Click here for Mrs Cooke's letter, clarifying the latest Government advice and announcing the school's position from Wednesday 18th March 2020.
It includes the following extract:
"Presently, the government has decided to keep schools and colleges open. We fully understand the importance of this to allow key workers, particularly those in the National Health Service, to continue working. However, this decision could be reversed at any time because there is an obvious contradiction in the advice to avoid mass gatherings and concentrating children and young people in school environments.
However, there may be other circumstances where HUET schools cannot remain open. Staff attendance cannot be guaranteed. A significant number of staff are following the new advice to self-isolate due to pregnancy, underlying health conditions, being in contact with suspected COVID-19 cases or being unwell. We are also aware of an increasing number of pupils who have become unwell.
We are aware that many of you have decided, or may be considering deciding, to keep your child at home for reasons of health and safety. This is, of course particularly important if your child or a member of your household has an underlying health condition.
Children who are unwell must not be sent to school. The advice now is that where a member of a household is unwell with a fever and / or a new continuous cough the whole household must self isolate for 14 days.
Following an in-depth analysis of the staffing situation at Hanley Castle, we believe that we are able to safely continue to supervise a proportion of our students. We would like to prioritise children of those who work in front line services, particularly the NHS and the Emergency Services. Please bear this in mind when deciding whether to send your child into school. Having a manageable number of children in school may allow us to stay open longer."