Hertford Junior School

Wednesday 1st April 2020 3pm

Dear Parents and Carers,

Firstly, and most importantly, we hope you are all managing to stay safe and well and that if anyone is unwell that you are coping and getting the support you need. Hopefully you will have been able to get your children into a routine that suits your individual family needs and they are getting some learning done when you can. We just wanted to update you on what's happening behind the scenes at Hertford Schools and keep you in the loop about our plans moving forward.

School nurses would like to advise you that during the current Covid-19 outbreak, we are still here for you and your family, to offer information and support about your child’s health. You can contact us via our duty line, which is open from 9am to 4.30pm, Monday to Friday on: 01273 696011 ext. 1692. There is also an answerphone facility so that you can leave a message if it is outside of these times and we will contact you during working hours. We also operate a texting service called ChatHealth for young people, which we are extending to parents and carers to use during this period if you have any questions or want advice. The number to text is: 07480635423. This service is available from 9am to 4.30pm Monday to Friday (excluding bank holidays). Any messages received at the weekend will be responded to the next working day.

Our teachers and support staff are currently working on a number of things from home as well as juggling their own individual family needs. One of the things they are looking at is what goes into the next home learning blocks and how we get this to you. They will be preparing new home learning grids for each year group in line with the topics that would have been started in Summer Term. In addition to this they will also be looking at year group specific Maths and English for you to continue with. We'll also add in some more ideas for music, PE and just general learning that you can do in your everyday activities. We will be uploading the new learning activities onto our website so that they are ready for you at the start of the Summer Term, week beginning 20th April so keep an eye out for this. 

You may have heard that the Government have announced that families who are eligible for benefits based free school meals will be able to obtain supermarket vouchers during the term-time weeks that the schools are closed. Unfortunately, this does not include universal free school meals that all Key Stage 1 and Early Years families normally receive, just those who qualify due to their benefits/income level. An email and text were sent out yesterday to those families who are eligible. If you received one, please respond as soon as possible so we can process your application. If you didn't receive an email/ text and think you could be eligible please let us know your children's names, your name, your email address and your date of birth and National Insurance number ASAP and we can check eligibility. Please note that due to high volumes of applications there is currently a delay in confirming eligibility.

Please remember that the next 2 weeks from Monday 6th April are officially the Easter Holidays, the school will be closed at this time.  While you may want to keep some routine in place we're sure you'll all need to take a break if at all possible as well. If you do have any urgent concerns then please do get in touch with us via admin@hertfordinf.brighton-hove.sch.uk   or  admin@hertfordjun.brighton-hove.sch.uk. The school will re-open to keyworker children and those in vulnerable groups after the holidays on Monday 20^th April. The school office will then be able to take phone calls from this time so please make contact with us if needed on 01273 552931.

Stay home and stay safe!

The Hertford Team