The Education Minister has signed a Ministerial Decision to keep the majority of schools closed until Friday 1 May, except for those that are providing places to support critical workers children and some vulnerable children.
The Children, Young People, Education and Skills department will use this month to determine if extended closures are needed, based on health-led advice, and parents, carers and students will be advised in a timely manner should this become necessary.
According to the decision, all Government provided and private school premises, Highlands College, nurseries and pre-schools, will remain closed until Friday, 1 May. This is with the exception of the provision of places for a limited number of vulnerable children and children of critical workers.
Mont al’Abbé and Le Sente will continue to be open for those pupils for whom detailed, health-led risk assessments indicate that it is safe for them to attend.
This is effect from Monday, 20 April 2020 to Friday, 1 May 2020.
In a statement the Education Minister, Senator Tracey Vallois, said: "I recognise that this is a challenging time for everyone. However, I cannot emphasise enough the importance of reinforcing the messaging around health advice from the Government of Jersey to stay home. Abiding by these measures will save lives."
"I am delighted to announce that the Children, Young People, Education and Skills Department is working on a new "Learning At Home" project to provide parents and carers with practical advice and resources that will supplement the work that schools are already doing to help with home learning during this period of closures."
This new "Learning At Home" resource will include webpages to support parents of pupils aged 4-14 who will be worried about COVID-19, home learning, and the impact that this will have on their child’s education.
Senator Vallois, added: "Teachers are doing everything that they can to support students to learn at home. And I would like to acknowledge and thank everyone across the Children, Young People, Education and Skills Department for the huge amount of work that has been undertaken to provide continuity of learning for students through online platforms email and other resources, particularly where access to digital resources is more limited.
"I also want to acknowledge again the work undertaken to support staff and schools through opening schools for critical workers and vulnerable children and for our teachers to access resources. This is critical to supporting students and their ongoing learning."
The Children, Young People, Education and Skills Department remains fully operational and will continue to work closely with health officials to keep the situation under continuous review.
Parents are being asked to fill out this short survey ahead of the launch of the "Learning At Home" project.
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