Government Notices
Click here for guidance for full opening: special schools and other specialist settings
New guidance published on keeping children safe from abuse and harm
We have jointly published new guidance with the Home Office, the Department for Culture, Media and Sport, and Public Health England on keeping children safe from abuse and harm. This guidance brings together sources of information about the main risks children may be vulnerable to during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic and signposts you to help and support available.
The guidance can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-keeping-children-safe-from-abuse-and-harm
Updated guidance on the support available for post-16 training providers during the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak
Applications can now be made to the ESFA post-16 provider relief scheme (July to October 2020), which is available to support providers during the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak. This scheme is now open. Eligible post-16 training providers, including providers co-funded by the European Social Fund (ESF) should read our policy and guidance before making an application for supplier relief.
The closing date for applications is midnight Thursday 9 July 2020. The ESFA will respond to your application by Thursday 6 August 2020.
The ESFA post-16 provider relief scheme (July to October 2020) guidance and link to apply can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/esfa-post-16-provider-relief-scheme
The ESFA ESF provider relief scheme 2 (July to October 2020) guidance and link to apply can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/esfa-esf-provider-relief-scheme
Collection of guidance for educational settings on GOV.UK
The Department for Education’s coronavirus (COVID-19) guidance has been grouped by subject and audience on GOV.UK to help you find the information relevant to you. In response to your feedback, future updates to guidance will also include a summary of the changes that have been made.
Guidance on what early years providers need to do during the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/early-years-and-childcare-coronavirus-covid-19
Guidance on what school leaders, teachers and school staff need to do during the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/guidance-for-schools-coronavirus-covid-19
Guidance on what colleges, universities and other providers need to do during the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/further-and-higher-education-coronavirus-covid-19
Guidance on what local authority children’s services need to do during the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/local-authority-childrens-services-coronavirus-covid-19
You can sign up to alerts on GOV.UK to be notified by email when new pages are published or existing pages change. You can set the frequency at which you receive these emails and unsubscribe at any time.
Department for Education coronavirus helpline
The Department for Education coronavirus helpline is available to answer questions about COVID-19 relating to education and children’s social care. Staff, parents and young people can contact this helpline as follows:
Phone: 0800 046 8687
Opening hours:
8am to 6pm – Monday to Friday
10am to 4pm – Saturday and Sunday
If you work in a school, please have your unique reference number (URN or UK PRN) available when calling the helpline.
Handwashing advice
It is essential that everyone washes their hands more often, using soap and water for at least 20 seconds. Hand washing with soap employs mechanical action that loosens bacteria and viruses from the skin, rinsing them into the drain. Drying hands afterwards makes the skin less hospitable to the virus. Hand sanitiser can be effective if soap is not available or the situation makes using soap less feasible (i.e. when outside) but using hand sanitiser provides none of the virus-destroying friction that rubbing your hands together and rinsing with water provides.
The latest guidance and video on hand washing can be found at:
https://www.nhs.uk/live-well/healthy-body/best-way-to-wash-your-hands/
The e-Bug project is led by Public Health England and has a dedicated webpage for learning resources on hand washing and respiratory hygiene. E-Bug has published posters on hand hygiene, and covering coughs and sneezes, to display in bathrooms, classrooms and shared spaces.
The hand and respiratory hygiene posters and other educational resources can be found here:
We Have Become an Academy
We are delighted that as of 1st April, The Forest School joined the Wellspring Community. We are now an Academy and the school is no longer maintained by the Local Authority.
Supporting Young People Through Disruption
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZnANLAcpRZ4&feature=youtu.be
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ME5IZn4-BAk&feature=youtu.be
Notices
Please see the government advice for coronavirus and self-isolation.
This guidance is intended for:
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- people with symptoms that may be caused by coronavirus, and do not require hospital treatment, who must remain at home until they are well
- those living in households with someone who shows symptoms that may be caused by coronavirus
The main messages are:
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- if you live with others and you or one of them have symptoms of coronavirus, then all household members must stay at home and not leave the house for 14 days. The 14-day period starts from the day when the first person in the house became ill
- it is likely that people living within a household will infect each other or be infected already. Staying at home for 14 days will greatly reduce the overall amount of infection the household could pass on to others in the community
We would like to reiterate the message that children should stay at home with a new, continuous cough or a high temperature to avoid spreading infection to others.
At the present time, we are receiving daily messages from the Department for Education as to the policies and procedures for dealing with the Coronavirus and we continue to follow their advice. The main message at the moment is the importance of hygiene and handwashing and the catch it, bin it, kill it strategy for those with coughs and sneezes. We understand that you will have heard these messages many times but would like to pass on the instructions for handwashing from the DFE.
How to wash your hands properly:
Wash your hands more often for 20 seconds with soap and hot water.
This short NHS film gives guidance:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bQCP7waTRWU&feature=youtube
You may like to teach young children how to wash their hands using the NHS handwashing song:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S9VjeIWLnEg
Public Health England recommends that in addition to handwashing before eating, and after coughing and sneezing, everyone should also wash hands after using toilets and travelling on public transport.
Letters
Please use the links below to download a school newsletter of your choice. You will need PDF Reader to view these documents, if you do not have it please download from here.
NW SEND Regional Network Newsletter - Special Edition - March 2020
Fundraising - A Letter for Parents
Mental Health Problems In People with Learning Disabilities
Galleries
Royal Visit Gallery
