1.1.21
Dear Parent/ Carer,
I find myself in the exceptional position of communicating with you on New Year’s Day so firstly my best wishes for a peaceful and healthy start to this much needed new year – 2021. I hope you have been able to have some sort of a Christmas break.
When I last emailed on 18th December, we had received an update from the DfE about the expectations for the return of students in January. As you will be aware things have moved and changed over the last fortnight – as a result of the spread of the virus, especially in London and the South East. At the start of next week there will be a number of communications from us. Please look out for these.
As you are aware, there were two planned Inset days on the 4th & 5th January where students were not on site. We will now be using these days to plan for Remote Learning, onsite provision for Vulnerable and Key Worker children and to commence how we will roll out testing. You will receive various information regarding Remote Learning, provision for any students that will attend as normal, as well as the information we need to gather from you, to start testing.
All students will have access to Remote Learning from Wednesday 6th January. Following government guidance, Y11 & 13 learning will be prioritised with live lessons or an element of live teaching. All other year groups will have work set as per the timetable and some lessons will have live elements. On Monday 11th January it is expected that Y11 and 13 will return to the Academy and all other year groups will return on Monday 18th January. However the government has a Contingency plan for schools in areas where transmission of the virus is still very high, and have stated that there may not be a full return until later in January. We are instructed to follow the guidance from the government and will communicate any change to the proposed 18th January return date with you, as soon as we are informed.
As ever, thank you for your support.
Yours faithfully,
Mariella Ardron
Principal
