Dear parents, families and carers,

I hope you are all staying as safe and well as possible during this very challenging time.

At the two schools, Village and Woodfield, we are doing everything we can to support the children and young people. You will be aware that there are a number of statements from the government about schools. I would like to make sure that our current situation is clear for you. 

The Village and Woodfield Schools are adopting a very cautious approach in order to keep the community we serve and for whom we have a duty of care as safe as possible.
The overarching principle is to limit the spread of this virus, a virus about which we still know very little.

The executive team advised the trustees that the best way for us to function is to very carefully risk assess each of our pupils, our staff, our buildings and environment and to develop our expertise in virtual schooling and to test out the logistics of how a special school could function at the moment for a very small group of pupils. It is vital that we collaborate with our staff, parents, and all our stakeholders to ensure that we do things properly with regard to our whole community, in the best interests of our children and young people their families and our staff. We have consulted the best public health guidance and also health professionals in devising training for staff. This is for us to stay fully prepared and briefed for all eventualities.

We have had in depth discussions with the local authority and other leaders in education as well as consulting the trade unions and all the relevant documentation and yourselves. Thank you for engaging with us and for your patience and understanding. 

There is as yet no quick fix and in Brent, many people have been hit very hard by this pandemic. I would love for us all to be able to be together in an actual school setting again, but this is not possible at the moment. My responsibility is to put the children and young people, your good selves and our staff at the heart of everything thing we do. It is too risky to reopen outside  of our very small number of attendees at the moment. I, like you, have read the research and I am horrified at the number of our BAME community that have been affected adversely by this pandemic. 

All our staff are working tirelessly to keep us all together and make sure that when things do improve we will be ready, but I fear this is a long journey for us all. My heart goes out to the children and young people and their families and the staff who have lost loved ones. 

Kindest regards from Kay

On behalf of CLP, VILLAGE and WOODFIELD SCHOOLS