January 2021

3rd January 2021

Dear All

Another heart-felt apology for my radio silence since September. For those of you that are aware, I am a front-line NHS worker and as you can imagine, the pandemic and impact on the service I deliver has kept me busy in my professional life. With that said, the governors and I have remained in touch with school life and its operations, virtually, and continue to meet monthly to discuss and strategize the direction of the school, in spite of the pandemic and for the long term, when the virus is behind us.

It has been a busy Christmas break for staff, Mrs Rosen & the senior leaders especially, in navigating a safe direction to ensure that our children's' education remains on track, in spite of the concerning events happening in our community around us. Mrs Rosen and her team have reviewed current data relating to transmission and cases of COVID-19 in our school and wider community, which includes the worrying new variant which has placed our region into Tier 4, and continues to affect families directly related to Drake Primary School and beyond.

I have met with Mrs Rosen virtually today, and we have made the unanimous decision to reopen Drake Primary School only to vulnerable and key worker pupils. Our decision to move to online learning, for the majority of children, was made following guided communication with senior officials and supplementary advisors at Norfolk County Council, and is hoped that by delaying our school's physical reopening for the Spring term, will encourage a reduction in the virus's transmission in our community. Our decision to move to an online provision for the first 2 weeks of the term is in-line with our local high school and other settings in Tier 4 across the country. Social distancing can be facilitated more effectively, with the smaller cohort of pupils that need to remain on school site, which is ever more vital in reducing transmission in school and keeping children, their families and staff safe. 

I am reassured that the leaders at Drake have planned for this eventuality and the fantastic and dedicated teaching and support staff at Drake will recommence the gold standard online provision, previously seen in the country's initial lock down. However this 2.0 version of the online provision will have the addition of video streaming of lessons, which will give children, learning at home, the advantage of seeing their class teacher, which encourages that sense of normality, which we all crave at this difficult time.

Our provision in Little Pirates will be unaffected, except in cases where staffing become significantly affected, and risk assessments have been updated and adapted, as expected, to take into account Tier 4 restrictions.

Please continue to check any parent app communications relating to the changes made to school, its reopening and current provisions. Please contact staff via email in the first instance and be patient as staff have also been affected by the current climate and may be working from home.

Thank you for your continued support to our amazing teachers, support staff and senior leaders. The safety of our pupils and school community will always be at the forefront of all decisions made by the Head, senior leaders and governing body.

We hope to welcome all pupils back into school soon.

Stay safe & thank you for reading.

Carly Brien

Chair of Governors