Plans going forward – Dame Nicola Stephenson
In light of the recent announcement regarding school closures and the possibility of schools staying open for vulnerable students and children of key workers, Dame Nicola Stephenson, CEO of Valour Multi-Academy Trust has shared her plans.
My senior team and I are currently gathering school data on which families we think will be returning next week, and working on plans for supporting them in the coming weeks, and possibly months.
I have been looking into how feasible it would be to still provide a daily hot meal for children entitled to free school meals, particularly those entitled due to low income. I am enquiring with catering services if they are still operating over Easter, May half term and potentially the summer holidays. We need to plan ahead and assume we will be the community hub for childcare during this ongoing crisis .
If catering services don’t operate during holidays I will be asking can we take over the kitchen? Do we switch to food vouchers during times catering staff are not in, perhaps?
This is our time to show our values – love, safety, happiness. I would like to add with a warm meal at lunchtime.
My initial thoughts around staffing are based on working in shifts , one week in school and two weeks social distancing by working at home. If we have enough healthy staff this should work. We also need to be flexible around Easter holidays, which will need to fall at different times for different people, as well as for childcare for our own staff.
I know, as school leaders, we’ve all had a sleepless night worrying about children who fall through the cracks; those not with a social worker or EHCP. Well, not on our watch they won’t. We will decide together who is vulnerable, they will be cared for by school too. The last place we want a neglected child is at home for months. Fortunately we know our families and we know who needs us.