Covid-19 Daily Update
Dear Parents / Carers,
Please find below our daily guidance update for COVID -19.
As you are aware in yesterday’s Government briefing, the guidance relating to the outbreak has changed.
The latest government guidance can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/coronavirus-covid-19-information-for-the-public
We will monitor the situation closely and adhere to guidance as it is issued from government and continue to keep you informed with updates via ParentMail.
Please only contact the school if it is essential to do so – most of the information you require will be outlined below.
Self-Isolation
· Staff 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. People displaying symptoms, must stay at home and not leave the house for 14 days.
· The public have been advised that is likely that people living within a household will infect each other or be infected already, and therefore all household members must self-isolate for 14 days. All household members staying at home for 14 days will greatly reduce the overall amount of infection the household could pass on to others in the community.
· Staff and children not displaying symptoms, and not living or sharing accommodation with a person with symptoms, should attend education or work as normal.
· Staff, children who become unwell on site with a new, continuous cough or a high temperature will be sent home. We will contact you immediately if we suspect your child has symptoms.
Please alert the school if you are self-isolating so that we can monitor the situation. Parents, pupils and staff need to follow the latest government advice which is to stay at home for 14 days.
Please note that in order to protect others in our community no pupils should return to school before the full 14 days isolation is complete.
School work
As a school we will try to set work for those self-isolating through Google Classrooms. Students should have already subscribed to Google Classrooms and be familiar with its use. As a parent or carer, you should have already received an invitation email some time ago inviting you to join Google Classrooms. This will enable you to see an overview of work set by individual teachers. We will resend this information out, or provide the classroom codes, as soon as possible. Please note that there is also a smartphone app that supports the Google Classrooms service – access to a computer is not essential.
KS4 Students work
Students completing KS4 work can also complete additional tasks on SENECA and access the BBC Bitesize website to continue their studies. Year 11 students can complete their own independent revision that should already be underway, and also utilise their ELEVATE folders to check progress in preparing for the summer examinations.
GCSE Exams
We continue to recognise that pupils and parents will be concerned about the potential impact on GCSE exams. We will await guidance from Ofqual and provide an update as soon as we are made aware of any changes. At present all examination dates will continue as planned, and students should be preparing for them, to the best of their ability. There is a degree of speculation in the media about exams being cancelled – this is currently not the case.
Visitors to School
Only essential visitors will be allowed onto the school site at this time. If you have a meeting booked please assume that this will be going ahead unless you hear otherwise. Post 16 Interviews being held on site will be cancelled and rescheduled for a later date.
Within the school we are taking additional measures to protect our Hastings family, and have increased sanitisation measures on site and are continuing to encourage frequent handwashing and hygiene by students. With your continued cooperation we can hopefully reduce the transmission of the virus within the school and reduce risk within the local community. We appreciate your continued support.
Yours sincerely,
Miss C. Bradley and Mr. S shipman
Co-Headteachers