Dear Parents / Carers
Following the announcement by the government that all children should return to full-time education in September, next week I will write to you with further details – having just taught an on-line lesson with my Year 7 class, I know that many students are really keen to get back in the Autumn.
In general, we will be planning to run a ‘normal’ curriculum with a full range of subjects for all 1400 students – we are just working on the details around improving general guidance including hygiene and student movement around the school site. One thing you may want to start considering is transport – if your child travels by bus, they will have to wear a face mask and we would be keen to see students walking or cycling to school if they are able to in line with our focus on reducing our school’s carbon footprint.
We have also agreed on a more staggered approach to allow students to return in a more phased manner to ensure that everyone is ready and prepared for the ‘new normal.’ I thought it would be helpful if you had these dates:
| Wed 2nd September | Staff training days | |
| Thurs 3rd September | ||
| Friday 4th September | Student Induction Day 1 | Year 7 / 12 only |
| Monday 7th September | Student Induction Day 2 | Year 7/ 12 /13 only |
| Tuesday 8th September | Student induction day 3 | Year 7 / 11 / 12 / 13 only |
| Wednesday 9th September | All Year Groups return |
For the rest of this term, we are continuing to set on-line lessons and facilitate 1:1 meetings in school for all our students – we have had some Year 12 students in school for lessons but have decided against putting on a more formal timetable of lessons this term for 3 main reasons:
- There is no requirement to do so – we have weighed up the risk of Covid-19 infection in Hertfordshire and felt that brining too many students into school in June was too great a risk.
- We felt it was more important to see all our students 1:1 with their parents and expand on-line lessons
- Students have told us that they were coping well with the current measures and want to return properly in September
As a quick reminder, here are the planned events for July and August.
Timescale and events
| Date | Event | Detail |
| Fri 3rd July | Year 10 1:1 | |
| Mon 6th July | Year 9 1:1 | General Academic Review meeting with Form Tutors |
| Tue 7th July | Year 9 1:1
Year 12 Virtual Induction Day |
Further information for Year 11 applying for Sixth Form place |
| Weds 8th July | Year 7 1:1 | General Academic Review meeting with Form Tutors |
| Thurs 9th July | Year 7 1:1 | |
| Fri 10th July | Catch Up Day | |
| Mon 13th July | ||
| Tue 14th July | Year 6/7 1:1
2-7pm |
1:1 meetings with new tutors and tours of school |
| Weds 15th July | Year 8 1:1 | General Academic Review meeting with Form Tutors |
| Thurs 16th July | Year 8 1:1 | |
| Fri 17th July | End of term | |
| Wed 19th August | GCSE Download | |
| Thurs 20th August | GCSE Results | Post 16 / Sixth Form confirmation |
Take care and keep safe
Yours sincerely
Dr Chris Ingate
Principal