Yesterday, the Minister for Education announced the decision to bring forward the Easter break for learners.
However, school buildings should remain open, and will be expected to provide an important role going forward. We expect that Head Teachers will be in school next week and school staff should expect to continue to work, having regard to the latest advice on social distancing and self-isolation.
We expect Local Authorities to use their powers to direct activity in schools and make best use of the resources available.
In these challenging times, schools will become an essential part of the effort to respond to the huge challenge of COVID-19. Schools and school staff will be central to keeping the NHS running as well as other services which are vital to how we live.
We will shortly be publishing a set of frequently asked questions on the Education:Coronavirus webpage with key guidance, which will be regularly updated.
Our priorities for ongoing provision in schools, which we would like Local Authorities and Head Teacher to focus on, are:
• For learners eligible for free school meals, putting in place short term measures to ensure their needs can be met in a flexible way
• Securing appropriate provision for vulnerable learners
• Identifying children of people involved in the immediate response to the coronavirus outbreakand making provision available
In all of these areas, we intend to work with local authorities to put in place longer term and resilient arrangements.
We will continue to provide updates to you.
Sources of general guidance
Welsh Government coronavirus website:
https://gov.wales/coronavirus-covid19
Welsh Government guidance for educational settings:
https://gov.wales/education-coronavirus
COVID-19: travel guidance for the education sector:
Guidance on social distancing: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/covid-19-guidance-on-social-distancing-and-for-vulnerable-people/guidance-on-social-distancing-for-everyone-in-the-uk-and-protecting-older-people-and-vulnerable-adults
Public Health England and Public Health Wales websites
https://phw.nhs.wales/topics/latest-information-on-novel-coronavirus-covid-19/
https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/public-health-england
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