12 March 2021
Dear Parent/Carer,
It has been wonderful to welcome our students back into school this week and see our academies bustling with cheerful young people.
Even though we are only a few days in I can already see the positive impact that the return to school is having. However, I am very aware that education guidance and recommendations are being regularly updated and that may be causing some anxiety.
That’s why I wanted to write to you to reassure you of the steps that we are taking across the Trust to continue to keep our students and staff as safe as possible.
The latest guidance for schools can be found here and in line with this, each of our academies within the Trust has reviewed their risk assessments, policies and procedures to ensure that distancing is maintained, face coverings are worn, and testing can be completed. I would also like to reassure you that the safety of our young people is our absolute priority as a Trust, and is at the heart of every decision we have taken.
In our secondary academies, testing is being carried out in line with the government guidance and any results are reported and appropriate steps taken for isolation, while in our primary academies testing for pupils does not take place, again in line with the guidance. However we continue to take all appropriate steps for any positive cases, to ensure children remain safe while not having their learning affected.
We continue to ask that our young people and our staff within our secondary academies wear face coverings in line with the government recommendations, which can be found here. This is not mandatory, but we hope that by asking this, we are continuing to take all precautions to keep everyone as safe as possible. Within our primary academies we have asked staff to wear face coverings in line with the government recommendations. We will regularly review this policy, taking feedback from staff, students and parents and carers, to ensure our young people and staff feel as safe in school as possible.
We have also introduced an enhanced cleaning regime across all of our schools, including cleaning frequently cleaned surfaces often, in order to ensure that school sites remain as safe as possible.
In addition to our young people’s physical wellbeing, we have also taken steps to safeguard their mental health. That’s why we have introduced additional pastoral support across our academies, and will ensure we provide regular reminders of the support our pupils can access.
Finally, I would like to highlight that while we are taking every precaution we can as an academy trust, we are also reliant on you and your children taking sensible precautions in your everyday lives to ensure the risk of transmission is as low as possible. Please continue to follow Government guidelines, maintain social distancing in public spaces wherever possible, and wash your hands thoroughly when returning home. It is by working together and sticking to this guidance that we will protect our young people and ensure they are able to receive the best possible education.
If you do have any questions or concerns about a school policy, please do contact the school office and a member of staff would be delighted to speak to you in more detail to put your mind at rest.
Yours sincerely
Sarah Findlay-Cobb