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COVID-19; Update to school arrangements during Easter.

2/4/2020

COVID-19; Update to school arrangements during Easter.

Free School Meals

The Free School Meal provision will be changing to a voucher scheme from Monday 6, April andwill be extended to cover what would have been the two week school Easter holiday period.

The new voucher scheme will replace the grab bag packed lunches which have been delivered to schools since Monday 23rdMarch.

Parents and carers of children currently receiving Free School Meals will be sent a downloadable voucher to the value of £40for the benefit of their eligible child/childrenwhich can be spent in one of the following supermarkets;

-         Tesco

-         Asda

-         Sainsbury's

-         Morrisons

-         Marks & Spencer

-         Waitrose.

Arrangements for Free School Meals following the Easter break will be communicated in due course.

The Council has successfully delivered 45,000 grab bags children to collect and takeaway to eat off site however the new scheme will assist measures in reducing social contact, as announced by UK Government.

Families who are eligible will receive a letter with details of the voucher directly from the Council. If you need any further help please contact02920537250or emailFreeschoolmeals@cardiff.gov.uk 

Childcare for Key Workers

Childcare hub provision will nowcontinue throughout the Easter school holiday period, covering all weekdays including include Good Friday and Easter Monday.

It is hoped this will assist with the pressure on the health service and other key worker groups in the coming weeks.

Since childcare provision for Cardiff's key workers changed to a hub-based system, 734 children have been registered.

In addition, 228 pre-school aged children are being cared for by registered private, voluntary and independent childcare providers across the city.

Although provision is still being prioritised for health and social care workers (including those working in homeless hostels and Outreach) and in the emergency services, the new hub and pre-school arrangements also aim to accommodate wider categories of keyworkers, where possible.

To accommodate the additional numbers and to maintain social distancing measuresthe number of hubs has now been expanded to 19. This includes English and Welsh medium primary, secondary and special provision.

In order to ensure the transmission of COVID-19 is slowed or halted, key workers and the families of vulnerable learners are reminded that school and pre-school provision is only to be used once all other forms of childcare support have been exhausted and where possible, children should be cared for at home.

Keyworkers in any other of the Welsh Government's Keyworker categories, may be asked to  confirm with their employer that their specific role is ‘critical' to business continuity in the provision of their essential services during the COVID-19 pandemic, in order to be eligible for hub based provision.

To register please visit;https://www.cardiff.gov.uk/ENG/Your-Council/Strategies-plans-and-policies/Emergency-Planning-and-Resilience/coronavirus-information/key-worker-childcare/Pages/default.aspx

The hubs open from 8am - 5pm and provide children with breakfast, lunch and an afternoon snack.  Pre-school childcare arrangements are subject to individual registered providers operating agreements.

 

E-learning

The Councilhas established a dedicated team includingICT Co-ordinatorsto support schools in providing a host of digital materials and innovative online schemes so that curriculum can continue to be delivered during school closures.

During the period from March 1- 292020, the total number of logins to the online learning platform hwb across Cardiff schools is 213,273 including 161,802 student logins. This is in addition to schools who are using their own platforms.

Support will continue through Easter to help schools prepare for the summer term, with the aim of providing high quality education, through a host of digital channels.