Dear parent/ carer, I hope everyone is staying well as we try to adjust to these challenging times. I wanted to check in again with you and let you know that the academy is still open every day (Monday to Friday) and will be staying open for what would have been the Easter holidays. The only dates our academy will be closed is on the Bank Holidays, Friday 10 April and Monday 13 April. If you or your child need any advice or support, please do not hesitate to call the academy office on 01708 478892/07990040397. The office staff can make sure you can reach any teacher or member of our team. Students who are unable to come into the academy at the moment will continue to receive a phone call every day from a member of our staff during the Easter break. For those of our students who are eligible for free school meals, we will be continuing to offer free lunch food parcels, which can be collected at the start of each week. Food parcels will be ready to collect on a Monday apart from when there is Bank Holiday and then collection will be on the Tuesday. Please ask any member of our academy staff for more details about this offer. I know that our Year 11s and their families are keen to hear what the government is planning for those students who will not now be taking exams this summer. The government has promised to update parents, students and schools before Easter and as soon as we have this information, I will share it with those students affected. Please be assured that our support for Year 11s will not stop – and we are already in regular discussions to ensure that smooth transitions into their apprenticeships and college courses continues for all our Year 11s. The government has asked us to highlight new guidance for families about staying safe online. These are some useful links to organisations that can support you and your children whilst online at home: Internet matters– for support for parents and carers to keep their children safe online (internetmatters.org) London Grid for Learning– for support for parents and carers to keep their children safe online (lgfl.net/online-safety/) Net-aware– for support for parents and careers from the NSPCC (net-aware.org.uk) Parent info– for support for parents and carers to keep their children safe online (parentinfo.org) Thinkuknow– for advice from the National Crime Agency to stay safe online (www.thinkuknow.co.uk) UK Safer Internet Centre– advice for parents and carers (www.saferinternet.org.uk/advice-centre/parents-and-carers) The full government guidance for all families can be found here: www.gov.uk/government/publications/closure-of-educational-settings-information-for-parents-and-carers/closure-of-educational-settings-information-for-parents-and-carers Remember that you can now also receive free GOV.UK Coronavirus Information Service updates via WhatsApp – simply add 07860 064422 in your phone contacts and then message the word ‘hi’ in a WhatsApp message to get started. As everyone becomes tired and sometimes frustrated with the current ‘stay at home’ government advice, please don’t let you children be tempted to go out with their friends. If we are to lessen the impact of Coronavirus on all of us, it is so important that we all keep to current government guidelines. Remind your children they can talk to academy staff about any worries they have and get advice about how to stay active and well even when we are staying at home. Havering Council (www.havering.gov.uk/covid19) has set up a free helpline for anyone who needs support during the pandemic. If you, or someone you know, have concerns around care, urgent issues around health and wellbeing or lack of access to supplies including food and medicine please call the free helpline: 0800 368 5201 (Open Monday to Friday 8.30am to 6pm. Saturday and Sunday 11am to 4pm.) or email: covid19support@havering.gov.uk The council is also offering advice for anyone worried about their finances, employment, council tax or benefits. Links and details of where to get support can be found here: www.havering.gov.uk/covid19moneyadvice I will stay in touch with you and write to you again soon. We are continuing to regularly update our academy website (www.aphavering.oliveacademies.org.uk) with news and information for you. Please do not hesitate to contact any of us at the academy if you need any help or advice. We are always here for you and your family. Yours sincerely, Ray Lawrence, Headteacher T: 01708 478892 E: info.havering@oliveacademies.org.uk
Dear parent/ carer, Our academy is still open every day (Monday to Friday) if you are in need of any advice or support. You can call the academy office on 01708 478892/ 07990 040397 if you need help or want to reach a member of our staff. All of our students who are unable to come into the academy at the moment will continue to receive a phone call every day from a member of our staff. During this call your child can share any concerns, ask for advice and let us know if they are having any problems with using the online learning. These phone calls will continue, Monday to Friday, for the foreseeable future (including during the Easter break). For those of our students who are eligible for free school meals, we will be continuing to offer food parcels at the start of each week. Those students who are eligible for free school meals and would like a food parcel should let a member of our admin team know before Friday 10am, so that the food parcel can be put together for you for the following Monday. We would prefer that these parcels were collected from the academy but we may also be able to deliver if staff are available to do this Please be assured that for those of our students (identified by the government as being part of a priority group) and those staff who are still coming into our academy building, we are all practicing physical distancing and maintaining careful hygiene procedures to keep everyone safe and healthy. The number of social interactions in our academy has been hugely reduced, with few students attending and classroom physical distancing being practised. The scientific advice shows that education settings are safe for this small number of children to continue attending – but asking others to stay away will help to slow the spread of coronavirus. You can see the latest government advice for families at www.gov.uk/coronavirus. You can also receive free GOV.UK Coronavirus Information Service updates via WhatsApp – simply add 07860 064422 in your phone contacts and then message the word ‘hi’ in a WhatsApp message to get started. I also wanted to let you know about a website called On My Mind (www.annafreud.org/on-my-mind) which has lots of advice and simple strategies to help young people when they are feeling low or anxious. There is also an urgent help page on the website with a list of organisations that offer 24hour support via text, phone and email. Please encourage your children to stay in touch with friends using social media, make a new daily routine at home, make time for exercise (it really helps wellbeing) and don’t let them be tempted to go out and meet their friends at the moment. Remind them they can talk to academy staff about any worries they have. Remember – if you need to contact a member of the academy staff urgently during academy hours, you can call the normal academy office number on 01708 478892. We are actively monitoring emails; you can always email any member of the academy team at info.havering@oliveacademies.org.uk I will stay in touch with you and write to you again next week. We are continuing to regularly update our academy website with news and information for you. Please do not hesitate to contact any of us at the academy if you need any help or advice. We are always here for you and your family. Yours sincerely, Ray Lawrence, Headteacher
All parents and carers will receive a letter this afternoon (Friday 20 March) and be contacted by academy staff about the plans we have in place for each student from Monday. Our academy will be open from Monday 23 March 2020 only to those students who have been identified by the government as part of designated priority groups (including the children of key workers). We have had to adapt our normal academy offer to reflect changes in available staff levels. The academy will only be open to small numbers of our students. Those students who are part of designated priority groups will have received a new timetable which will come into place from Monday. We want to reassure you that our support for you and your child will not stop even if your child is unable to attend the academy. Every student who is continuing their studies and learning from home will receive a daily (Monday to Friday) phone call from a member of academy staff. During this call your child can share any concerns, discuss their home learning, ask for advice and let us know if they are having any problems with using the online learning system (Century). If you need to contact a member of the academy staff urgently during academy hours, please call the normal academy office number on 01708 478892. We will also be actively monitoring emails; you can always email any member of the academy team at info.havering@oliveacademies.org.uk For those of our students who are eligible for free school meals, we will be continuing to offer free take-away lunches, Monday to Friday, during term time. Those students who are eligible for free school meals and would like to collect a lunch should come to the academy between 12.00 noon and 1.00pm. We thought it would be helpful to share a few links to support and advice for you and your family which may be useful in the weeks ahead: Local Foodbank: www.rainham.foodbank.org.uk T: 01708 397484 Local Authority website: www.havering.gov.uk/info/20073/public_health Citizens Advice: www.citizensadvice.org.uk NSPCC Childline: www.childline.org.uk T: 0800 111 The Department for Education also operate a helpline for any parents, children or staff members who would like further advice. T: 0800 046 8687 (available Mon to Fri 8am to 6pm and on Saturdays and Sundays 10am to 4pm). More information for parents is also here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/closure-of-educational-settings-information-for-parents-and-carers We will be staying in regular contact with you throughout these challenging times. We will also continue to regularly update this website with news and information for you. We will make sure to pass on any further advice we receive from Havering Council, Department for Education or Public Health England.
20 March 2020 Dear Parents and Carers, In the early hours of this morning The Department for Education released their latest guidance for schools and parents/ carers. If you have not already done so, we need you to contact our academy office (T: 01708 478892) as soon as possible if you are a critical key worker and you feel that you cannot keep your child safe at home whilst you are at work. The new government list of critical sectors / key workers is as follows: 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. You can read the government’s new guidance for parents and carers here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/closure-of-educational-settings-information-for-parents-and-carers/closure-of-educational-settings-information-for-parents-and-carers Thank you for your ongoing support. I will be in touch with you again later today with detailed plans for each student. Best wishes, Ray Lawrence Headteacher, Olive AP Academy – Havering
19 March 2020 Dear Parents and Carers, As I am sure you are already aware, a statement was made yesterday afternoon by the Prime Minister regarding school closures starting from this weekend across England. This decision has been taken by the government to try and control the spread of the Coronavirus. The Prime Minister also announced that from Monday, where possible, schools will stay open in a limited capacity to offer support to those children considered to be more vulnerable and to the children of key workers. We understand that this is difficult news for us all. I want to reassure you that our support for you and your children will not stop on Friday. We are committed to providing support to all our students, whether the academy is forced to close or not. For those of our students who will be required to stay at home, we will provide a package of learning and wellbeing support from the start of next week. We will be able to share details of this with parents/ carers and students later tomorrow. For those students who are identified by the Department for Education as vulnerable, those who have an EHCP and those whose parents/ carers are key workers, we will ensure that the academy remains open during term time and the Easter holiday. We are waiting to receive more instructions from the Department for Education before we can confirm details of the hours the academy will be open for these students, starting from Monday 23 March. Parents/carers and students will receive a clear and detailed plan/ timetable from me later tomorrow. Many of you have already been in touch with us to explain if you are key workers and have let us know if you will need ongoing support. If you have not already done so, please could you call the academy office (T: 01708 478892) today to let us know if you are a key worker. The government has not confirmed who qualifies as a key worker as yet but we believe this to be anyone who works for the NHS (doctors, nurses, admin, drivers, porters, cleaners etc.), social workers, teachers and nursery workers, police officers, ambulance service workers, those who work in food distribution and food delivery drivers. I can confirm that our academy will be open as normal tomorrow (Friday) to all students who are well and able to attend. We are working hard to finalise plans for next week and I will be in touch again very soon with more definite details for all our parents, carers and students. As always, we will continue to do all we can to support our students and staff at this very difficult time and I want to thank you for your support. Best wishes, Ray Lawrence Headteacher, Olive AP Academy – Havering
Dear Parent/ Carer, We understand how worrying the current Coronavirus situation is for our students, families and our staff. We want to update you regularly, so that you feel reassured that we are passing on all updates and any advice we receive from the Department for Education and Public Health England. The current advice is that the most important thing individuals can do to protect themselves remains washing their hands more often, for at least 20 seconds, with soap and water. Make sure you cough or sneeze into a tissue, put it in a bin and wash your hands. Public Health England (PHE) are asking anyone who shows certain symptoms to self-isolate for 7 days, regardless of whether they have travelled to affected areas. This means that PHE want people to stay at home and avoid all but essential contact with others for 7 days from the point of displaying mild symptoms, to slow the spread of infection. The symptoms are: a high temperature (37.8 degrees and above) a new, continuous cough. You do not need to call NHS 111 to go into self-isolation. If your symptoms worsen during home isolation or are no better after 7 days contact NHS 111 online at 111.nhs.uk. If you have no internet access, you should call NHS 111. For a medical emergency dial 999. The Department for Education operate a helpline for any parents, children or staff members who would like further advice. T: 0800 046 8687 (available Mon to Fri 8am to 6pm). The situation and government advice may change over the coming days and weeks. We would like to reassure you that we have good plans in place to ensure that all our students will have regular support from our staff, even if the academy is forced to close. We know this is a particularly difficult time for our young people and our staff team are doing their best to keep a calm atmosphere in the academy, keep our normal routines going as much as possible and not speculate about the changing situation. We will continue to carefully follow government guidance and will of course act immediately as advice or instructions change. We will keep updating you as we get more information. Best wishes Ray Lawrence, Headteacher 16 March 2020
12 March 2020 Dear Parent/ Carer, I am writing to update you regarding the current situation with Covid – 19 / Coronavirus. We are receiving regular updates from the Department for Education and Public Health England and will continue to pass on all their advice to you. Our academy remains open and we intend to continue with all of our activities for as long as the advice tells us to do so. We currently have no confirmed cases of Covid-19/ Coronavirus within the academy community. We have no specific information about any intention for school/ academy closures but are working on plans to ensure we can provide the best education possible for all our students any time the academy may close. To enable us to plan effectively and provide good support to you, it would be helpful for us to know which of our students and their families have limited IT access from home. Please could you call the academy office on 01708 478892 if: You have Wifi/ Broadband access at home but no access to a tablet or computer. You have no or limited Wifi/ Broadband access at home. Please be assured we will continue to be transparent with you over any information we receive that may affect our community. For now the best advice is that we all keep talking to our young people about washing hands and good hygiene. The first thing they should do when they get home is to wash their hands thoroughly. All our staff are ready to provide any support or advice you may need. Yours sincerely Ray Lawrence Headteacher, Olive AP Academy – Havering
