Date: 19 February 2021 Annwyl 

Dear Parent/Carer

With pupils starting to come back to school this week, we are asking for your help in making the return to the classroom a success. The steps that we have had to take together over the last 11 months have been hard, but they have saved lives, protected the people most at risk and helped to make sure that our health and care services can continue to care for us when we need them. Our local vaccination programme is now moving quickly and is providing more protection to those who are most vulnerable. However, with new variants of the virus spreading much more quickly we must all stay alert to the risks of Covid-19 and carry on working together to keep the levels of infection as low as possible. Getting children back into school is an important step. Teachers and school staff, with the support of the Council, the health board, and Public Health Wales, have worked very hard to make sure our schools are as safe as possible. We cannot risk undoing this and losing the progress we have made in pushing back the virus when pupils return to the classroom. 1 in 3 people with Covid-19 have no symptoms and can spread the virus without realising.

This makes it more important that ever that we all follow the rules in place to keep us safe. When your child goes back to school, we need you to continue to help to control the spread of Covid-19 by:

 Not sending your child to school if they are unwell, even if you think they do not have coronavirus

 Always keeping at least 2m from other people when dropping off and picking up your children

 Always wearing a mask when in the school grounds or nearby  Don’t stop to chat at the school gates

 Don’t invite other children or their parents to your home to play or stay overnight, even outdoors and even if they are in the same bubble at school

 Do not share a car to travel to school with other families, unless you have no other option

 Make sure your child understands the importance of washing their hands regularly  Continue to work from home if at all possible We know parents and carers have done so much, especially in recent months, to support their children’s education and keep them safe from Covid-19.

By all following these simple steps we can continue to keep infection rates down and our schools open. Thank you for your help in keeping the virus in check and safely reopening our schools.

Yours sincerely Councillor  Sarah Merry Deputy Leader

Cabinet Member for Education, Employment & Skills