Dear Parents/Carers,

Thank you for all your messages of support and feedback this week. Since I wrote to you on Monday to inform you of the school closure, we have had 5 further positive cases of Covid-19; 1 teacher, 2 members of support staff, one student in Year 9 and one student in Year 10. As a result of these cases, 30 further students are now isolating along with 7 members of staff. All of the affected students and staff have been contacted and informed of the requirement for their isolation along with the length of time.

We have been so proud of the way students returned to school following the national lockdown and the need for the school community to adapt to a new way of working. We know from Public Health that there has been an increase in the number of cases across Cheshire West and Chester and we have seen this within our community.

We have been working closely with Public Health to ensure that all of our systems to protect staff and students are rigorous and robust. Within school, we have a clear track and trace system, which enables us to identify students and staff as direct contacts for any positive cases. I ask you to continue to work with us to ensure that everyone is safe. If your child is unwell and has any of the 3 Covid symptoms, they should not come in to school. Please book a test and ensure that all members of the household isolate until the result is received. It is essential that you inform school as soon as there is a positive result, telling us the first day of the Covid symptoms so that we can track and trace 48 hours before this date. You can notify the school of this by emailing admin@blaconhigh.cheshire.sch.uk or contacting us via the Study Bugs app. We ask that you continue to do this throughout half term so that we can take all of the necessary steps to keep everyone safe.

Please do ensure that we have up to date contact details so that in the event of a positive case in school, we can contact you swiftly. Do not be concerned if your child has been in a class with a positive case and not sent home – we identify all those who have been within 2 metres of the positive case as instructed by Public Health. Staff have a 2 metre allocation in every classroom and whilst this is not the usual way of teaching, it allows us to keep everyone safe and will reduce the impact on staffing. In the last week, due to Covid related absence (some linked to direct contacts within school but a significant proportion linked to Covid outside school), we were in a position where we were unable to staff the school in a safe and effective way.

We are delighted with the way that students and parents have embraced remote learning and are grateful to parents for all their support. The expectation is for students to engage in their work each day until Friday 23rd October before taking a break for half term. Although, for students preparing for GCSEs next year, we would encourage students to continue with their work where possible, to help prepare for the summer examinations.

Thank you to all our staff, students, parents and carers who have been following the safety measures we’ve put in place to help reduce the transmission of COVID-19.

At the end of September, the Director of Public Health for Cheshire West and Chester Council introduced some additional measures for schools to follow to help reduce COVID-19 transmission rates in our community. We know that the virus is easily transmitted from person to person so it’s important that everyone continues to play their part and follow these measures to help keep our community, friends, family and neighbours safe.

The measures include:

- All adults to wear a face covering when visiting or entering the school premises including corridors and outdoor areas.

- Parents/carers to arrive and leave promptly when dropping off/collecting their child – please do not congregate and maintain social distancing.

- Only one adult is allowed to attend meetings and only essential meetings will take place in the building, all others to take place by phone.

- Young people to avoid congregating outside school and mixing with other schools and should go directly home.

As we’re now in COVID alert level high, you can no longer socialise indoors with anyone who doesn’t live within your household. This means that outside of school, students from class or year group bubbles cannot mix indoors either.

The Council has received reports of some young people congregating in some communities after school has finished. It’s important that we all play our part to turn this around. Please ensure that your child is aware of the measures set out and why it’s so important that they follow them. As West Cheshire has now moved into a high Covid alert level, both adults and students in Year 7 and above are required to wear face coverings outside of classrooms when moving around communal areas where social distancing is difficult to maintain, such as in corridors.

It is the responsibility of each student to bring a mask each day, along with the equipment needed for each lesson. Please be aware of the impact of disposable masks on the environment and we would encourage the use of reusable masks where possible. Masks will be available for sale from the school reception along with equipment for students to top up the pencil case issued at the start of term:

- 50p for a disposable mask

- £2.50 for a reusable mask

- 10p for a pen

- 5p for a rubber

- 10p for a pencil

- 20p for a ruler

- 50p for a highlighter

Food during the holidays

Support is available to all families who need it and emergency food will be available on Monday, Tuesday and Thursday morning from 10:00 – 12:00 at Holy Trinity Church Hall during half term.

Please continue to look at the recent news feed for the ‘Headteacher’s Updates’ and I will send out further updates towards the end of half term. We are looking forward to ALL students returning on Monday 2nd November. Thank you again for your support in these challenging times. Please continue to look after yourselves and each other, by following the rules and staying safe. I enclose a letter from Public Health from Cheshire West and Chester, reminding parents of the guidance to follow at this time.

Cheshire West and Chester Letter to Parents 

Yours sincerely,

Mrs Rachel Hudson

Headteacher