Cheshire East Council will inform Macclesfield's schools and parents on Wednesday about their plans for the wider opening of the borough's schools following Friday's news that the North West's R rate has risen above 1.

Following their letter to parents and schools on 20 May 2020, Cheshire East have continued to monitor the situation and are currently reviewing their approach based on the information released.

In a letter sent to headteachers and parents across the borough today (8 June), Jacky Forster (Director of Education and Skills), Mark Palethorpe (Executive Director of People) and Cllr Kathryn Flavell (Portfolio Holder for Children and Families), said: "We appreciate this is an anxious time for families and schools across the borough and aim to provide an update by Wednesday.

"This will enable us to review the latest evidence and have discussions with the DfE and other NW local authorities.

"We are very aware of the anxiety of parents, children, young people and school staff caused by the current restrictions, but we need to make sure any return to school is safe.

"We also understand the impact on children's physical and emotional well-being and will continue to work with our schools and partners to look at the support that can be offered for those children and young people for whom it is not safe to return to school."

Macclesfield Nub News previously reported that from 15 June, all eligible nursery-aged pupils will be able to attend schools on a limited and controlled basis where staffing capacity and space allows. Similarly, all primary school reception class pupils will be able to attend.

All year one pupils will be able to attend their primary school from 22 June and from 29 June, and where capacity permits, all year six pupils will be able to return to school. However, these plans may change due to the higher R rate.

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The R rate measures the number of people one infected person could infect and if it is above 1 an outbreak can grow rapidly.

Update: New data revealed by the government this evening (8 June) shows the R rate is below 1 across all regions.