Dear Parents/Carers,
I am writing to update you following the government’s announcement yesterday afternoon regarding pupils’ return to school in January.
The return of pupils to face to face teaching in January has been put back and we have also had to plan for an INSET day virtually for all staff on Monday 4th January to enable us to organise the set-up of mass testing required by all secondary schools. Therefore, remote learning for all year groups will resume from Tuesday 5th January.
Year 11 and 13 pupils will now be expected to return on Monday 11th January. They will receive online teaching during the first week of term as per their normal timetable before returning to face to face teaching.
Year 7, 8, 9, 10 and 12 will now return on Monday 18th January. They will receive online live lessons as per their timetable for the duration of this period and they should join their lesson at the appropriate time. It is an expectation that they join unless they are unwell, in which case the school should be informed as normal procedure.
The school will continue to provide hub provision to support our vulnerable students and children of where both parents are classed as key workers from Tuesday 5th January. If you feel your child falls into either of these categories please contact info@stroodacademy.org before Friday 1st January 3.00pm so we can plan accordingly in terms of staffing. These students will follow the same online learning as pupils at home but will be able to do so from school.
Unfortunately, no catering facilities will be available in school until Monday 18th January so all students attending school will need to bring their own food and drink including those attending the hub provision and year 11 and 13. All students who receive free school meals will continue to receive hampers which will be provided at the beginning of next week.
All public examinations and intervention days previously communicated with students will continue as planned, students have been contacted regarding this prior to the Christmas break.
During the week beginning the 4th January the school will be making arrangements for mass testing to take place on site from the 11th January for all staff and students. We will be sending further information home about this, including information about consent during the course of next week. The Trust has already secured three Health Care Assistants who are fully clinically trained to support us in setting this up and then operating this system with us. They will be full time at the school from Monday 11th for the foreseeable future. Clearly there is significant uncertainty at present and the national situation changes quickly. I anticipate some parents will feel differently about these arrangements but I would encourage parents to view them positively. I believe with these changes we will be able to provide an even safer environment for your children moving forward.
The crucial thing for parents to do at this stage is to continue to support us by ensuring students join lessons when instructed and fully undertake the work set. I would particularly like to suggest that parents may like to look through the work their child is producing. In normal circumstances this is done in class or by the teacher, but in the current situation, a few minutes at the end of each day spent looking through what your child has done will be enormously helpful to both them and us. All live learning and lessons resources will be accessible via google classrooms as previously communicated.
Please do not hesitate to contact the school if you have any questions.
Yours sincerely,
Mrs N Anwar | Principal