PLEASE NOTE THAT PARENTMAIL IS CURRENTLY EXPERIENCING TECHNICAL ISSUES AND WILL BE UPDATED AS SOON AS POSSIBLE.

Dear Parents and Carers,

I appreciate the overwhelming support from you following the decision to close Fordwater on Tuesday. I understand that some of you will feel vulnerable and this is a highly anxious time to navigate for us all.

It is my firm belief that closing the school is in the best interests of the whole school community.

In our specialist setting we are not able to consistently maintain the public health guidance on site regarding social distancing and the protection of vulnerable groups.
It seems contrary to retract our position due to the government announcement yesterday. If I was to open our site to pupils I cannot guarantee the safety of pupils and staff. This is against our fundamental safeguarding policy that runs through everything we do.

We continue to have a duty of care to our pupils and their families and must ensure that we are doing all we can to support you through this very challenging time.
We have provided a range of learning resources and activities on our website and plan to support this going forward with lots more remote options including regular welfare calls and supportive conversation. Each family is different and we understand has different needs.

We must carefully weigh up risks for all involved when considering if there is any other support we can provide and will look at this regularly.
I know many of you have already communicated your wish to ensure your children are exposed to as least risk as possible.

There may be some of you who wish to discuss your child’s support needs over the coming weeks and I welcome communication by email by the end of Friday where possible to highlight these issues from individual families.

The senior team will discuss this on Monday and look to continue to risk assess the current situation.

I know that this is a highly challenging time for all. Please recognise that I firmly want the best for everyone as we are trying to get through this horrible event the best we all can and in the interests of everyone associated with our fabulous school.

Kind regards

Sophie Clarke