URGENT for families accessing Critical Worker Provision (CWP) or asking for CWP

Critical Worker Provision (CWP)

 

As you know we have been inundated with requests for Critical Worker Provision (CWP).  We very much understand that many of you will struggle if we cannot offer you a place.  However, being eligible does not mean we have endless places to offer.  We can only offer as many spaces as it is safe to do so.  This is based on how many children we can socially distance in each room.  We are using all available staff.

 

Since the deadline we have continued to have requests for CWP.  Whilst we understand that those of you contacting us feel that you are critical workers, we cannot magic up more places than we can safely offer, based on room sizes and the staff we have available. 

 

If you currently have a place in our CWP or have been in touch to ask about any places

Our priority was to open swiftly, so that those much needed critical key workers, like pharmacists, surgeons, ambulance staff, postal staff, police and teachers, could swiftly get back to work after the announcements on Monday night.  We managed that.

 

Next steps:

1. If since Monday night you no longer need a place at the CWP PLEASE LET US KNOW IMMEDIATELY.  Places are most in demand in Year 1.

• ALL families with a place in our CWP or requesting a place, now need to provide evidence of eligibility.  Proof must be emailed to info@kingedward.org by NO LATER THAN 9am Friday morning.  I am sorry for the short notice, but there are more families with critical workers who are desperately in need of a place, including families with 2 critical workers.   

 

The evidence we are asking you to provide should be readily available to all of you.  So the short notice should not cause a challenge.     

 

You need to provide one of the following electronically:

1. a photo of your work id badge stating your employer and role;
2. a photo of your payslip stating your employer and your name, but with all personal details blanked/crossed out;
3. confirmation via email on letterhead, emailed from your employer (not you), confirming your role and why this cannot be carried out from home.

 

We truly appreciate that these are exceptionally difficult times for all of us, including our own staff, but we simply cannot increase the number of children we can physically take in school.  We absolutely understand that trying to work at home, as well as having children there, is a challenge, on top of juggling remote learning.  But we need to work together as a school community.  Whilst every job is no doubt important, some are absolutely critical to the COVID response.

 

Allocation of CWP places

We are not seeking to take places away from families.  However, we have to make sure that the places we do have go to those most in need.

 

1. If you can confirm that you are critical to the COVID response and you currently have a place, then that place will continue.  

 

1. We are hoping that some families who asked for a place will be able to manage without or will have changed their mind.  This may free up a small number of extra places for those who are desperately in need.

 

First come first served

You may be wondering why we are looking to reconfirm CWP places, rather than simply working on a ‘first come first served basis’. But in short, it is simply not that simple.

 

1. The NHS is in an increasing crisis.  Parents who are NHS or other critical workers, like those in social care, or teachers,  may have thought on Monday that they would be able to work from home.  However, since Monday many have now been called in to front line service.  This is especially the case of our parents who are teachers.  Many thought they might be able to do some work from home, but they have now been called into work due to the exceptionally high demand for CWP in almost all schools.

 

What next?

Please do not panic, but also please do not email us. I say that very, very politely.  

There are simply not enough hours in the day or night to be able to respond to your views or opinions about this in the next 48 hours.  We politely now need to be left in peace to get on with this reconfirmation of places as swiftly as we can, so as to not create any unnecessary stress for you or our children.

 

Our priority is to be able to get on, to work methodically and swiftly and in being left to do so, we will then hopefully be able to confirm all of the much needed places for all of our critical workers.  If some families no longer need places, if others are perhaps not eligible as they first hoped, then all being well, there will be enough places to meet the real need.

 

If both parents (or one in the case of a single parent family) meet the criteria for eligibility and you have a place at the moment, there is no undue reason to be worried.  

 

Two parent families 

If in a two parent family one parent may be eligible, due to the significant demand for places which currently appears to outstrip the number of places we can offer, priority for reconfirming places will have to be given to those where both parents are critical workers and where they cannot work from home.     

 

Whilst one parent may be eligible, we cannot have children or staff in school in numbers which would make being in school unsafe for them or everyone else.  

 

The number of positive cases today nationally (70,000+) and the 1000+ deaths today alone, means that health and safety, HAS to be the priority for every single one of us.