Letters

I hope you are all well and you and your children are looking forward to a restful summer with greater potential than the months of late. I know staff and students alike are certainly ready for a break and a period without an early alarm clock.

I apologise for the length of this letter but feel this an appropriate time of the year to share updates on a number of issues to ensure clear communication.

I am writing this letter to inform you of the Academy’s completion of its internal quality assurance process, and the completion of our part working with the examination bodies in conducting their external quality assurance processes.

All GCSE and ‘A’ level art students who completed their studies in July 2020 can now collect their work. All art work has now been released and can be collected from main reception up until Wednesday 30 June 2021.

As lockdown eases, taking a rapid COVID-19 test twice a week, even if you do not have symptoms, will help us stay ahead of the spread of the virus, particularly as new strains appear.

As you will be aware the government announced plans to continue the roadmap plans on Monday. Therefore with effect from Monday 17 May 2021 face coverings will no longer be required for students in classrooms or communal areas in all schools, and for staff in classrooms.

I would like to invite you to attend our Year 10 Parent Review Evening on Wednesday 19th May. The school has introduced a new intuitive and easy to use online appointment booking system. This allows you to choose your own appointment times with teachers and you will receive an email confirming your appointments. We are confident this will be an improvement to the previous system and welcome any feedback.

Thank you for supporting the academy on our return, over the last few weeks. Students are punctual, dressed smartly in appropriate uniform, arriving well equipped and the majority are very focused and ready for learning. Students are appreciating being back in the academy with their peers and respecting the Covid requirements.

I hope you have had a restful two weeks and are looking forward to our return on Monday 12th April. This communication is to clarify the expectation for all students and staff to continue to wear face masks in lessons and all communal spaces as we were at the academy prior to the Easter break.

Firstly, I would like to say a huge thank you, to you all, for your support over the challenging past few months. Parents, carers and students alike have all adapted and taken on board the changes that we have had to make and supported the academy so much during an incredibly tough time.

Another wonderful week of having students back in the academy and learning in a calm and positive environment with minimum fuss about the increased Covid requirements and expectations. This week all students have received a virtual welcome back assembly from me and thanked for their positive return.

As promised, today’s communication is in relation to the delivery, distribution and completion of lateral flow home testing. Students will receive their third supervised test this week and therefore the distribution of home testing kits will begin to be rolled out for each year group as tested. Please can I advise that all students bring a bag to the academy this week, if they do not already, as advised, to be able to transport their test kits and guidance home safely without it falling out of blazer or coat pocket.

Thank you for supporting us in such a smooth transition back to the academy over the last week. Students have arrived ready for study and completed lateral flow testing calmly and efficiently by carefully following instructions and listening to staff.

We have a confirmed positive COVID-19 case in the academy this morning identified through a Lateral Flow Test. We have followed PHE and DfE National Guidance, which we must adhere to and is in line with the Academy Risk Assessment to identify a small number of students who have been in close contact with the confirmed case. These students will need to stay at home to self-isolate for 10 days until Thursday 18 March 2021 inclusive and return to the academy on Friday 19 March 2021.

I hope you are all well and your children are as excited about returning to the academy as we are to have them back. I am very much looking forward to us re-establishing our academy relationships and community and moving forward.

I am writing to update you as promised regarding the full return to the academy week commencing Monday 8 March 2021.

Education Secretary Gavin Williamson has written an open letter to parents, carers and guardians following the news that all primary schools, secondary secondary schools, special and alternative provision schools, colleges and further education settings will be opening to all pupils from 8 March as part of the Government's plans to lift the restrictions imposed on society due to COVID-19.

I hope you are well and pleased to hear Boris Johnson’s announcement last night that all students will be returning to school from Monday 8 March. To enable us to plan for the safe return of students and to complete the testing processes necessary, we require your consent if you are prepared for your child(ren) to be tested.

I would like to say a big thank you to all of our students for their hard work and resilience with on-line learning over the last 6 weeks. The students attending the academy have remained positive, polite and engaged even during a very cold and snowy week when I’m sure they would have preferred to have been at home with ‘snow days’.

I hope you are all well, safe and that home learning continues to thrive. I thought I would start by sharing a positive and thank your child for their commitment to the work they are completing both remotely and in responding to challenges set. Thank you also for supporting both them and us to do the best that we can.

I hope you are all well and safe and that home learning continues to thrive. I thought I would start by sharing a positive and thank your child for their commitment to the work they are completing both remotely and in responding to challenges set.

Following our recent communications regarding cancellation of examinations in February/March 2021 for NCFE and BTEC, we would like to confirm that Set Date Examinations for CeFE Unit 3 (Life) has now been included in this list.

I hope you are all safe and well and are able to access our remote offer with success. The attendance and engagement from students continues to be strong and where issues have arisen are being addressed quickly by individual teachers, tutors, pastoral staff and the ICT team.

Following on from the DfE announcements made on 12th January that scheduled assessments for vocational and technical qualifications will not take place in February or March this year, we are now able to confirm that this also now includes NCFE qualifications.

As I am sure you are aware, the DfE have tasked secondary schools with completing mass testing for asymptomatic cases of Covid-19 for all staff and students within the academy. For the vast majority of students, this will be when they return following lockdown and we will update you as to when we have further information on this return.

I hope you are well and that the interesting and variable start to education this term is not causing too many frustrations. We have found students to be engaged, keen, ready and excited about learning both virtually and in the building. Can I apologise to those who were effected on Wednesday afternoon into Thursday morning for the lack of connectivity and therefore hindrance of some ‘face to face’ teaching, however all lessons resources are now in Class Charts for you to access. Hopefully the server issues we had are now rectified.

Following the further government update announced by the Prime Minister last night, the following are the amended arrangements as of Wednesday 6th January until 12th February (half term). Please note that this information is subject to change in line with government guidance and any updates will be communicated via the website as usual. I will endeavour to post a weekly update via the academy website as I have been doing since the first lockdown in March.

Firstly, I would like to wish you all a Happy New Year and hope that I hope this letter finds you and your families well and that you have enjoyed a peaceful Christmas.

We have been advised by Public Health England that there have been confirmed cases of COVID-19 within the academy.