Dear Parents & Carers
As you will be aware, new restrictions have been placed across England from today due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Guidance to schools was issued last night. One of the major changes is to insist that all students wear face coverings in communal areas of secondary schools, except where students are exempt for medical reasons. You will be aware that we introduced this policy some weeks ago, so aside from an increased emphasis on compliance, this change in the guidance should make little difference to what we already do in the Academy. Please ensure that your child comes to school equipped with an appropriate face covering.
The other major change within the guidance is to prohibit all after school activities that are not directly related to providing childcare. Unfortunately, this means that all of our after-school sports clubs, revision sessions, homework clubs and extra-curricular activities will be suspended for the duration of these restrictions. This does not include after school detentions as these are a compulsory part of the school day and not an after-school activity. We place great emphasis on the importance of extra-curricular activities here at the Academy, and are proud of the wide, varied offer and exceptionally high take up rates that we usually have. We hope that this restriction will be lifted in the coming weeks, so that we can safely resume our after-school offer.
I would like to thank the school community for the fantastic way in which they have responded to the challenges placed upon us by the pandemic. Please continue to re-enforce the importance of social distancing and hand sanitisation with your children, so that we can continue to keep our school community safe.
Yours sincerely
Mr D Bird
Headteacher