UPDATE 5 Coronavirus: Temporary Centre Closures

31 Mar

Dear Parent/Carer,

Due to the impact of COVID-19 (coronavirus), Castles Education is implementing measures to ensure we remain open for the parents and families who genuinely need it for as long as we can. However, the government has asked that if children can stay safely at home, they should, to limit the chance of the virus spreading. The fewer children making the journey to school, and the fewer children in educational settings, the lower the risk that the virus can spread and infect vulnerable individuals of society.

These are unprecedented times and I would ask you to be mindful that our staff are also subject to the same issues that you are facing with regards to COVID-19, our top priority is everyone’s safety.

Many of our staff are continuing to come to work but have vulnerable family members and we still need to provide places in school for students who are in high risk groups. Therefore, in accordance with the government guidance issued today, if you do not need to send your child to school, please don’t. That will allow us to continue the provision as safely as possible for those who are needed in key worker employment.

To guarantee consistency in our approach, the safety of our staff and to ensure we are able to respond to our service offering with the maximum effectiveness, we have also decided to temporarily close our Scunthorpe Centre and to operate a single combined facility from our Lincoln Ravendale site.

With immediate effect our Scunthorpe Centre is now closed and alternative contact details will be issued to parents, carers and other key stakeholders.

For students who must continue to attend, it is unlikely that we will be following our normal curriculum. We will continue to provide lunches but may not be able to follow our normal menu because of the restrictions that supermarkets have placed on certain items or where there are shortages. We are operating under the same restriction of supplies as the general public.

For students who can be kept safely at home, a link with instructions and login details have been sent by e mail to access the SENECA learning platform. Once you have accessed this website please insert the code you have been sent to access the home learning information. New resources and work will be added by staff over the coming weeks. If you have not received a code, please contact your Head of Centre from the contact list below and they will provide you with the code needed for your child. We can also send out paper-based work if you require or prefer it, please do not hesitate to get in contact to request this.

Our Attendance Lead will be in regular contact with you to carry out Welfare Checks. We may, if it is safe and reasonable to do so, continue to conduct home visits where we feel it is necessary or if you need our help.

Regular updates will be available on our website here. If you are unable to access our website please let us know and we will try to find a suitable alternative way of communicating this information to you.

As a result of these hopefully temporary measures, we have been able to continue our full provision and have kept the school community safe and well. With your help in continuing to follow the government advice and only using our service as necessary, we will keep everyone as safe as possible and see all of you back in school soon.

Please do not hesitate to contact us if you are feeling isolated, need some support or there is anything else we can do safely to help you.