Headteacher's letter + attendance guidance (COVID19)

22nd September 2020

Dear parents / carers,

Thank you for your continued support in getting all pupils back into school safely over the past month. All of us are committed to providing the best education possible for your child, while securing the health and safety of our whole school community. Thank you for continuing to follow public health guidelines and encouraging your children to do the same.

You are already aware of the steps we have put in place to ensure the safe return of all students to school. We know that you will be keen to understand the impact that we have had in our first weeks of the term, and what our plans are to ensure all students catch up with any missed learning, and what will happen if a student is asked to stay at home over the coming months.

I will run through the key areas below outlining measures in place and our planning for the coming months.


School reopenings	The timing of the school day has changed to stagger the arrival and departure times to help all members of the school community to socially distance, as has the structure of the day in terms of form time. We are operating a full timetable with no changes to the curriculum offer. Extension classes are running as in previous years for the relevant year groups. In terms of extracurricular activities, there will be a revised programme to ensure that year groups are kept in their own bubble. Form tutors will share information with students in due course. Students who play a musical instrument and have music lessons are still able to have these lessons.
Attendance	Attendance figures for first weeks of term have been very positive. The vast majority of our students are attending. Last week the figure was 98% compared with 97% for the same time last year. As we enter cold and flu season, we understand families’ concerns around the uncertainty of your child being unwell with a cold, flu or coronavirus. We have written separate guidance attached to this letter outlining what to do if you feel your child is presenting with COVID-like symptoms.
Coverage of the curriculum	During lockdown, as you will know, staff supported students with their virtual learning via Google Classroom. To support students’ return to face to face learning, staff have prepared four weeks’ worth of learning to support students to review the ideas, topics and skills that have been taught during this period of lockdown. Staff are using this time to explore and unpick the more challenging concepts that students have been learning about, and give students an opportunity to get support with those areas they found most challenging. At the end of these four weeks, students will undergo assessments to help both students and teachers see the progress they have made and to help teachers identify those areas that still may need further support. We wrote to you separately last week to outline our exciting plans for this year around your child’s learning and we will update you at regular intervals.
Remote learning March – July	All learners and all teachers were actively engaged in developing and using Google Classroom throughout lockdown to share resources, set assignments and submit work.
Remote learning in the future	To support individuals who are self-isolating or are unwell, teachers are uploading work into each of their Google Classrooms to make sure students have work they can follow during the day for the lessons they are missing. Google Classroom codes will be available on the school’s website to support those students who have not yet joined the Google Classroom for their subjects. Students have been provided with their codes for their individual lessons. In the event that we should have a positive case of corona virus in the school, we will be guided by Public Health England with regard to if we will need to ask a year group to remain at home and self-isolate. In the event of more than one case, this may affect more than one year group or in the worst case scenario cause the school to close for a set period of time. If this is the case, teachers are ready and prepared to move all their teaching to Google Classroom. All learning resources and lessons will be placed here and teacher will give students guidance about the work they need to complete and how to submit this. Further guidance will be given to parents and carers in the event of a partial or full school closure.
Mental health and wellbeing	A range of resources are available for students. We have two full time counsellors who can be accessed through self-referral or via the head of year. We are currently operating a drop in service for students to drop in any time without an appointment or pre referral. The school also works in partnership with THEWS (Tower Hamlets Education Well Being Service) through which referrals for stress and anxiety can be made by a Head of Year and our counsellors. In addition, referrals can be made to CAMHS by the school, where appropriate, in consultation with student and parents and signposting to other services. Finally, advice and guidance on all aspects of well-being can be found on the student page of school website as well as information in the student planners.

Thank you for your support in these challenging times. Please remember to follow both the school’s and public health guidance to keep everyone learning safely.

Yours sincerely,

Paul Woods

Headteacher

Stepney All Saints School Attendance Guidance – 21st September 2020 and ongoing

Coronavirus – Government, NHS and School Advice

Families must help to drive down the infection rates nationally by following the advice below.

If the following tables are unclear and your child is unwell, please keep your child at home and call the school and a staff member will talk you through the action you need to take.

If your child is at home with any of the symptoms described below, please ensure that you have informed the school’s Attendance Officer on lutfa.yeasmin@stepneyallsaints.school

Please follow the guidance carefully about your child returning to school.

Symptom

Action

Information and support

Return to school after …

A new continuous cough of your child OR another person living in the house

Keep your child at home and call the school. We will set up a Google

Classroom for learning at home.

Your child AND the other people living in the house should self-isolate.

Siblings CANNOT attend school either.

Inform the school.

Call 111 for advice

14 days isolation OR if a negative test is received for the person in the house with the symptoms.

Your child(ren) must not return to school until you have spoken to a medical practitioner AND to the Attendance Officer, see contact details below who will give permission for your child to return

High temperature of your child OR another person living in the house

Keep your child at home and call the school. We will set up a Google Classroom for learning at home.

Your child AND the other people living in the house should self-isolate.

Siblings CANNOT attend school either.

Inform the school.

Call 111 for advice

14 days isolation OR if a negative test is received for the person in the house with the symptoms.

Loss of sense of smell or taste of your child OR another person living in the house

Keep your child at home and call the school. We will set up a Google Classroom for learning at home.

Your child AND the other people living in the house should self-isolate.

Siblings CANNOT attend school either.

Inform the school.

Call 111 for advice

14 days isolation OR if a negative test is received for the person in the house with the symptoms.

Vomiting and Diarrhoea

If your child has either of the above, they should not be in school for 48 hours from the last time they were sick/ had an upset stomach.

General Illness

If your child is not well enough to be in school in the morning, they should not be in school. We do not have the provision to have children in the medical office at this point in time.

Headteacher’s letter + attendance guidance (COVID19)