Year 9 Return to school – Friday 10th July 2020
Dear parents/guardians,
Further to my letter from the 19th June, thank you to all parents for responding to our survey about the return of Year 9 to school. I am now able to confirm the plans in place for welcoming Year 9 back into school. We are looking forward to welcoming back 60% of the year group into school, based on the survey. We have carefully created three bubbles, comprising of two tutor groups in bubbles 1 and 2 and one tutor group in bubble 3, so that no more than one quarter of the year group will be in at any one time. This is in line with the latest guidance from the DfE, Cheshire West and Chester and Public Health England.
On Friday 10th July, we will be inviting students into school for a socially distanced assembly with myself, Progress Leaders and tutors where possible. The purpose of this is to enable us to reconnect with students, to reassure as much as we can about plans for the future and to help students start to make some sense of everything that has taken place over the last few months due to Covid19. This will last half an hour, taking place in the main hall at the times below, with students entering through the following places;
9.00 – 9.30am |
Bubble 1 |
9 Grey (Main entrance) 13 students |
9 Navy (Auckland Road entrance) 15 students |
10.00 – 10.30am |
Bubble 2 |
9 Purple (Main entrance) 15 students |
9 Turquoise (Auckland Road entrance) 13 students |
11.00 – 11.30am |
Bubble 3 |
9 Royal (Main entrance) 14 students |
|
All students whose parents have requested that they return to school, have been allocated to a bubble. There will be no opportunity to change bubbles once allocated in order to minimise the risk. Students may wear their own clothes on this occasion only and they must be appropriate and suitable.
Staff have also added audio resources for each subject to supplement the work available on Google Classroom and these are available for all year groups, to support students as they continue to work from home. I would ask that you encourage your child to access the resources as much as they can over the last few weeks of term.
There will be no more than 1 bubble in school at any time, which is one quarter of the year group, in line with the guidelines and they will not come into contact with the Year 10 students who have returned to school and the group of critical and key workers already in school. Year 9 will be in the hall on chairs which are 2 metres apart to ensure social distancing. The rooms used by students in school will be cleaned each day in between meetings. Additional cleaning of surfaces, door handles and rails will take place throughout the day and students will use hand sanitiser upon arrival and departure from school.
Please find attached some additional documents to support with the return to school;
We also have a detailed risk assessment which outlines all of the measures taken to minimise risk and to ensure that everyone is safe in school which has been reviewed by the senior leadership team, staff and Governors. This is updated weekly and is available on the school website. Paper copies can be requested from the school office upon request. The checklists attached, are one of the ways in which we ensure that practice on the ground, supports the actions identified in the risk assessment.
I understand that this is an anxious time for parents, students and staff and would like to reassure you that the safety and well-being of everyone both in school and in our community, is our top priority. We will issue information about September as soon as we have it as we are currently waiting for guidance due to be released at the end of this week.
If you have any questions regarding Year 9 returning to school next week, please email Year 9 Progress Leader rhaydock@blaconhigh.cheshire.sch.uk
Finally, I urge you to remain safe and continue to follow the Government guidelines. We are all missing the students and look forward to seeing them again very soon.
Regards,
Rachel Hudson
Headteacher