Coronavirus latest: Friday 20 March

The government has instructed schools to close for all students, apart from children of keyworkers or vulnerable children, at the end of the day on Friday 20 March.

Key Workers

The Government has asked parents to keep their children at home, wherever possible, and asked schools to remain open ONLY for those children who absolutely need to attend.

The school will continue to provide care for a limited number of children - children who are vulnerable and children whose parents are critical to the Coronavirus response and cannot be safely cared for at home.

For more details of this, and for a list of the Key Worker roles designated by the Government please go to this Government website: 

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-maintaining-educational-provision/guidance-for-schools-colleges-and-local-authorities-on-maintaining-educational-provision

Further News

Due to staff absence, we will also need to partially close on Friday 20 March meaning Year 7 and 8 students will need to stay at home. We apologise for the inconvenience this will cause.

Following this, we will not be open to the vast majority of students from Monday 23 March until further notice.

We are still awaiting further information from the Department for Education about exactly which children should be coming in on Monday and will update the website and Twitter as soon as we have more details. Please do not call the school at this time to ask if your child should come in – we will provide more information once we have it.

We have been informed that examinations will not take place in the summer but again we have no further information on this other than that the government will ensure that qualifications are issued and students are rewarded for the work they have put in. We will provide more information as soon as we have it.

We have created a school closure website to provide work for students while they are at home for each subject in each year group.

Partial closure for Years 7 and 8 on Friday 20 March

There will be a partial closure of Greenford High School on Friday 20 March due to staff absence which means Year 7 and 8 students will need to stay at home. All other year groups should attend school as normal unless self-isolating due to Coronavirus symptoms.

Year 7 and 8 students who are entitled to a free school meal may report to i-Block at 11: 30am to collect a sandwich if they wish to. They will then have to leave again immediately. We are very sorry for the inconvenience that this will cause.  Students should follow their normal timetable on a Friday as closely as possible and complete work from our school closure website.

Government guidance on Coronavirus

Please note the latest government guidance stating that if anyone in your household has either a new, continuous cough or a high temperature (above 37.8C) then ALL members of the household must stay at home for 14 days. We ask parents to follow this guidance and will expect any staff in the same situation to do the same. 

If your child develops a new, continuous cough or fever, please report this absence in the usual way and keep your child at home for the next 14 days.

We continue to ask all students and families to wash their hands regularly throughout the day and follow all government advice regarding the response to Coronavirus.

In addition, please note that all PE extra-curricular clubs and sporting fixtures are postponed indefinitely.

Department for Education Coronavirus helpline

The Department for Education have launched a helpline to answer questions about COVID-19 related to education. Staff, parents and young people can contact the helpline as follows:

Phone: 0800 046 8687
Email: DfE.coronavirushelpline@education.gov.uk
Opening hours: 8am to 6pm (Monday to Friday)