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Coronavirus

17 March 2020

Dear Parent \ Guardian

Following the announcement yesterday regarding the social distancing of those who are at increased risk of

severe illness from Coronavirus (COVID-19), I would like to set out what this means for Ysgol Brynhyfryd.

In light of these guidelines we have identified 23 staff that fall into the vulnerable category with a further 5

staff that have partners \ spouses that are also highly vulnerable.

In the interests of the health and wellbeing of our staff, pupils and our wider community I believe we now

have no alternative but to close the school to all pupils with effect from tomorrow morning.

It is clear that our ability to provide adequate levels of supervision and education will be gravely

compromised with such reduced levels of staffing, and I believe it would be wholly inappropriate to place

these vulnerable staff at risk, or to increase class sizes to compensate for absent staff and in turn increase

the chances of wider infection.

In preparation for such an eventuality, our staff have received training in developing on-line work and

resources that will allow pupils to continue with their studies from home. Details on how to access these

resources will be provided in a further e-mail.

Although the school site will be closed, our teaching staff will continue to work and will be setting and

marking pupil work and providing on-line feedback. I appreciate that this is not the same as face-to face

contact, but please be reassured that we will do all that we can to support our pupils through this difficult

time.

For your information, I am aware that discussions are currently taking place at a national level with

awarding bodies, to agree clear procedures for dealing with missed coursework or examinations as a result

of school closures. I anticipate that appropriate arrangements will be made to ensure that young people

are not disadvantaged. Once further clarification is received I will of course keep you informed.

In the meantime, I do appreciate that the decision to close will have profound effects for many of our

families, and I thank you in advance for your understanding and co-operation with this matter.

Yours sincerely

Geraint Wyn Parry

Head teacher