Dear Parents, Carers and Students
I hope that you and your family are well.
I am sure you aware the Prime Minister announced last Sunday that “From 1 June 2020, we expect that secondary schools and colleges will be able to offer some face to face contact with Year 10 and Year 12 pupils.” He crucially went on to say “This will not be a return to full timetables or pupils back in school or college full time, rather some support to supplement pupils’ remote education”.
The government has published a wide range of guidance on how that might be planned for and frequent updates are being received daily. As a school we are currently processing all the information and formulating our plans to reopen in a controlled manner. With a further planned update on schools’ reopening due on 28th May, everything we have planned to date is subject to meeting this guidance and a subsequent review and of our risk assessment.
With many of us being parents ourselves, we fully recognise how challenging it has been supporting your child in maintaining their remote learning during ‘lockdown’ and we have a shared desire to get as many of our young people to return to school as quickly as possible. We are of course, being very cautious to ensure this process is safe and secure.
Ensuring the safety of our whole school community is our prime focus. The remote learning systems we have developed since the school closed will continue to be the main learning tools at our disposal for all year groups. Given the physical constraints we face, any idea of operating a ‘normal’ timetable for a year group is impossible. Whilst we will continue to reassess our provision in light of government and DfE guidance and their implication on our own risk assessment, the conditions we plan on opening under are:
- The principles of social distancing will mean that we will only be able to accommodate 8 – 10 students in a classroom, greater numbers of students may be accommodated in our larger spaces to a maximum of 15, and students will always remain in the same room for the duration of their time in school.
- Start and end times for the school day will consider the fact that initially we will be unable to safely operate any break or lunchtime provision. It is likely that there will be staggered start and finish times for different groups of students.
- We will follow government guidance regarding the importance of enabling targeted groups of students, such as vulnerable or disadvantaged students, to be given face-to-face support for their remote learning. Our planning will initially be based upon meeting the needs of those students highlighted by that guidance. The onsite provision will aim to support their remote learning.
- We will shortly send a questionnaire and ask you indicate whether you intend to send your child/ren into school to ascertain which students will be likely to attend.
- The continuing dialogue between government, local authorities and teaching unions means that we have no plan to offer any onsite provision for Year 10 students until Monday 8th June at the very earliest, in order that any further changes to the guidance can be planned for and reasonable adjustments made. Once we have established that new routines and processes can be managed safely and effectively, beginning with year 12 students, our intention is to increase the number of students on site.
I would like to reassure you that we have put in place significant protective measures to minimise risks as detailed below. However, it is also important to highlight that in these current circumstances we cannot fully guarantee complete safety and therefore you will need to decide if you wish to send your child into school.
- We have sanitiser well located at key locations and will try to minimise contact with multiple surfaces.
- We will be ensuring that hand washing is compulsory on both entry and exit to the school building, and encouraging good respiratory hygiene by promoting the government’s ‘catch it, bin it, kill it’ approach.
- We will clean surfaces regularly and students will be allocated a space in which to work which has been cleaned before entry and upon exit.
- Only areas of the school in use will be open and accessible. Clear guidance on routes to destinations will be given and signage will always promote safe social distancing practises.
- Doors will be wedged open to prevent contact with door handles, and windows opened to ensure ventilation in areas being used.
- It is imperative students bring everything they need for their session in school, pens, pencils, books etc.; they will not be permitted to share resources.
- The reduced timetable of face to face contact means that there will be no provision of food on the school site. Students in receipt of free school meals will continue to benefit from the voucher system that has been in place since lockdown.
- Currently government guidance indicates that ‘Wearing a face covering or face mask in schools or other education settings is not recommended’; we will leave this to your discretion.
- Any child who is in either of the clinically vulnerable groups due to pre-existing medical conditions should not attend school and continue to be supported at home.
- Any parent dropping off or picking up students should remain in their car at all times, and any contact that needs to be made with school should continue to be by email.
I recognise that this, whilst a vast amount to take in, possibly presents you with a number of questions. I hope that many of these can be answered by the Government FAQ here on the matter. However, please do let me know if you have any further questions.
We will be in contact with the parents of the first identified groups of students to be invited into school shortly.
Yours Sincerely
Mr Neil Dunn
Headteacher