Letter from the Principal Dated 08.07.20

Dear Parent/Carer

 

Government guidance on the reopening of schools

 

It is the government’s intention that all pupils, in all Year Groups, will return to school full-time from the beginning of the autumn term and we are delighted that we will be welcoming back our students.

 

The guidance was published last Thursday, and the full document can be accessed at 

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/actions-for-schools-during-the-coronavirus-outbreak/guidance-for-full-opening-schools

 

The key points in the guidance include:

• Grouping children together in groups or "bubbles", a class in primary and a whole Year Group in secondary;
• Avoiding contact in school between these groups as far as possible, with schools asked to consider separate starting, finishing, lunch and break times;
• Attendance will be compulsory with penalty fines imposed for non-attendance;
• Test and trace in place for schools;
• Regular cleaning of hands, but masks not expected for pupils or staff;
• Those with symptoms told to stay out of school;
• No big group events like school assemblies and arranging classrooms with forward facing desks;
• Separate groups on school buses and discouraging the use of public transport;
• Pupils will be expected to continue with all their GCSEs and A-levels.

We are currently finalising our plans which I hope to share with you in more detail next Wednesday. This planning includes working with the Local Authority regarding the safest way for students to be transported to and from College, looking at the structure of our day to see how we might stagger social times and ensuring all hygiene processes are in place.

 

Although transport and size make planning more complex, in other ways the College is in a reasonable position to comply with social distancing guidelines as we have separate entrances/exits to the site, separate social areas for different Year Groups and separate catering facilities for Sixth Form, Upper and Lower College. However, teaching groups within bubbles and minimising student movement across the site are more challenging for us although we have been given flexibility to arrange this within our context.

More details next week!

 

Onsite provision

 

It is very encouraging to see the high attendance for our onsite provision with good feedback from our Year 10 and 12 students on the support they are receiving in College from staff.

 

Advance notice that on our last day of term, Friday 17 July, the Year 10, Year 12 and Key Worker provision will all finish at 12.30pm. This will allow all staff to attend an end of term staff meeting to say goodbye to colleagues who are leaving and to finalise plans for our return in September.

PiXL Edge

I would like to congratulate all those students who have gained their PIXL Leadership Awards; the scheme continues to thrive in lockdown with 29 students receiving Leadership Awards with 22 Apprentice promotions, 5 Pioneer promotions and 5 Graduate promotions. There have also been 3 students who have also completed both the Apprentice and Graduate Awards during this time. Amazing achievements by all students!

Bethany	Cooper	7H	Apprentice
Nischal	Gurung	7B	Apprentice
Sneha	Anil	8G	Apprentice
Sian	Batchelor	8E	Apprentice
Lexie	Coster	8J	Pioneer
Elouise	Flowers	8G	Apprentice
Lauren	Jones	8G	Apprentice
Siddhi	Kansare	8G	Apprentice
Alexa	Macbeth	8J	Pioneer
Charlie	Mackay	8G	Apprentice
Amy	Medhurst	8J	Pioneer
Amy	Pilkington	8J	Pioneer
Lily	Risbridger	8G	Apprentice
Emily	Smith	8J	Pioneer
Amelie	Dalton	8G	Apprentice
Leo	Desai	9D	Apprentice
Lauren	Albury	10D	Apprentice
Anna	Brimble	10K	Apprentice
Joel	Cooper	10D	Apprentice
Henry	Li	10D	Apprentice
Lauren	Sawyer	10D	Apprentice
Sophia	Stephens	10D	Apprentice
Nicola	Turner	10E	Apprentice Graduate
Tia	Barnett	11C	Apprentice Graduate
Wendy	Li	11I	Apprentice
Mia Bella	Wright	11J	Apprentice Graduate
Ellie	Kemp	11A	Apprentice
Aimee	Corr	11K	Apprentice Graduate
Hearn	Holly	12	Graduate

Thank you for your continued support. I hope you and your family have a good week.