This advice is updated regularly and is based on the current evidence from both PHE and the World Health Organisation. We have taken the following precautions;

Parents Evenings will be postponed until further notice.

Sporting activities have been suspended.

All after school activities are currently suspended.

We are reviewing all trips and are looking at them on an individual basis, we will contact all parents about which trips are cancelled and which ones are being postponed if they directly involve your child.

Staff have been preparing work to put on Show My Homework. We have been checking who can log onto SMHW and re setting passwords and accounts. We are planning that this will be our platform for setting work for students to complete.

Some paper based activities have already been given out.

As I am sure you understand, this situation is ever changing and we are working hard to safeguard students, staff and the wider community.

The most up to date advice for education settings states that;

“Staff, young people and children should stay at home if they are unwell with a new, continuous cough or a high temperature to avoid spreading infection to others. Otherwise they should attend education or work as normal.

If staff, young people or children become unwell on site with a new, continuous cough or a high temperature they should be sent home.

We are cleaning and disinfecting regularly touched objects and surfaces more often than usual using our standard cleaning products.”

It is really important that we all follow the advice from PHE that has been amended; the advice is that:

“If you live with others and you or one of them have symptoms of coronavirus, then all household members must stay at home and not leave the house for 14 days. The 14-day period starts from the day when the first person in the house became ill.

If anyone is self-isolating in your household please do not send your child to school.

It is likely that people living within a household will infect each other or be infected already. Staying at home for 14 days will greatly reduce the overall amount of infection the household could pass on to others in the community.

For anyone in the household who starts displaying symptoms, they need to stay at home for 7 days from when the symptoms appeared, regardless of what day they are on in the original 14 day isolation period.”

We recognise that students, parents, schools and colleges will be concerned about the possible impact of coronavirus on the 2020 summer exam series. Ofqual’s advice at this time is to continue to prepare for exams and other assessments as normal. For those students sitting external examinations this academic year, the exam contingency date is 24 June 2020. This means that all exam candidates must be available to sit exams from the date of their first exam until Wednesday 24 June 2020. This decision is not a school decision and applies to all students in all schools. We will keep you informed as soon as we have any further information.

These are unprecedented times and I would like thank everyone for their cooperation and support in this matter,

Yours sincerely

Mark Bellamy