Dear parents and carers,
Welcome back to what I had hoped would be a slightly more ‘normal’ term 2 across our Trust.
Sadly, with the Prime Minister’s announcement of Saturday evening, we are now moving back to a month long national lockdown. However, the government have been clear that schools shall remain open and carry on, as best as possible, as they have through term 1.
I would like to have written to you sooner this week, in anticipation of Thursday, but I have only this afternoon received some updated guidance from the Department for Education (DfE), available by following this link https://www.gov.uk/guidance/education-and-childcare-settings-new-national-restrictions-from-5-november-2020?utm_source=4%20November%202020%20C19&utm_medium=Daily%20Email%20C19&utm_campaign=DfE%20C19
The key change in the guidance is around face coverings in communal areas;
In primary schools and education settings teaching year 6 and below, there is no change to the existing position. It is not mandatory for staff and visitors to wear face coverings. In situations where social distancing between adults in settings is not possible (for example when moving around in corridors and communal areas), settings have the discretion to recommend the use of face coverings for adults on site, for both staff and visitors.
In schools where pupils in year 7 and above are educated, face coverings should be worn by adults and pupils when moving around the premises, outside of classrooms, such as in corridors and communal areas where social distancing cannot easily be maintained. This was already the case for pupils in year 7 and above, and staff and visitors for those schools that were in areas where local alert level ‘high’ and ‘very high’.
Some individuals are exempt from wearing face coverings and we expect adults and pupils to be sensitive to those needs.
Face coverings should also be worn by pupils in year 7 and above when travelling on dedicated school transport to secondary school or college.
In light of this, ideally as of tomorrow (Thursday) morning, but certainly by Monday, 9 November, staff across our Trust will be supporting our students to wear face coverings in communal areas. Tomorrow morning, senior colleagues will be supporting students as they enter our secondary sites, to check they have a face covering and supply them with a disposable one, should they not have their own.
In addition, leadership groups across our Trust will move to postpone key events that were due to take place in November. For The Canterbury Academy, for example, the Sixth Form Open Evening planned for 10 November has been postponed and provisionally rescheduled for 21 January, 2021. Heads of Schools and Divisions will be in touch with parents and carers directly, regarding any further postponements and rescheduling.
Likewise, the revised guidance goes onto say that extra-curricular activities and fixtures will need to cease for the month of November; not just in sport but across our schools. However, at The Canterbury Primary School, for instance, our ‘326 Club’ will be allowed to continue, as it provides a ‘child care function.’ Likewise, Breakfast Clubs at both The Canterbury Academy and The Canterbury Primary School can continue to operate as part of our ‘wrap around care.’
With all of our schools remaining open across our Trust, you can continue to find our COVID secure and compliancy documentation, alongside risk assessments, on our website; https://canterbury.kent.sch.uk/covid-documentation/ We will, obviously, continue to review these regularly, and update them accordingly, in line with this most recent guidance from the DfE.
With my sincerest thanks to colleagues, phase, team leaders and DoTLs across the Trust, we remain positioned to continue our remote learning programmes for individuals, groups or year groups of students, should they be required.
As regards attendance, the government remain clear that all students, currently, are expected to attend school. At both The Canterbury Primary School and The Canterbury Academy, we were delighted to see that attendance for term 1 was close to 95%. This was especially pleasing, given the challenges that COVID has presented. Our wish remains for all students to attend school through this next period of lockdown. However, I do of course acknowledge that this will cause varying degrees of anxiety for families. If you are worried about your child’s attendance, or how their attendance at school may affect your family’s ability to isolate, please do not hesitate to contact the relevant Support Manager or Pastoral Leader at your child’s school. As we have throughout, we will continue to work closely to support you in making the right decision for your child, your family and your context.
As you know, it has been our intention to try and make our schools as ‘normal’ as possible for our students and, with that in mind, Heads of School wrote to all parents and carers at the end of last term, outlining our plans for this term and the next phase of our COVID recovery planning. These plans remain in place and will continue, carefully and sensitively, working alongside DfE guidance.
I am not going pretend that things will be easy moving forward. Colleagues and young people will continue to need tests for COVID. There may be lesson cover needed and, thus, some implications for learning. I hope you will feel I have always been frank with you, as I have with my colleagues, in saying that I cannot guarantee complete protection from COVID at our Trust. We can only mitigate the risk that we shall all face, collectively, in our schools and in our communities, to an acceptable level. Many families will be worried, and quite understandably so. Please do make sure that, if you have any concerns, you contact your child’s school, so they can be addressed appropriately and with the level of care and attention they deserve.
We will keep calm and carry on.
My very best regards to you all,
Jon Watson
Trust Executive Principal