Parent Bulletin: 09.07.2021
9th July 2021
This week's parent bulletin is available here:
Dear Parents and Carers
Rise in Covid Cases
The school has been significantly impacted by the coronavirus pandemic this week. For the first time since December, we have had to send groups of pupils home to isolate, and we are struggling with high levels of staff absence, much of it due to enforced isolation following contact-tracing via the NHS app. Despite this, we have been able to continue much as ‘normal’, since our protective measures have limited the number of direct contacts of positive cases.
The Department for Education has informed schools that they will be carrying out two lateral flow tests for all pupils at the start of next term. Year 7 will be tested in the morning of 3 September and in a change to the published term dates, we will be inviting Year 11 into school on the afternoon of 3 September for a Covid test only. We will be implementing a slightly staggered start for the other year groups over 6 & 7 September; full details will be communicated to you before the end of term.
Enrichment Week – 19-22 July
The Local Authority advice is to cancel all non-timetabled activities at the end of term in order to limit the potential spread of infection. Our plans for this week, however, are all risk-assessed and based on tutor groups in a way that involves even less-than-usual mixing of groups and staff; any planned external visits have been postponed. We will keep the situation under constant review but hope to be able to go ahead with this week to celebrate the end of a very difficult year.
Year 10 Study Leave
Almost all Year 10 students have been responding well to their formal examinations week and the practice in public exam procedures that this gives them. For next week, most of the year group will be on study leave and will revise at home when not attending their exams, which will continue as normal. Year 10 parents have been sent the details of this.
Peer on Peer Abuse
Our staff working party is continuing to examine the school approach to this issue. Starting this week, all pupils are being surveyed on the extent to which they are aware of and affected by peer on peer harassment and abuse, following the ‘Everyone’s Invited’ campaign and subsequent Ofsted review. As part of our investigations, we are keen to learn parents’ views on this, and would be grateful if you would complete the short survey on this Link. We hope this might create an opportunity for you to discuss this issue with your children if you have not already done so.
Football’s Coming Home!
Well – many of us hope so and we have lots of very excited pupils - and some very excited staff! Please remember that gatherings in private homes are still limited to 6 people from different households, to help us make sure that this special occasion doesn’t result in further isolations in the last weeks of term. Let’s hope that the best team(!) wraps up the match without extra time, because we’re expecting everyone in school by 8.35am on Monday - thank you for your support with this!
Wishing you all a very enjoyable weekend,
Claire Coates
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