By Ben Mills, Senior Editor
This afternoon Cramlington Learning Village, along with all other schools in the UK, will close until further notice in efforts to contain the spread of coronavirus.
On Wednesday, Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced that schools, nurseries and sixth form colleges in England would follow those in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland and close to most pupils after Friday. However, schools will remain open for the children of key workers, which includes students whose parents or carers are employed in the NHS or key government services, amongst others.
The unprecedented closures have led to an abrupt end to the year for Year 11 and 13 students, whose GCSE and A Level exams have been cancelled. The education secretary Gavin Williamson has confirmed that affected students will be able to gain the qualifications they need in order to progress onto college, university or apprenticeships. Details of how this may work are expected later on Friday.
It is currently unknown when schools will reopen, meaning most students will have to continue their education from home for the time being. At Cramlington Learning Village, all students can access work set by their teachers via a button on their Frog homepage.
In a statement on the school website, Cramlington Learning Village has said “In line with the announcement [of school closures] we will close our school at the end of the day on Friday for the majority of the children and young people in our care. We do not, as yet, know when we will reopen.
We have been planning for this eventuality and will provide you with details of how we will continue to provide education to your children in the next day or so.
Thank you once again for your support in this unprecedented situation. We will continue to provide updates as we receive further information and guidance.”
The widespread closures come as the coronavirus continues to spread across the UK and the world. There are now almost 250,000 cases of Covid-19 globally, and 3,269 in the UK alone. Locally, there have been 6 confirmed cases of the virus in Northumberland, along with 10 in North Tyneside and 19 in Newcastle.
While the virus does not appear to be as serious in young people, the government says that closing schools are an important way to limit the spread of the virus, therefore reducing the risk to the vulnerable and elderly, who can be more susceptible to serious cases of Covid-19.
The NHS has published advice on how you can help stop the spread of the virus, available here. Key points are to wash your hands regularly for 20 seconds, and to self-isolate for 14 days if you or anyone in your household displays symptoms of coronavirus, which include a high temperature and a new continuous cough; if you live alone, the self-isolation period should only last 7 days. You can also read more about the government’s response to coronavirus here.
Today has been challenging for many CLV students, particularly those in Year 11 and 13 who have had their time at CLV cut short unexpectedly, and now face huge amounts of uncertainty going forward. The CLV Phoenix wants to wish all those students affected the best of luck for the future.
While school is closed, the CLV Phoenix will continue to publish articles. We’ll be regularly updating our website with articles including book, film and TV reviews, the latest news on the coronavirus crisis and tips and ideas of how to stay productive over the coming weeks, so make sure to keep checking back!
Have an idea or article for the CLV Phoenix? Email us: clvphoenix@clvweb.co.uk
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