The Government has confirmed that schools can begin to reopen from 1 June, starting with children in nursery, reception, year 1 and year 6. Other year groups will continue to learn at home.
In preparation for re-opening, we carried out extensive risk assessments in all of our schools so we can put in place the measures needed to ensure it is as safe as it can be for staff and students to return. The Ark Board has signed off and approved the risk assessments for each of our 24 primary schools and each school will take a phased approach to reopening from the beginning of June. The safety and welfare of all our staff and students is paramount. We want our staff, students and their parents to be reassured that our primary schools are re-opening because we are confident that it is safe for them to do so.
For secondary schools, the aim is that students taking exams next year will get at least some face-to-face time with their teachers before the summer holidays, starting from 15 June. Our remote learning provision will continue to be the main form of education that secondary students receive. Our schools remained open during the lockdown period for key worker children and vulnerable students: this provision will continue for eligible students in all year groups.
All the principals, teachers and staff across our 37 schools and the central Ark team have been working incredibly hard to support our students whilst school has been closed for most students. Moving into this next phase, we expect that the majority of our staff will return to work at school, whilst others will continue to work from home supporting students in year groups who will still be learning remotely.