Coronavirus: The Weald in Billingshurst outlines plans to tackle virus

Peter Woodman, headteacher of the school and sixth form college, told parents in a letter that the most important thing students and families can do to protect themselves is wash their hands.

He said: “All reports suggest that the coronavirus will be with us for several months. The government’s plan is now to delay the spread of the virus.

“By doing this the hope and intention is to spread any cases over a longer period so that the peak number of cases does not breach the ability of the National Health Service to cope with the most severe cases.

“To support the delay of the spread of the virus, the Department for Health and Social Care has instructed anyone who shows certain symptoms, or who shares a household with someone who has symptoms, to stay at home and self-isolate for 14 days.”

He said parents and carers should remember the school has several students and staff who are in a high risk category due to underlying health conditions.

Peter added: “It is imperative that we abide by the guidance from the government regarding self isolation to keep everyone safe.

“Whilst the government is encouraging home working for those who can around the country, this does not work for a school setting.

“As a school, we have over 100 staff teaching every day. The reality is that in the coming weeks and months staff as well as students will get the coronavirus or get symptoms that mean they will need to self isolate and be off school. “With the new 14 day isolation period now in place, we can very quickly get to a position where we have insufficient staff to run the school safely and effectively. Whilst some students may be off school, we will still have the same number of classes running.

“We cannot predict which classes and years will be hit on a daily and weekly basis. It may be very difficult for us to combine classes of different year groups and teach them effectively, but we will make every effort to stay open.”

The Weald may have to consider a partial or full closure if it is in a position where it does not have sufficient staff at the school, according to Peter.

He said: “We are keen to remain open as per current government advice but we must alert parents and carers to this as a possibility now. The experience of all of our students is important but this is especially so for our year 11 and 13 students who are due to take external exams this summer.

“In any partial or full closure situation, we will wish to prioritise these students.”

Peter added there are three different eventualities being prepared for.

He said: “[One] the school remains open but an increasing number of students and staff are off school due to self-isolation.

“In this case, I have asked teachers to try, where possible, to indicate via the homework site what work has been covered in a lesson and attach resources.

“This will not always be possible, as staff are not only teaching their own lessons, but they are also covering lessons for absent colleagues.

“[Two] the school may need to partially close. This means we do not have sufficient staff to operate safely or effectively with the staff who are in school.

“It is likely that we would need to ask different year groups to stay at home on different days so that we can adequately staff the year groups that are in school.

“In this scenario, we would aim to set work via the homework website. This will not be possible in all cases as some staff will be off school ill with the Coronavirus.

“[Three] the school will be instructed to close or will have close due to insufficient staff.

“Again, work would be set through the homework website for students. In this scenario, it is possible that an increased number of staff may not be able to set work due to illness.”

Peter said he had met with staff to put in place contingency plans and urged students to set up school emails on the phones, tablets or home computers.

All meetings, fixtures, concerts and similar events have been postponed.

Trips are currently under review but the prognosis does not look good, he added.

Peter said: “We understand that many parents will be concerned, as we are, about the summer examinations.

“The government is looking at contingency plans for these but nothing has been published. We will of course keep you updated as soon as we can.

“School closures at The Weald are a very rare thing but we are facing an unprecedented challenge with the Coronavirus.

“Whilst current evidence suggests that young people are generally not too adversely affected by the symptoms, we are conscious that older members of our community and those with underlying health conditions are at much greater risk. It is vital that we all do what we can to mitigate the effect of this virus in the coming weeks and potentially months, and prepare for the full range of possible actions we may be forced to take to cope.”