Dear parents and carers,
Confirmation that our school will be open on Friday 18th December
You may have seen in the media that schools were contacted by the DfE regarding the date they plan to finish for the Christmas holiday period. To ensure that staff have the time off they need and deserve, schools are being given the option of making Friday 18th December a non- teaching (INSET) day which would be used for staff training instead of teaching. Schools are required to make their own decision regarding their end of term arrangements.
Ilfracombe Junior School has made a collective decision with a number of the schools within our local learning community not to change our planned arrangements and I can confirm that our last day will be next Friday, 18th December. The reasons for this are:
· The option given to schools has come at too short notice for plans to be effectively implemented in time.
· Families may be faced with childcare issues if children are not attending school next Friday.
· Undue pressure could be placed on families, many of whom have only just returned to work after the second lockdown.
· This could have a potentially negative impact on families’ ability to earn money in the run up to Christmas.
· Changing Friday 18th into a non-teaching (INSET) day goes against the 2020/21 calendar which was set over a year ago.
· Changing 18th December to a non-teaching day would have a negative impact on the 2021/22 calendar where INSET has already been planned for staff development and Teacher – Parent/Carer meetings.
We hope that all parents/carers understand the rationale behind our collective decision but please do contact me on parentsupport@ilfracombe-jun.devon.sch.uk if you have any questions.
Yours sincerely,
Jody Le Bredonchel – Head Teacher Ilfracombe Junior School
Steve Rogers – Headteacher - Ilfracombe Academy
Jayne Peacock – Head Teacher West Exmoor Federation
Claire Grant – Head Teacher Ilfracombe Infants School
Suzanne Carey – Head Teacher West Berry Federation.
Gail Holmes – Joint Head Teacher Woolacombe & Combe Martin School