We have been delighted to see so many Year 10 students back in school this week. The masterclasses have been a real boost not only to students, who have enjoyed being ‘taught’ again by a real teacher, but also our staff who have thoroughly enjoyed getting back to doing what they love.
By the end of next week, every Year 10 will have had the opportunity to return to school and the vast majority have done so. Sadly some are still shielding but we hope to see them in September.
Can I please ask that the GCSE Revision guides and KS3 workbooks are kept safe? We rightly invested a lot of money in these resources and we would like to be able to use them in going forward. If we are subject to another lockdown, we will certainly need them.
Next week I will be able to send you the new Parent Handbook and the full risk assessment for September, which is with staff for consultation from Monday. I will also outline in more detail how school will operate during the continued pandemic.
I have attached the outline of the school day and together with a few other things, I would appreciate it if you could start preparing students for the fact it will be very different in September.
Arrival at school will be staggered in the following way. Those who walk or are dropped off by parents will not be allowed to enter the site until 8.50am. This gives us time to off load all bus students first and get them in
The day will start with lesson 1. So on arrival all students will go straight to their classrooms- no social time congregating in corridors or outside
There is a strict one way system and Mr Barnett is currently wrestling with the timetable, to ensure students have a natural flow of movement from lesson to lesson -avoiding mixing with other year groups as far as is possible.
Classrooms will have all tables facing the front and students will be side to side not face to face.
The teacher will have a designated ‘spot’ to teach from, giving them 2m distancing, but will work for no longer than 15 minutes with individuals 1:1 during the lesson , again side on.
Lunch will be staggered into 3 x 30min sessions. Year 7 will be on their own in the Hall. Yr8 and 10 will have half the hall each divided by a perspex wall. Yr 9 and 11 the same.
There will be no sharing of pens or other equipment- we are fine tuning this- but proposing to give each student a plastic wallet with everything they need which is theirs and not to be shared. It is imperative that students understand the reason for this and bring it to school daily.
Any student or family member that is tested for Covid-19 will need to share that information with us and the outcome of any tests immediately, for contact tracing.
No visitors will be accepted onto the site without a pre booked appointment.
We have moved tutor an enrichment time to the end of the day. This means all curriculum learning will be complete by 2.45pm daily. In the short term this gives us flexibility to put in catch up classes and allow for a staggered departure. Those who walk will be leaving from 3.30pm and the buses will be loaded one at a time- using our tannoy system to call students to the exit.
I know that some KS3 students are particularly nervous about returning to school. Whilst school will be closed over the summer, the Senior Leadership team will be back in from mid August to continue preparations for the new academic year and are happy to have a socially distanced tour with students who need it. If you would like your son or daughter to have the opportunity to visit school prior to September- just to have a familiarisation visit please do get in touch.
This may all sound grim, but we are confident that we can adapt and manage the system to ensure learning takes place- inevitably social time is severely restricted.
On a positive note to finish Facebook users will be pleased to know that our new page is almost ready….
Have a good weekend and stay safe.
