CO-HEADTEACHERS’ UPDATE 26/02/2021

Dear Parent/Guardian

Following the government’s announcement on 22 February that all schools are to re-open for all year groups the week beginning 8th March, we are delighted to share with you our re-opening plans.  Planning the lateral flow testing for every student has been a logistical challenge, as tests 1 and 2 must be between three and five days apart.  Year 11 and 13 are priority groups as they are sitting PPEs this half term, which means the younger year groups are later in returning to school for face to face teaching.

Asymptomatic Lateral Flow Testing schedule (LFT)
Consent forms will be emailed tomorrow along with information regarding timings for the LFT tests.

Return to school for face to face lessons

 

Date when face to face lessons begin	Year Group
Monday 8th March	Year 9, 10, 11, 12 and 13
Thursday 11th March	Year 7
Friday 12th March	Year 8

 

Year 7 will continue to have live lessons on Monday 8th March and Tuesday 9th March.
Year 8 with continue to have live lessons from Monday 8th March to Wednesday 10th March.

On the day of your daughter’s first test, there will be no lessons, live or remote for that year group as students are coming and going for their appointments and lessons will be disrupted.  Students could use this time to finish off work and download work saved on TEAMs in preparation for their face to face teaching the week after.

Key Worker Supervision – week beg 8th March
There will only be key worker supervision for Year 7 and 8 students this week.  Year 7 will be from Monday to Wednesday and Year 8 will be Monday to Thursday.  This provision is only for students who are currently coming into school as part of our key worker supervision.  We are unable to take on more students this week as our staff are now teaching face to face.

Bubbles
Each year group continues to be a bubble and the aim of our plan is to keep year groups separate as much as possible. We will continue to use our well established one-way systems around the school.

Travel to school
The government advise that students should walk or cycle to school.  However, if this is not possible we ask that parents drop off their daughters/sons as usual in Jubilee Avenue to avoid congestion and help maintain social distancing along Holt Lane.

Arrival to school
We recognise that many of our students arrive to school using school or public transport as well as on foot/by car and this therefore naturally presents a staggered arrival to school.

On arrival at school, Key Stage 3 students are to go straight to their respective marquees and wait for instructions from a Head of Year to go to their form room.  Key Stage 4 students can go straight into their form room on arrival.  Key Stage 5 students should only be in school for their lessons because they are unable to use the common room.  This will be reviewed after Easter.

Assemblies will continue to be held via TEAMS and this will be reviewed after Easter. Personal tutoring sessions for the sixth form will go back to being face to face rather than on TEAMS as this is better for staff and students.

Lessons
We are continuing with our shortened day for the rest of the school year.  This enables us to offer staggered breaks and lunch as per government guidance.   As a reminder here is the school day schedule that has been in place since September.

Key Stage 3

Time	Session
8:40am – 9:00am	Registration
9:00am – 10:00am	Period 1
10:00am – 10:30am	Break
10:30am – 11:30am	Period 2
11:30am – 12:30pm	Period 3
12:30pm – 1:00pm	Lunch
1:00pm – 2:00pm	Period 4
2:00pm – 3:00pm	Period 5
After school from 3pm	Clubs by year group, catch up sessions or detentions

 

Key Stage 4

Time	Session
8:40am – 9:00am	Registration
9:00am – 10:00am	Period 1
10:00am – 11:00am	Period 2
11:00am – 11:30am	Break
11:30am – 12:30pm	Period 3
12:30pm – 1:30pm	Period 4
1:30pm – 2:00pm	Lunch
2:00pm – 3:00pm	Period 5
After school from 3pm	Clubs by year group, catch up sessions or detentions

 

Key Stage 5

 

Time	Session
8:40am – 9:00am	Personal tutoring sessions – face to face as per timetable
9:00am – 10:00am	Period 1
10:00am – 11:00am	Period 2
11:00am – 11:30am	Break – students can use the sixth form centre if they have lessons period 2 and 3
11:30am – 12:30pm	Period 3
12:30pm – 1:30pm	Period 4
1:30pm – 2:00pm	Lunch – students can use the sixth form centre if they have a lesson period 4 and 5
2:00pm – 3:00pm	Period 5
Students should only come into school for their lessons. Students can use the sixth form study room if they have gaps between lessons.	Sixth form kitchen facilities will remain closed apart from the hot water urn. The study room in sixth form will be open as usual until 5:50pm. These arrangements will be reviewed at Easter with a view to relaxing some of these measures.

During the LFT period (Monday 8th March to Monday 22nd March), students should come to school in their PE kit on the days they have PE.  This is because the gym and hall are being used for exams and the sports hall is being used for LFT and therefore there are no changing facilities.

Public Exams
We are expecting an update from the DFE on Thursday on how GCSE and A level grades will be determined and we will be in touch on Monday with more information.

PPE (mock) exams
Year 11 start their PPE exams on Monday 8th March as per timetable being sent out tomorrow with venues and seats.
Year 13 start their PPE exams on Monday 22nd March.  Timetables, venues and seats will be sent out shortly.
Year 10 POR PPE exam is on Thursday 25th March.

Face masks must be worn by all students sitting exams as they enter the exam hall.  Once at their desk, they may remove their mask if they wish as desks are forward facing, 1.25m apart and there will be maximum ventilation.

Study leave for Year 11
In order to support Year 11 for their exams starting on the Monday 8th March, we have decided to grant them study leave from Tuesday 2nd March to Friday 5th March.  This means there will be no live lessons or remote lessons set for this period.  We just ask that students come into school for their LFT.

Lunch and Break Arrangements
Government advice remains that students should be outside as much as possible to reduce community transmission.  This will be the case for both break and lunch times.  Students are to go to their designated marquee for the remainder of this term.  We will write to you again regarding summer arrangements for break and lunchtimes.

Chartwells, our catering provider, will recommence their ‘grab and go service’ and the rota will continue as per last term.  Please note that we are still unable to provide breakfast but will let you know when this changes.

For sixth form students, Chartwells will continue to take pre orders via the app service for deliveries direct to the sixth form centre.

Toilets and cleaning
We are continuing with our additional cleaning of toilets and contact points (e.g. handles and doors) on a rolling programme throughout the day.  There are also hand sanitiser stations installed throughout the school and in every classroom.

Face masks
As per government guidance, students should continue to wear face coverings when moving around the school site, outside of classroom such as corridors and communal areas, where social distancing cannot easily be maintained.

Additionally from March 8th, as per government guidance students should now wear face masks in their classroom, unless social distancing can be maintained.  This does not apply in situations where wearing a face covering would impact on the ability to take part in exercise or strenuous activity, for example in PE lessons.   This additional precautionary measure is for a limited time and as with all measures this will be kept under review.

Equipment
Staff are still unable to lend stationery and students should not share equipment. Therefore, your daughter/son needs to come to school with a suitably stocked pencil case with the following items

• Pens/ pencils
• Highlighter
• Rubber
• Sharpener
• Glue stick
• 30cm ruler
• Protractor
• Compass
• Calculator
• Colour pencils
• Books for the day
• Whiteboards (which we have provided for all students along with a mini whiteboard pen)
• Headphones for MFL and music lessons. They need to be wired with a standard 3.5mm audio jack.  AirPods are not compatible with the school computers.

Lockers

• In order to avoid bubbles mixing, we are still unable to allocate lockers for now. Students need to make sure they have the correct equipment for the day including their PE kit and technology equipment/food ingredients where applicable.  To minimise the amount of equipment students have to carry, we recommend the use of a ‘day folder’ that contains all the notes that students need for that day.  This is more applicable to KS4 students.

 

Behaviour

• Students will return to school in full uniform – see attached as a reminder. This includes rules for hair, make up and jewellery as well as tights as we are still in winter rules until the end of this term.   As the weather is milder there is no need for students to wear additional socks over their tights.  Hoodies are not part of our school uniform and must not be worn, however, if a classroom is chilly due to windows being open for ventilation, students may wear their coats for the rest of this term if they are cold.
• Detentions
  • All detentions will be after school at 3.00 pm due to the reduced length of lunchtime.
    • 15 mins detentions for forgotten equipment
    • 30 mins detentions for forgotten PE kits and food tech ingredients.
    • One hour detention for forgotten home learning
    • One hour detention if your daughter is sent to the silence room.
  • Attendance/late detentions – after school 10 mins

Extra-curricular clubs, trips and visits

• There are no PE fixtures planned for at least the rest of this term and some music clubs will be limited. However, some bubble based extracurricular activities will still run but these will be after school due to the shortened lunchtime.   The extra-curricular timetable will be on the website shortly.

Attendance
Attendance to school is compulsory with the usual arrangements in place; if your daughter/son is unwell please email absence@holt.wokingham.sch.uk.

Track and Trace and Managing Confirmed Cases 

• In the event of a suspected/Covid case we will follow the latest government guidance for track and trace.
• If your daughter/son has any Covid symptoms, please do not send them to school but book a test through the NHS website.
• If any member of your household tests positive for Covid, you and your household need to self-isolate for 10 full days. Please inform school if your daughter/son has tested positive or is self-isolating.

Visitors on site
Unfortunately, we are unable to accommodate visitors/parents on the school site at any time unless invited by the school.

Parent Information Evenings/Parent Evenings 

• We will continue to deliver scheduled calendared evening events through TEAMS.

Risk assessment 

• The current Covid-19 risk assessment is on our website and has been updated for the reopening of school.

We realise that is such a lot of information to take in and despite the complications we are really excited to welcome our students and staff back in school and back to the start of normality…hopefully!   We thank you all for your support over this lockdown period – we have appreciated it.

Yours sincerely
Anne Kennedy and Katie Pearce
Co Headteachers