Welcome back after the half-term break. I hope you survived the storms unscathed!
I wanted to update you on a few things in this week's bulletin.
As I am sure you are aware, all restrictions regarding Covid have now been lifted and we have moved into the 'living with Covid' plan. From the 24th of February 2022 this means:
- People who test positive for COVID will no longer be bound by law to self-isolate.
- However, the current advice is that adults and children who test positive for Covid following a test are advised to stay at home and avoid contact with other people. After 5 days, they may choose to take a Lateral Flow Test followed by another the next day. If they are negative, and they do not have a temperature, they can safely return to their normal routine. Those who test positive should avoid contact with anyone in an at risk group, including if they live in the same household.
- Vaccinated contacts of people who have tested positive will no longer be asked to do daily lateral flow tests for seven days.
- Contact tracing will end.
- Support payments for people who would have previously self-isolated with COVID will end.
- Businesses (schools) will no longer be legally required to tell staff to self-isolate if they have COVID
However pupils and staff in SEN settings are still being requested to test twice weekly, hopefully this means that tests will continue to be provided free of charge at least in the short term.
I expect you may feel, like many of us, both relieved that there is a relaxation in the law, but anxious about what this means for us and our loved ones regarding becoming infected with Covid. As a school, we will continue to advise staff and pupils who have the virus to self-isolate, but we cannot insist on this.
We will still be encouraging good hand hygiene and we request that if pupils have cough and cold symptoms that they stay at home till they are well as LFT (Lateral Flow Tests) should not be used where symptoms are present. Any pupils who are in school and have a cough or cold we may ask them (with their agreement) to wear a face mask
Website
We are completing a lot of work on our website at the moment to make sure what we are actually doing in school matches what is said there. You may notice a new curriculum tab (currently under construction) where you can see what we plan to teach your child. This is called the curriculum 'Intent'.
How we teach, 'Implementation', will be explained by the different Faculty / Subject areas.
The 'Impact' of all of this should then be seen via our Evidence for Learning reports that are shared with families.
We are also working on streamlining the website and this work has been ongoing for some time. We are aware there is a lot of useful information, but it's sometimes hard to find what you are looking for.
Farewell
Following a restructure of our Welfare Team, Debby Gleed-Young, our Home Liaison Officer, has decided to take voluntary redundancy and will be leaving us at the end of this term.
I'm sure those of you that have been supported by Debby will join me in thanking her for her service and wish her every success in the next chapter of her career.
Bullying
Sadly, I need to inform you that there is a small group of pupils who are bullying other pupils in school. We are working with these pupils to help them change their behaviour and, where appropriate, we are putting sanctions in place for any bullying incidents we are aware of. We are also working with the Metropolitan Police regarding this matter as this behaviour is unacceptable.
Please be aware that much of the bullying is taking place online and via social media. This is a serious crime and, as such, any pupil who participates will be at risk of Police action being taken against them.
As families, please be mindful of how your child is using their device.
Please join us in signing Katie Price's petition regarding online bullying. You can find the link below:
Best wishes to you all for the weekend.
