Tomorrow’s message is for those parents whose child(ren) are still at home. Today’s message is especially to the parents and carers who have a child back at school – it’s a simple one:
Please respect social distancing.
For most people, this means just three things:
- only meet outside
- only meet up in a group of six people maximum
- stay two metres apart
Yes, we know the rules will soon ease up a bit, but that’s not until Saturday 04 July.
Right now, it’s still those three things we all need to follow.
We’re not judging a family or their choices about whether they follow guidelines or not, but the choices made at home have an impact on us in school. My job is to try and keep everyone safe. Asking a family to keep their child at home for 14 days is heartbreaking – it’s not a decision taken lightly at all. The reality is that it’s very upsetting.
If you and your family don’t follow social distancing, we’ll have to send your child home to quarantine for two weeks. This is a great shame for your child, and frustrating for other parents who want their child to be in school.
School is a social place and children chat away – it’s natural for children to want to catch-up and share what they’ve been up to. Imagine how they feel when they’ve been chatting happily and they end up saying something about visiting a friend or family member’s house, maybe for a meal or to socialise.
To be really clear about this: the chats we have with children are social chats – light and cheerful. We obviously don’t intend to make the child feel uncomfortable, and it’s horrible if child ends up feeling confused and guilty, thinking they’ve done something wrong, but not sure what.
The situation can be horrible for the child and difficult for us – but we need to protect all the children and staff and so we can’t just ignore the concern.
Here’s a comment from another school leader this week:
I totally feel for the children in this sort of situation. It’s not their choice at all, but they feel the awkwardness of it, and then have to miss out on seeing their friends and getting some normal school time.
Thank you for helping us to all stay safe.