19th March 2020

 
Dear Parents, 
 
Government Announcement – School Closures 
 
As you will be aware, it has been announced that all schools in the UK are to be closed from tomorrow Friday 20th March in order to suppress the spread of Coronavirus (Covid-19).  This includes St Matthew’s CE Primary School. 
 
We will adhere to this government directive and will sadly be closing our school to most of our children from 5pm tomorrow, Friday 20th March 2020.  
We are working with our Local Authority and the SDBE Multi-Academy Trust, to plan ways in which we can remain open for those children of parents who are ‘key workers’, and those children who have particular educational needs, in line with government advice. 
We appreciate the impact this will have on our families and indeed school staff and that you will undoubtedly have many questions.  There are many issues which need to be clarified, including those occupations that fall into the category ‘key workers’ and we are awaiting further advice from the relevant government departments as this unprecedented situation continues to unfold. We are also looking at how we can provide meals for those children in need of a free school meal. 
We hope to issue a more complete update later today to give you the clarity you deserve and expect. 
 
In the meantime, we have been working behind the scenes to ensure our website includes plenty of activities to support your child with their learning at home.  We will be preparing additional content on our website following yesterday’s announcement and we will be doing as much as we can to support our families remotely.   We thank you for your patience, understanding and support at this difficult time. 
 
Yours sincerely, 
 
Mrs J Lightfoot 
Headteacher