We are just writing to let you know some slight changes to the return to school information following some adjustments in the most recent guidance to schools.

We would like to thank all parents / carers for their ongoing support of the school in this current situation. Thank you to everyone that has attended the well-being meetings; from feedback given we know that many of you have found these extremely useful in supporting the return to school. You will see on our website there are many different services available to give additional support if required /190/latest-news/post/211/we039ve-heard-youa-review-of-contacts-and-parental-feedback

Our mass testing process has gone exceptionally well and we have so far seen over 92% of students attending for their first test. Given this high uptake and the efficency of the systems in place,  we are confident to move forward more quickly than we initially thought. We have therefore adjusted our plans to enable all students to return to face-to face teaching from Monday 15^th March.

 

The new timetable is shown below 

Year Group	Wellbeing meeting and test 1	Test 2 (Gym)	Test 3 (Gym)	Return to face-to-face teaching
11	Mon 8th Sports Hall	Thurs 11th 8.30am-12.30pm	Mon 15th 1.10-3.30pm	Monday 15th
10	Mon 8th CT/Gym	Thurs 11th 1-3.30pm	Tues 16th 8.30am-12.30pm	Monday 15th
9	Tues 9th Sports Hall	Fri 12th 8.30am-12.30pm	Tues 16th 1.10-3.30pm	Monday 15th
8	Tues 9Th CT/Gym	Fri 12th 1-3.30pm	Wed 17th 1.10-3.30pm	Monday 15th
7	Wed 10Th Sports Hall	Mon 15th 8.30am-12.30pm	Thurs 18th 1.10-3.30pm	Monday 15th following test

In addition to this when students undertake their third test, those that have consent for home testing will receive their first two weeks’ worth of tests with instructions on what needs to be undertaken. We will be contacting you later this week with more information about this and the links to sign up for the tests.

We have received information from Haringey about home testing kits for families. Please note school do not have the tests and will not be getting them, therefore please ensure you read the information about getting the tests. There is no need to contact the school about the tests other than if the test shows a positive result.  

NEW: Home testing kits available to families whose children attend education or is part of a childcare bubble/support bubble or households who live with education staff

1 in 3 people with COVID-19 do not show symptoms and could still pass the virus on to others. Regular home testing kits with lateral flow devices is therefore being extended from 1st March to include the entire household of primary and secondary pupils (including any childcare bubble or support bubble pupils might have). It is also being extended to include households of primary or secondary staff (including any childcare bubble or support bubble education staff might have). The tests should be taken twice weekly 3-4 days apart, with results reported to NHS Track and Trace. The home testing kits should only be used by those showing no symptoms of COVID-19. For more information, the guidance is available here.

There are different ways to access the home testing kits. One way is to collect the home testing kits from a PCR testing site in the borough. Those who are not able to collect home testing kits can place an order for them to be delivered to their home address. Those eligible to receive home testing kits can follow this link https://www.gov.uk/order-coronavirus-rapid-lateral-flow-tests which provides information on collection points and also gives the option of ordering the tests to be posted. This link takes you straight to a map with the collection points for home testing kits https://find-covid-19-rapid-test-sites.maps.test-and-trace.nhs.uk/. Please note that anyone collecting a home testing kit, can collect up to two kits. Each home testing kit contains 7 tests.

At the moment, the home testing programme does not include families or households of those attending early years settings. The home testing kits are only available to those who are members of a household, childcare bubble or support bubble of primary / secondary staff or pupils. Home testing kits are underway for staff in early years settings and an update will be made available as soon as the Government announces the guidance for this.

We genuinely appreciate the communication we have from our parent and carers. We are constantly reviewing our procedures and protocols but at no point will act with anything but the strongest focus on the safety of our students and staff team. The new timetable is a result of this and we hope will support parents and carers too. We hope these changes, and the continued high uptake of testing will enable us to return to 'normal' as soon as we can.