North Ayrshire will introduce Key Worker childcare for staff in frontline health services from Monday, March 23.

In phase one of their Key Worker Childcare provision, the critical key workers are frontline NHS and Health and Social Care Partnership staff who have no other means of childcare and only if the children do not have the maturity to look after themselves.

These key workers at this stage include only staff in the NHS and Health and Social Care Partnership, including Care at Home.

With all schools and local authority early learning and childcare now closed, children and young people’s learning and teaching will be undertaken remotely, supported by those teachers working remotely on an ongoing basis.

Those parents who are considered by Scottish Government to be key workers should have completed the survey issued on Friday, 20 March, 2020.

All parents, including key workers, are reminded that Scottish Government guidance is for children not to attend school where possible.

In these buildings they will be looked after by a range of staff – namely Active Schools Co-ordinators, Family Learning Workers, Library Staff and KA Leisure staff. This will be available from 9am until 3pm from Monday, 20 March, until further updates are provided.

It is not possible at this stage to accommodate the children of any other key workers.

It is essential, to stop the spread of transmission of coronavirus, that people who can work from home do work from home.

This is not business as usual and it is vital that this support being offered is only accessed by those who absolutely require it to enable the NHS and other critical services to function.

As part of their phase two provision, they are working round the clock to devise arrangements to accommodate children from as wide a range of key workers as soon as possible. They will provide further updates early next week to inform about the arrangements being put in place to make this happen.

Like all other businesses and institutions, the council faces significant challenges in ensuring their staffing levels are sufficient for them to continue to deliver essential services and they are responding to the developing situation as quickly and effectively as they possibly can.

Under no circumstances should any child who has symptoms of coronavirus, or who lives in a household where someone has symptoms, present at school. The whole family must follow self-isolation guidance.

The council said that they very much appreciate your patience at this difficult time and can assure you that they are doing all they can to meet the needs of parents who are providing these critical services to our communities.