The Education Minister provided guidance yesterday afternoon following the announcement that schools will close for the next two weeks. The planned holiday for the week beginning 26th October will be extended to include the 19th – 23rd October. As you know we had already planned a Staff Development Day for Friday 23rd October, so effectively the holiday has been extended by four days due to this new directive.
The Minister has stated that next week will be “an extension of the half-term break, it is not intended to be used for remote learning”. This is a change from the previous period of school closure and therefore work will not be provided on a daily basis. I recognise that many parents will encourage their children to use some of this time to continue with their learning and this can be done using materials already provided by staff. The Minister has indicated that schools will reopen on Monday 2nd November and we will be planning on that basis. The Staff Development Day planned for Monday 2nd November will now not take place on that date, to allow children to return to the classroom. Tracking tests, scheduled for next week, will be completed after the holidays.
This is a situation that is beyond our control and we very much hope that school closure will not last beyond the two weeks specified. Children should attend school as normal on Friday, after which the school will remain closed until Monday 2nd November.
