6 October 2020

 

Dear Parent/Guardian

You will have received a letter on Sunday outlining the actions the school has had to take due to the first positive coronavirus case in school. 

 

As soon as the school was made aware of the positive diagnosis, we immediately worked with Public Health Wales to determine the action that needed to be taken for the safety of all staff and students. 

 

With the increase in the number of national reported cases, increase in testing and the increased ‘local lockdowns’ in Wales it is unfortunate that we are likely to see more positive test results and will need to manage this in a professional way.

 

To reassure parents I would like to remind you of the measures we have taken to date, and will continue to take to minimise the transmission of COVID-19:

 

• Strict hygiene measures are in place at the school. These include hand gel dispensers in all classrooms and additional cleaners working throughout the day to disinfect all touch areas, toilets etc.  In addition we have disinfectant wipes/spray in all classrooms for equipment to be cleaned at the start and end of lessons.

• All staff are required to maintain 2m social distance, in classrooms (unless they are supporting a learner and wearing a mask).  In this instance, this has meant that no member of staff is now needing to self-isolate and teaching can continue for time tabled lessons.
• Pupils have split breaks and lunches and are only in contact with their year group during these times.
• Seating plans are in place across the school.
• All pupils and adults are expected to wear masks in corridors and spaces where social distancing is impossible.
• Classrooms are well ventilated hence the request that pupils wear coats to school as in cold weather they will be allowed to wear their coats in classrooms.
• There is a one way system in place which allows for pupils/staff to move but not come into face to face contact. This is essential in secondary schools, as pupils have to move between lessons to access the curriculum. 
   

We have received a number of emails about the above and wanted to reassure you with regards to social distancing in a large secondary school.  We remind all parents that it is impossible for students to maintain the 2m social distance both within and outside of the classroom.  This was only possible at the end of the summer term as we only had a limited number of pupils in at any one time. 

 

Our aim now is to provide as much of a normal day and experience for pupils as possible within the Welsh Government guidelines.

 

For those students who have been asked to self-isolate Mr Francis has sent out details of the online learning available.  If you have any queries please contact the relevant Progress Leader.

 

As you are aware we are continually modifying our in school arrangements and most recently have staggered our finish time to ensure the safe exit of pupils.  Next week we will be updating timetables to allow pupils to have access to more practical subjects e.g. Science which forms part of their exam assessment at KS3, 4 & 5.  To do this all pupils will be issued with a new timetable.  Pupils will remain in their class ‘bubbles’ but move between lessons to access all specialist/subject areas.

 

If you require any further information/clarification please contact the school using the normal school phone number until 4pm and after this time and at weekends please contact via the whole school email address available on the website. This is monitored at all times.   Please do not use ‘Facebook’ as a means of communication as this can lead to unintended upset.

 

As a school we really value that we are able to work together as a whole community to ensure that we can provide the best possible provision for all of our stakeholders.

 

Thank you for your continued support in these highly challenging times.

 

Yours faithfully 

F K Greville

Headteacher

                   

Plan for September (updated)

School Risk Assessment

 

 

Click here to see an archived list of all prior Coronavirus updates we have placed on our homepage.

Click here to see a list of other resources that may be useful to carers/students during the Coronavirus

 

https://www.thinkuknow.co.uk/parents/articles/theres-a-viral-scare-online-what-should-I-do/