Kent schools have been given a warning that they may be closed before the Easter break. Due to the Coronavirus, KCC has passed on information to school heads warning that they may be asked to close on 20th March.
This will close all schools for 4 weeks and will help in the fight against the virus. County education chiefs say they are “ramping up” contingency plans to deal with school closures and disruption to the exam timetable. It is a shame that the education chiefs could not think of a better phrase than “ramping up”. They could have used words such as ‘accelerating’ or ‘escalating’!
children being off school will have a big effect on working parents
It is expected to come into effect nationwide on March 20 – two weeks before the planned Easter break. Teachers have been asked to prepare ‘home-learning packs’ by tomorrow and prepare work online for children to access, so they can carry on with their studies at home.
Children across the county were said to cheer at the good news of more time at home, before booing at the sound of ‘home-learning packs’. Teachers were scrambling to see if there are any cheap deals to fly off abroad – although Italy will not be on the list of possible destinations.
Matt Dunkley, KCC director of children’s services, told county councillors that a range of different plans were in place. He said: “As you would expect, we are ramping up our preparations. We have business continuity plans in place; and we have three plans drawn up three times for Brexit. We have a pretty clear statement to schools about how they should deal with and manage closures.”
This evening, some parents have received emails from their respective schools, checking if they have internet access. It is rumoured that the decision has already been made, but will be kept under covers until next week, to prevent further panic amongst the public and to allow teachers time to get their holiday plans sorted.
