Dear Parent,

Happy New Year to you all and I firstly would like to take this opportunity to thank you for your ongoing patience and co-operation regarding the situation in our schools.

You will be aware of ongoing discussions at a national level between the government, local authorities and teaching unions about re-opening our schools in the safest way possible in order to protect pupils and staff.

We all agree that the health and wellbeing of the whole school community is paramount and discussions have been taking place this morning between CCBC and Head Teachers across the county borough to agree the best way forward.

We know that the increasing number of new cases, particularly the new variant of coronavirus, is causing significant concern. You may also be aware that new advice on shielding was issued before Christmas which is impacting staffing levels in our schools.

Welsh Government has today confirmed that all schools across Wales will adopt a ‘blended learning’ approach for the next two weeks, until Monday 18^th January. This means that most pupils will not physically attend school, but will be provided with learning.

However, schools will open for vulnerable learners and the children of eligible key/essential workers from Wednesday this week (6th January). Please apply via the following link:

https://www.caerphilly.gov.uk/Services/Coronavirus/Emergency-school-provision-for-keyworkers

We are committed to re-introducing face to face teaching in a phased approach for all pupils after the 18^th January, as soon as national and local risk assessments allow and we await further guidance in this respect.

I will continue to keep you updated about any new developments around this issue.

Regards

Keri Cole

Chief Education Officer