Luton Council urges parents to only send children to school if it is absolutely necessary

Luton Council is asking to parents and carers to only send their children to school if it is absolutely necessary.

Cllr Aslam Khan, portfolio holder with responsibility for education, is appealing to parents and carers to help reduce the spread of the virus, by keeping children at home during the national lockdown.

It is an exceptionally challenging time for many headteachers and their staff delivering lessons in schools and ensuring staff and pupils can work in a safe environment as well as making sure learning continues remotely.

The number of children attending some of the town's primary schools in this current lockdown is considerably higher than the previous lockdown in March which is also creating added pressures.

Following the government’s updated guidance, the council is also asking critical workers, who are working from home, or can arrange childcare, to keep their children at home if they can.

If you cannot keep your children at home, you can also form a childcare bubble with one other consistent household for informal childcare where the children are under 14.

This is to enable parents to work and must not be used for social contact between adults.

Cllr Aslam Khan said: “Our schools have been working tirelessly throughout this pandemic to ensure children can continue with their learning and education and they really need your support now.

"To ensure they can remain open to vulnerable children and to support frontline critical workers, many of whom are putting their own lives at risk in order to protect others and saves lives, we are urging all parents and carers who are able to keep children safely at home, to do so.

“We know that parents and carers are doing their very best to support children and young people at home with their education and we are mindful that it may not always be easy, especially if you’re having to balance home working at the same time.

"But the more we can reduce the number of households mixing within our education facilities the safer it will be for those children and staff who are unable to stay at home."

Parents should get in touch with their school if their child is not able to access learning remotely as help is available.

Schools can apply directly to BT for Wi-Fi hotspot vouchers for some families who do not have access to the internet for remote learning allowing up to three devices to log on to the hotspot.

They can also request mobile data increases for some children and young people who are experiencing disruption to their face-to-face education and who do not have fixed broadband at home and cannot afford additional data for their devices.

The council is also working with local charities to provide additional devices.

Cllr Khan added: “Don’t forget you can always ask teachers for help and advice and please remember that any support you can offer to your children will be invaluable and go a long way to helping them to keep on track– so please keep up the good work!”