News release – Preparation for schools’ re-opening continues

Efforts to prepare the county’s schools for re-opening next week are continuing, Powys County Council has said.

Schools will re-open on Monday, June 29 as part of ‘Check in, Catch Up, Prepare for summer and September’ – the Welsh Government’s next phase for schools.  This will involve reduced numbers of pupils in school each day and safe distancing for all learners and staff.

As part of this phase, the Welsh Government announced that the summer term would be extended by one week to Friday, July 24 with autumn half-term holiday being lengthened to two weeks.

The council is working with the schools’ community to prepare for the re-opening which includes making all efforts to keep Powys schools open for the fourth week.

Cllr Phyl Davies, Cabinet Member for Education and Property, said: “Since the Education Minister’s announcement at the beginning of June, we have worked extremely hard along with school leaders to get our schools ready for their re-opening.

“Our ambition is to keep Powys schools open the four weeks up until July 24, where possible. We believe the four weeks are important and will benefit our learners and their families, and our schools have been working on rotas and plans to make this possible and will support our school learners with the plans over the coming week.

“We will also ensure that our schools are safe for pupils and school staff for the last four weeks of the summer term.  This position will be under constant review.

“We’re incredibly proud of our schools in Powys for what they have done over the last three months. This includes managing the emergency childcare hubs seven days a week; delivering and supporting learners and their parents with distance learning; and continuing with their re-opening plans while continuing to keep pupils their priority.

“We will continue to support our schools and make every effort to protect the wellbeing of our learners and our staff across Powys.