At the end of first full week back in school I would like to take this opportunity to thank both parents and students for their cooperation, understanding and support. This has played a significant part in ensuring that the wide range of protocols and systems we have put in place have been effective in allowing the school to operate in a calm, safe and orderly manner. It would be fair to say it has felt much longer than a week and I am sure we are all looking forward to a restful weekend.
One of the challenges when looking at the arrangements for the new term was around the separate entrances for different year groups. This has made the Greens Lane entrance pedestrian only and we now have around 1000 students arriving on that side of school. Whilst Monday and Tuesday were especially difficult, parents have responded to my polite request to avoid driving down Greens Lane and today felt much safer for all concerned. For safety reasons, vehicles should not be using any part of the school site to turn around on Greens Lane. Your cooperation is greatly appreciated.
Your support in a couple of further areas would be welcomed. Students have been informed that they will be expected to wear face coverings on public transport. Whilst this is not compulsory on school buses, it would help students protect each other. Students travelling on buses available to members of the public must wear a face covering. In addition, it would be extremely helpful if students could carry hand sanitiser on their person wherever possible and use this regularly in school. Given that these are two strategies that students can adopt to keep themselves and others safe, we would really appreciate your support in discussing these issues with your child(ren), where appropriate.
If students are required to self-isolate as a direct result of the pandemic we will provide work. I am sure you understand that this may well present a number of logistical challenges in the coming weeks. For the first 48 hours, students will be directed to work in each subject via our school website. From the third day, class teachers will provide work for students in their classes. It would be appreciated if parents and students didn’t contact individual teachers directly about setting work. Any individual concerns should be directed to subject/curriculum leaders or more general concerns to the relevant head of year. Again, your support is greatly appreciated.
Best wishes
Mark Jackson
Headteacher