Admin

Covid-19 Update - Thursday 19 March

Dear Parent / Carer,

As you will no doubt be aware, following the Secretary of State’s announcement yesterday, schools in England will close for all students  from Monday but should remain open to children of key workers and vulnerable students – further details and will follow from the DfE and we will communicate with you as soon as we have clearer details.

For the rest of this week, we will continue to be open for Year 7, 8, 11 and Sixth Form students and have set work on-line for Year 9 and 10.

The unexpected announcement was that public exams are being cancelled with no clarity as to how these will be managed.  The Secretary of State for Education said pupils in England would not have to sit GCSE or A-levels  this year. This will, no doubt be concerning for parents and students alike and have a significant impact on Year 11 and 13 who have been working hard for their exams.  Once we have clarity on this, we will let you know.

As a quick reminder, Show My Homework  remains the main access point for students. Teachers will set work in accordance with your child’s timetable.

Finally; we will send further guidance out in due course, but for now we ask for patience as we work our way through this and ask that you follow Government advice with regards to Social Distancing, Self-Isolation and sensible shopping!

Yours sincerely

Dr Chris Ingate

Principal

by Admin

From Wednesday 18 March - Y7, 8, 11, 12 and 13 in school only

Dear Parent / Carer

Due to current staff absence, I am writing to inform you that from tomorrow, we will be open to Year 7, 8, 11, 12 and 13 students, Year 9 and 10 students will be expected to remain at home. We have not taken this decision lightly and have considered the needs of our youngest students to be in school to help parents with child-care issues as well as prioritise our older exam classes.

Teachers will set work on-line for Year 9 and 10 students, with Show My Homework being the main portal for accessing assignments. If your child is currently self-isolating, our teachers will do their best to upload lesson content from their delivered lessons, however, please be patient with this.

We will review matters again at the end of this week in line with any DfE requirements. We are also authorising any absence for a student wishing to self-isolate due to family illness as set out by the Government.

Yours sincerely

Dr Chris Ingate

Principal

Announced 17 March 2020, 15:00

by Admin

CoronaVirus (Covid-19) - w/b Monday 16 March 2020

The school will be open as normal this week unless there is a directive from the DfE. At present, no member of our student or staff community has tested positive for Covid-19. However, we remain vigilant about keeping the school as hygienic as possible with additional daily cleaning operations.   Our students have been excellent in making sure they use soap or hand sanitisers as and when they require.  As you will be aware, young people appear remarkably resilient to the virus but they can spread the illness to older family members or anyone with an underlying health concern.

If things change, we will inform you immediately.  If students are sent home early for Easter, we have developed an array of on-line learning tools and virtual lessons so students’ education does not fall behind.

Please note that we are  postponing  the Year 9 Parents’ Evening on Tuesday.  If you want to contact your child’s teacher in the meantime, please be aware that all staff can be contacted individually through the ‘Contact’ section of this website.

Finally, we are authorising absences for any child who is unwell to ensure that bugs do not spread – equally if you feel that your family is unwell and you would like your child to be at home for the same reason, please let us know via the student absence line.

Thank you for your support and understanding in these exceptional times.

Yours sincerely

Dr Chris Ingate

Principal

by Admin