Schools in for summer!

Schools have more than three weeks to carry out risk assessments to ensure that they can finally reopen their doors safely on June 29.

Yesterday’s announcement by the Wales’ Education Minister, Kirsty Williams, coincided with Public Health Wales daily briefing that Wednesday was another day of no positive cases for the whole of Powys. It means that just two positive cases have been recorded for the county over the past four days, despite a significant increase in testing, according to their figures.

The positive signs for Powys do not mean education chiefs will be taking the reopening of schools lightly with Cllr Phyl Davies, Cabinet Member for Education and Property, saying that “our main priority has always been the safety of children, their families and school staff and this still remains the case”.

Several schools have remained open throughout the pandemic for the children of critical workers and children throughout the lockdown, including at weekends and bank holidays.

English schools reopened on Monday, and Welsh politicians believe the time is right to do the same in Wales, albeit four weeks later.

“Here in Powys, we have been working hard to put plans in place for increasing the operation of our schools to enable more children to attend when the time is right to do so,” said Cllr Davies.

“We have been working closely with headteachers, governors and school staff, and discussions are continuing with Welsh Government and the teaching unions.

“Risk assessments are being carried out at all of our schools across the county. Each school is being individually assessed on its own situation, and it may very well be the case that ‘a one size fits all’ approach will not work.

“This means that some schools may not be able to offer the same level of provision, which will depend upon on building space and staffing capacity. The main consideration is to keep everyone - children and school staff - as safe as possible. 

“Parents will be updated over the coming weeks on the specific arrangements and the measures that are being put in place to allow us to do this.

 In the meantime, our schools are continuing to support children with their learning at home with Cllr Davies encouraging parents to not hesitate to get in touch with their school if they require more support.