Chetham’s School of Music has today informed parents and guardians that the school will close to pupils, effective immediately, as a precautionary measure to help prevent the spread of Covid-19.
A member of our academic teaching staff has today informed the school that they are displaying a number of symptoms associated with the Covid-19 virus. The health and wellbeing of all our students and staff is, of course, our number one priority. We have therefore decided to close the school to students with immediate effect. This allows us to undertake a deep clean and to assess the situation further.
We know just how much disruption this will cause for all families and guardians. We have not taken this decision lightly. We hope that by taking this measure now we can ensure that all of our Chetham’s community are safe and well.
As a boarding and day school with many overseas students it is vital that we keep our boarding houses open until such times as all students can return to their families. The boarding houses are not affected by this current issue. Boarding students are being looked after by our dedicated, resident pastoral staff, until they return home.
All students, including boarders, had been off site this weekend with family and guardians for our ‘free weekend’.
We know the majority of students here will be disappointed by the school’s closure, such is their passion for their music. We’re sure they’ll all enjoy a little bit of extra instrumental practice time and time for revision for the upcoming GCSE and A Levels.
Meanwhile, our teaching staff will be utilising remote learning tools to enable learning to continue.
We look forward to welcoming everyone else back to the school in due course, and wish everyone a healthy, happy break.
Unfortunately, some public concerts, which our students were due to perform in, will need to be cancelled. This includes our regular, free weekday lunchtime concerts. Information about concerts will be updated on the Chetham’s website as we constantly review the situation.
Thank you for your support as we face this challenging situation together.
Alun Jones, Principal
