wishes,

Craig Dewar-Willox

Headteacher

August Update to Parents

Wed 26 Aug 2020

Wednesday, 26 August 2020

Dear Parents,

I hope that you and your families are keeping well. I am writing to confirm the final arrangements for the start of the academic year on the 2^nd September. We can’t wait to welcome the children back to school next week, and we are planning lots of transition and relationship building activities to ease children back in to school life.

As stated previously, the school now has a comprehensive risk assessment and operating procedures to prevent the spread of Covid-19. This includes increased cleaning, social distancing where appropriate, good respiratory and hand hygiene, in maintaining class bubbles and restricting visitors on site.

Some of this information is a repeat of what we sent out on the 14^th July and here to serve as a reminder.

Class Groups:

From September, children will be taught in their new classes in their own zone. This will include their own classroom, unisex toilets and outdoor space. There will be staggered drop off and pick up times, and staggered break and lunchtimes to minimise interaction between different classes. Your support in sticking to these times is appreciated. These details are listed below:

Class:	Drop Off/Pick Up Point	Drop Off Times (am)	Pick Up Point (pm)
Nursery and Reception Miss Knight’s Class	The gate closest to the pirate ship.	8.55am- 9.05am *see note below for 1^st day	3.15pm
Year 1 and 2 Miss Brown’s Class	The gate closest to the pirate ship	8.45am- 8.55am	3.05pm
Year 3 and 4 Mr Holland’s Class	The gate closest to the shelter	8.45am- 8.55am	3.15pm
Year 5 and 6 Mr Smith’s Class	The gate up the lane, next to the school field.	8.45am- 8.55am	3.15pm

During the morning drop off time, a member of staff will be on the relevant gate to welcome your child into school. At pick up time, we will open the gates to allow parents on to the playground to avoid over-crowding at the gates. Please note, at this time, that parents will not be allowed in the main building. If you wish to arrange to speak to a member of staff please contact the school office and we will arrange a phone call/zoom meeting.

Reception and Nursery – First Day Back:

We know that your child’s first day is a big deal, and we still want to enable parents to mark that special moment. For children starting Reception or Nursery, on their first day back, we are requesting that parents arrive from 9.15am to 9.30am, when all the other children have arrived in school. We will set up some activities outside, so parents can bring their child into school (albeit outside) and help them settle for their first day, meet the teacher and also take any photos.

Breakfast and After-School Club:

From the 2^nd September, we are offering breakfast (from 7.45am) and after school club (until 6.15pm), this will mean some children mixing bubbles at the beginning and at the end of the day. Unfortunately, we can’t avoid this but will be handwashing at the start and end of these sessions. These sessions must be booked in advance (including Breakfast Club) on Scopay. Breakfast and Afterschool club will be based in the current Year 2 classroom, which is next to the office. Children can be dropped off and collected via the main entrance. We do ask that parents do not use the staff car park.

PE Days:

Children will need to bring their school PE kit to school on PE days and take it home afterwards for washing. Unless the weather is absolutely horrific, PE will be taught outside. A little rain won’t stop us! PE days are as follows:

Nursery and Reception	Tuesday and Thursday
Year 1 and 2	Wednesday and Thursday
Year 3 and 4	Monday and Wednesday
Year 5 and 6	Monday and Friday

Uniform:

From September, we will be returning to our normal uniform policy. Please remember that we are phasing out the light blue polo shirts over time. So if you are buying new uniform this summer, please buy a white polo shirt. Uniform can now be ordered online here: https://holmeps.imagescotland.com/

What to bring to school:

Children should bring as little as possible to school. They will be provided with their own pencil case and resources and therefore should only bring: a water bottle, packed lunch (if needed), a coat and their reading book to and from school.

School Dinners:

In September we are reintroducing hot school meals, which will be delivered to the classrooms. School meals should be ordered on lunch shop before 9am on the day. A copy of the 2-week menu is available on our website.

Curriculum:

Our first few weeks will focus heavily on PHSE and in helping children reintegrate back in to school life. I will write again at the start of term to advise you of our virtual ‘meet the teacher’ meetings, where we will go through out curriculum with you in detail including our plans in the event of a local lockdown.

Preparing children for a return to school:

Many children will be anxious about returning to school after such a long break. We are prepared for that and have plans in place to support them. However, we’d advise that you start talking to your child/children about what school will be like, and recommend this resource to aid that conversation:

https://www.childrenscommissioner.gov.uk/report/going-back-to-school-guide/

In Summary:

Please note and adhere to the staggered start times and new entrances
Order School Dinners
Book sessions at Breakfast/After School Club
Start talking to your children about returning to school
Year 1,2,3& 4 need their PE kit on the first day back

If you have any questions then please contract the school office this week, leaving a voicemail if necessary and I will get back to you. Finally, as we enter a new school year, I want to thank you for your support in the last. I have no doubt that the next year will be challenging, but we are ready for that challenge and will do our very best for every single child to make sure that they are happy and thriving.

With best wishes,

Craig Dewar-Willox
Headteacher

Preparing for September

Tue 14 Jul 2020

Tuesday, 14 July 2020

Dear Parents,

The New School Year

I am now in a position to share with you our plans for the full reopening of school in September. We are delighted to be able to welcome the children back, and whilst there will be some changes, we will do everything we can to make the transition back to school as smooth and as normal as possible.

This letter outlines our plans for school opening on the 2^nd September to all pupils. A lot could change over August, so I will write again at the end of the summer holidays to confirm the final arrangements.

Expectations of the school to prevent the spread of COVID-19:

Schools have been given a set of actions they must take in terms of PREVENTION:

minimise contact with individuals who are unwell by ensuring that those who have coronavirus (COVID-19) symptoms, or who have someone in their household who does, do not attend school
clean hands thoroughly more often than usual
ensure good respiratory hygiene by promoting the ‘catch it, bin it, kill it’ approach
introduce enhanced cleaning, including cleaning frequently touched surfaces often, using standard products such as detergents and bleach
minimise contact between individuals and maintain social distancing wherever possible
where necessary, wear appropriate personal protective equipment (PPE)

We are confident that our plans meet all of the expectations listed above.

These are the steps the school must take in terms of RESPONSE to any infection

engage with the NHS Test and Trace process
manage confirmed cases of coronavirus (COVID-19) amongst the school community - this will include sending any classes home where there has been a confirmed case of COVID-19
contain any outbreak by following local health protection team advice

Class Groups:

From September, children will be taught in their new classes in their own zone. This will include their own classroom, unisex toilets and outdoor space. There will be staggered drop off and pick up times, and staggered break and lunchtimes to minimise interaction between different classes. Your support in sticking to these times is appreciated. These details are listed below:

Class:	Drop Off/Pick Up Point	Drop Off Times (am)	Pick Up Point (pm)
Nursery and Reception Miss Knight’s Class	The gate closest to the pirate ship.	8.55am- 9.05am *see note below for 1^st day	3.15pm
Year 1 and 2 Miss Brown’s Class	The gate closest to the pirate ship	8.45am- 8.55am	3.05pm
Year 3 and 4 Mr Holland’s Class	The gate closest to the shelter	8.45am- 8.55am	3.15pm
Year 5 and 6 Mr Smith’s Class	The gate up the lane, next to the field.	8.45am- 8.55am	3.15pm

During the morning drop off time, a member of staff will be on the relevant gate to welcome your child into school. At pick up time, we will open the gates to allow parents on to the playground to avoid over-crowding at the gates. Please note that parents will not be allowed in the main building.

Reception and Nursery – First Day Back:

We know that your child’s first day is a big deal, and we still want to enable parents to mark that special moment. For children starting Reception or Nursery, on their first day back, we are requesting that parents arrive from 9.15am to 9.30am, when all the other children have arrived in school. We will set up some activities outside, so parents can bring their child into school (albeit outside) and help them settle for their first day, meet the teacher and also take any photos.

Breakfast and After-School Club:

From the 2^nd September, we are offering breakfast (from 7.45am) and after school club (until 6.15pm), this will mean some children mixing bubbles at the beginning and at the end of the day. Unfortunately, we can’t avoid this but will be handwashing at the start and end of these sessions. These sessions must be booked in advance (including Breakfast Club) on Scopay. Breakfast and Afterschool club will be based in the current Year 2 classroom, which is next to the office. Children can be dropped off and collected via the main entrance. We do ask that parents do not use the staff car park. There will be no other, extra-curricular after school clubs within the first half term.

PE Days:

Children will need to bring their school PE kit to school on PE days and take it home afterwards for washing. Unless the weather is absolutely horrific, PE will be taught outside. A little rain won’t stop us! PE days are as follows:

Nursery and Reception	Tuesday and Thursday
Year 1 and 2	Wednesday and Thursday
Year 3 and 4	Monday and Wednesday
Year 5 and 6	Monday and Friday

Uniform:

From September, we will be returning to our normal uniform policy. Please remember that we are phasing out the light blue polo shirts over time. So if you are buying new uniform this summer, please buy a white polo shirt. Uniform can now be ordered online here: https://holmeps.imagescotland.com/

School Dinners:

In September we are reintroducing hot school meals, which will be delivered to the classrooms (rather than all the children gathering in the hall). School meals should be ordered on lunch shop before 9am on the day. A copy of the proposed 2-week menu is available on our website. Please note, that due to a significant increase in costs from our meal provider, Orian, we have had to increase our school meal price to £2.65 per day for children in key stage two. We will send a reminder to order your meals towards the end of the summer holidays.

Curriculum:

We can’t wait to work with all the children again. We will spend the first half term focussing on the objectives which were not taught this year for English, Mathematics and Science. During the lockdown, we have completely replanned our curriculum to ensure that we have lots of repetition of key concepts across the foundation subjects, and that each new topic and each lesson begins with a recap of the knowledge that they need to succeed in their new topic. In the first few weeks we will focus heavily on the transition back to school and in supporting children with that process.

If you have any questions, then please do not hesitate to contact me via the school office.

With best wishes,

Craig Dewar-Willox
Headteacher

Home Learning and Update 27.03.20

Fri 27 Mar 2020 C. Dewar-Willox

Friday 27^th March

Dear Parents,

We should be breaking up today for the Easter Holidays but have decided that we are going to continue with our home learning tasks and activities through this period - we think it's important to maintain a routine. We are, gradually, adapting to a new way of working and I wanted to remind you of a few things we've launched:

Every Monday, our home learning area of the website will be updated with new learning challenges. Over the Easter Holidays these will be more creative and project based.
We've started our weekly phone calls to children, thanks for your support with those. We are keen to talk to the children, so want to keep encouraging them to talk on the phone.
We provide a daily update on our Facebook Page at 8am every morning with things going on within the day.
At 6.30pm each night there is a bedtime story on our Facebook page. Next week, we'll be adding a story for older children at 7.30pm each night.
We have the weekly challenge, set on a Monday on our Facebook page, and then the challenge takes place online on Friday's at 2.30pm.
Teachers are setting work and children are submitting work on class dojo, which is proving a great way to stay in touch.

A lot has happened within the space of a week, and we'll continue to develop and refine our plans.

Interim Reports

In normal circumstances, we'd have sent out our interim reports by now. We'll be sending these out by email during the week commencing the 13th April.

Class Dojo

We've made a great start to using class dojo this week, but appreciate there have been some teething problems - thanks for your patience. It's clear that the children can do different things to their parents through their account, so it's worth checking that if you are struggling to upload work. If you have any issues please contact admin@holmeschool.cumbria.sch.uk

Parents Quiz Night

In the coming weeks, we will be organising an online parents' quiz night as a way of staying in touch with parents too. We know you are all doing an amazing job in really challenging circumstances, so wanted to provide you with an opportunity for a bit of fun, and a laugh, after the children have gone to bed.

Childcare Hubs

From today, following instruction from the Local Authority, our school will be closed indefinitely and will not be designated as a childcare hub. Our nearest hub for key workers will be Milnthorpe Primary School, which will be open from 8am until 6pm and will run through the Easter Holidays. Our staff will be involved in supporting this hub on a rota basis, but that will mean that there will not always be Holme staff at the hub each day - if you are using the hub, you should prepare your children for that. The Local Authority are clear, that if you are using the hub, it should be the very last resort. I will write again with final details about registering for the childcare hub as soon as I have them - please do not contact Milnthorpe directly as this is being managed centrally by the local authority.

Emergency Contact Number

For emergencies, we are available on 07503 543507 otherwise please email admin@holmeschool.cumbria.sch.uk

Stay safe, and see you soon,

Craig Dewar-Willox

Headteacher

Emergency Number: 07503 543507

Home Learning

Mon 23 Mar 2020 C Dewar-Willox

Monday, 23 March 2020

Dear Parents,

Here is the latest information about how we plan to support the children to continue their learning journey at home. We are at an early stage of doing this, so it’s likely our plans will evolve over time, but we think this is a good start.

Last week we sent home a suggested daily routine – we think it’s really important that you establish this routine at home to support the children through this unusual time. As such, we are going to continue setting activities through what would have been the Easter Holidays – albeit they will be slightly different.

To support you with the routine I wanted to highlight three things that we will be doing, effective immediately:

Daily PE workout with Joe Wicks (on his youtube channel). Start the day, the right way…
Brilliant Bedtime Stories – 6.30pm every day, on our school Facebook page. What a great time to develop a love of reading in all our children – we are going to be sharing lots of stories.
Mr D’s Weekly Challenge – At midday every Monday, I will be on Facebook live, on the school’s Facebook page, setting a weekly challenge. This will be tested on a Friday with an online activity either on Facebook or on Zoom (more details to follow).

Phone Calls:

From tomorrow, staff will start phoning you, to speak to children and see how they are getting on with their work and to offer advice and support. We know that some children are shy when talking on the phone, but we are going to try to develop this skill in the coming weeks. This week, the calls will be as and when, but staff will then agree a date and time for a future call with you.

Home Learning: www.holmeschool.cumbria.sch.uk/home-learning

Each week the teachers will be posting a weekly learning overview to our school website (link above). This will include links to videos, activities to complete online, practical tasks and important times when they will invite them to a ‘conference call’ on Zoom - where they can get together as a class and have a chat/do a quiz. The overview document will contain links that explain what to do and when to do it.

Class Dojo:

We are encouraging the children to upload their photos or work to Class Dojo, in their portfolio. Teachers will be regularly posting messages, reviewing work and giving the children encouragement. It’s a great communication tool between the children and their teachers.

Kahoot!

One of the apps that we are going to use during our ‘conference calls’ is Kahoot! A quiz app. If possible, we’d ask that you download this to a device so that the children can use them during our broadcasts. It’s a great interactive way for them to still do activities with others. During our conference calls/Facebook live sessions, we will give a ‘game-pin’ which will allow them to access our quiz.

Please don’t panic about any of this technology. It’s pretty simple and we are on-hand to support. If you struggle at any point with technology, remember that we are offering a laptop loan scheme which can be initiated by emailing the school office: admin@holmeschool.cumbria.sch.uk, we only have a limited number available though, so please only request this if absolutely necessary. You will need to arrange a convenient time to collect this from school.

Finally, I want to thank you for your continued support and understanding. I was appointed as substantive headteacher a month ago, and at that point, no-one would have envisaged that we’d get to a point where we needed to close schools down. It’s been a challenging few weeks for us all, but it has confirmed why I wanted to be headteacher at this very special school: we pull together, we encourage one another, and we put children first. In the most challenging of times our school motto, ‘Happy Children Succeed’ is a great guide for everything we do in this period. Children will not look back on this time and remember the specific activities that they did, they will remember how the adults in their life pulled together to make sure that they were happy, resilient and able to continue their learning journey.

Keep smiling, we’re in this together and we’re here to help in any way that we can.

With best wishes and stay safe,

Craig Dewar-Willox

Headteacher

Emergency Number: 07503 543507

Letter re: school closure

Fri 20 Mar 2020 C. Dewar-Willox

Friday, 20 March 2020

Dear Parents,

I am writing with the latest information in regard to how school will operate over the coming weeks. These are uncertain times, but I want to assure you that we will do everything we can to ease the load and to support your children to the very best of our ability.

When school finishes today, it will remain closed for the foreseeable future for the majority of children. We are putting provision in place for the children of key workers (more on this in a moment). Below, I have outlined the ways in which we aim to do this. I will be honest, I don’t have all the answers at the moment, but we will stay in touch.

Please read the information below carefully and contact us with any questions.

With Best Wishes,

Craig Dewar-Willox

Headteacher

Staying in Touch:

Maintaining good communication is key at a time like this. Please can I now update you with our communications procedures:

Non-urgent matters and enquiries, including technology support: admin@holmeschool.cumbria.sch.uk
Urgent/Emergency matters: 07503 543507

The school office phone will not be answered after 4pm today.

Home Learning:

Today, children have been sent home with a book containing some initial information. This includes some recommended websites, some exploration activities, 100 things to do indoors and a recommended daily schedule. For those not in school, that information is on the website and we’ll get the books to you ASAP.

We believe that a routine is vital for children during this time. It’s a great opportunity for family games and lots and lots of reading – we’ve recommended some websites with free e-books on. On the class pages section of the school website we’ve uploaded the recommended reading booklets for each year group.

On Monday, the staff will be finalising plans during our virtual staff meeting and we will be sending out weekly activities on a Monday afternoon. What you can expect from us during this time:

A range of activities provided each week, suitable to your child’s age and stage.
Some help videos and conference calls for children to sign in and do things together.
At least a 1-1 conversation each week about your child’s learning and progress.
Contact through class dojo, the school website and via telephone.

All learning activities will be posted on the school website, in the home learning section:

As originally stated, further details on home learning will be shared on Monday.

Laptop Loans:

Due to home-working and other factors, a number of families are struggling with not having enough/the right devices at home. We have today loaned out a number of our devices to those who identified that they needed it. If you fall into this category now, and want to borrow equipment, let us know and we will make arrangements.

Wellbeing Support:

We know some children are very anxious and that is likely to continue over the coming weeks. Part of our weekly conversations with children/parents will be to understand how a child is coping and how we can help. Mrs Burton is a trained school counsellor and already works with children – this will continue during this time (albeit remotely) and we are also aware that other children may need support too and we have plans to address any emerging needs.

Money worries and food concerns:

Sadly, a number of our parents have lost their jobs within the last week. I know people are worried about how they are going to cope. Well, firstly, you are not alone.

Should you need it, I am able to make confidential referrals to a foodbank. The process takes a matter of hours.

We will also be providing supermarket vouchers for those children who are identified as pupil premium – we are currently awaiting details from the government on this scheme. If your financial situation has changed, I’d encourage you to apply for pupil premium funding as this will strengthen our ability to support you in this time. Please email admin@holmeschool.cumbria.sch.uk for information.

Information for Key Workers

On Wednesday, I asked parents to email the school office if they believed they were in the category of being a key worker. Since then, we have received some further guidance. If your circumstances have changed please advise us:

Holme Community School will reopen on Monday to support key workers with essential child care, only for those children who absolutely need to attend. At this point, we are only opening for 1 week, subject to further advice from the local authority who are developing a ‘hub model’ where a smaller number of schools remain open and staff resources are shared across them.

Key Points:

School will open at 8.00am and close at 5pm. You can pick up/drop off at any point during that time.
Children will need to bring a packed lunch, drinks and snacks - we aren’t sure if we’ll be able to get hold of food yet.
Children should wear their school uniform as normal and bring a PE kit.
Our childcare provision will be delivered by staff in different roles throughout school.
Parents must email admin@holmeschool.cumbria.sch.uk by Sunday at 5pm to confirm which days their child will be in and confirming that you meet the criteria below, including details of your role and the company you work for.

Please note that self-isolation rules still apply – if any member of the household displays COVID-19 symptoms, all in the home must self-isolate.

The reason for school closure is to minimise social contact and the spread of the virus. Therefore, “every child who can be cared for safely at home, should be.” Our Key Worker Childcare is to enable specific parents, who have no other alternative provision without this support, to do their part in helping keep essential services going.

We expect parents to only use this facility when there is no alternative childcare. It is not so that parents can continue normal life, but so essential services can operate.

If parents try and access this service when they have some form of childcare, for example, a parent working from home, then the service will be unsustainable and collapse completely.

Please read the government guidance on the next page…

Please read the following statement from the Government before emailing the school office to confirm your requirements:

Please, follow these key principles:
1. If it is at all possible for children to be at home, then they should be.
2. If a child needs specialist support, is vulnerable or has a parent who is a critical worker, then educational provision will be available for them.
3. Parents should not rely for childcare upon those who are advised to be in the stringent social distancing category such as grandparents, friends, or family members with underlying conditions.
4. Parents should also do everything they can to ensure children are not mixing socially in a way which can continue to spread the virus. They should observe the same social distancing principles as adults.
5. Residential special schools, boarding schools and special settings continue to care for children wherever possible.

If your work is critical to the COVID-19 response, or you work in one of the critical sectors listed below, and you cannot keep your child safe at home then your children will be prioritised for education provision:

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 distributers of medicines and medical and personal protective equipment.

Education and childcare
This includes nursery and teaching staff, social workers and those specialist education professionals who must remain active during the 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, and 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 COVID-19 response or delivering essential public services such as the payment of benefits, 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 COVID-19 pandemic), 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
This includes those who will keep the air, water, road and rail passenger and freight transport modes operating during the COVID-19 response, including those working on transport systems 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 COVID-19 response, as well as 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 and waste disposal sectors.

If workers think they fall within the critical categories above they should confirm with their employer that, based on their business continuity arrangements, their specific role is necessary for the continuation of this essential public service.

COVID-19 - Coronavirus

Mon 16 Mar 2020 C.Dewar-Willox

Dear Parents,

I wanted to write to you with an update on the actions that the school is taking in regards to the outbreak of coronavirus.

The situation is changing daily and I know that many of you are concerned about the outbreak and the impact on school. We are constantly taking advice from the Department for Education, Public Health England and a private health and safety consultancy firm.

The government have today announced that we will move from the 'containment' to 'delay' phase of response.

Effective immediately, anybody with a high temperature (37.8 degrees and above), or with a continuous cough must stay at home for seven days.

Please ensure that you report all absences in the normal way to the school office.

At present, schools will remain open across the UK. We are, however, preparing for the possibility of a prolonged school closure in the coming weeks and we are looking at ways to support the education of our children if this occurs.

At Holme Community School, a number of staff members have underlying health conditions and as a result, to minimise the risk, I have taken the decision to cancel the parents' evenings next week. This is not a decision that I have taken lightly, but I hope you understand that at this point bringing lots of extra people in to school does not seem appropriate.

We will be sending out interim reports at the end of this term as normal. Should you wish to speak to your child's class teacher, please arrange a telephone appointment via the school office.

The Department for Education has launched a new helpline for staff, parents and young people and you can contact the helpline as follows:

Phone: 0800 046 8687
Email: DfE.coronavirushelpline@education.gov.uk
Opening hours: 8am to 6pm (Monday to Friday)

I will continue to keep you informed of any developments which impact on our school.

Thank you for your support in this matter.

Craig Dewar-Willox

Headteacher

A New Headteacher for Holme

Thu 13 Feb 2020

Dear Parents and Guardians,

Head Teacher Position

I’m writing on behalf of the school Governing Body to provide you with an update on the appointment of a permanent Headteacher for Holme Community School.

We are delighted to be able to confirm that, following a rigorous selection and assessment process, Craig Dewar-Willox has been offered and has accepted the post of permanent Head Teacher. The six members of the recruitment panel were unanimous in their decision.

I’m sure you will join us in congratulating Mr Dewar-Willox and are as confident as we are that our school, its staff and most importantly its children will continue to flourish under his headship.

I’d like to thank the governors, the school staff and the children for their patience and assistance throughout the process.

Best regards,

Catherine Starrs

Chair of Governors

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