Dear Parents and Carers
I hope you had a restful Christmas break and may I wish you all a very happy New Year!
As you will have seen from recent media coverage, the coronavirus transmission rates have raised significantly during the Christmas break and both Scotland and England have commenced a period of lockdown. In Northern Ireland, a period of remote learning is in place for primary and post-primary schools. We are still awaiting information following yesterday’s emergency meeting of the NI Executive however, given today’s uncertainty surrounding school openings, Knockbreda Nursery School will not open to pupils tomorrow as previously planned. Instead, Wednesday 6 January 2021 will operate as a staff training day and this will replace the 28 May 20201 training day which had been previously scheduled.
I apologise for the short notice of this change of date and appreciate the challenges that this may cause, however this decision has been made in the interests of the safety of our pupils, staff and school community.
This is not a decision that has been taken lightly but it is hoped that by remaining closed to pupils tomorrow, school will help to keep our school community safe by reducing exposure to and transmission of Covid-19. This will also give school time to consider the outcomes from the Stormont Executive meeting today, as their decisions may impact how our school operates for the remainder of this week and ongoing. Nursery will be in contact as soon as the outcomes of this meeting are communicated to us and staff have had time to reflect on the impact of the new restrictions and how we can safely operate our school day for our pupils, parents and staff.
This is not the start to the new term that any of us wanted, however we must prioritise health and wellbeing. May I thank you for your continued patience, support and positive partnership in these most difficult of times. It is sincerely appreciated by myself and all of the staff at Knockbreda Nursery School. We are very much looking forward to welcoming you and your child back to Nursery once it is safe to do so.
Further information will follow today in relation to planning for key worker emergency childcare provision in the event that our school is required to close.
Let's hope that a brighter, happier and healthier 2021 lies ahead for us all.
Kind regards,
Dr R. Mitchell-Barrett
Principal
Knockbreda Nursery School