Dear Parents/Carers, As you are aware, COVID 19 is still prevalent in the community as are the common winter illnesses. Unfortunately, I write to you now to tell you that finding supply cover for staff absence is proving very difficult. There have been times in the last few weeks that we have been very close to closing classes due to insufficient staffing. On these occasions we have been able to find suitable staff cover, either through supply or with myself covering the class. At the time of writing we are currently fine and staffing is at a good and safe level. However, we are only 2 or 3 staff members falling ill from having to close the classes affected. Every school is in the same position and finding supply staff is like finding a needle in a haystack. I write to you today not to frighten you but to be open and honest about the situation the school and other schools are facing in the cluster, Bridgend and in Wales in general. While closing a class is the very last thing we want to do, I must ensure that classes have the appropriate staff numbers in them to ensure we can operate safely. If we do not have the required amount of staff then I will have no option but to close the class until appropriate staffing arrangements can be made. I will try and give you enough notice, hopefully the night before but unfortunately situations can change quite rapidly. I hope that I will never be in the position to do this but feel I need to warn parents that this is a realistic problem that we may encounter in the next 10 days.

Mr Jones