Parent Update: 3rd November 2020

3rd November 2020

Dear Parents,

Welcome back to the new half-term. I hope this email finds you and your families well.

With the announcement of a new national lockdown from Thursday (parliamentary vote permitting) and the increase in cases nationally and regionally, it is inevitable that anxieties will be rising. Please rest assured that we continue with the abundance of measures in the school, including wearing face coverings in communal areas; a step beyond what we are expected to do. We are continually assessing the risk within the site, getting advice from Public Health England, and will not hesitate to take further measures if we feel they are necessary to keep the risk as low as possible for both staff and students. Thank you for your continued trust in our systems, borne out by the continued high attendance.

We recently had our annual visit from the local authority’s school improvement officer; this year conducted virtually over two days. After quizzing member of the school community and looking at our systems, the report summary nicely captures the last six months:

 

The school benefited during the period of partial closure from the strong culture of trust and commitment and the sense of community built up so convincingly over the years. The changes and adaptations to normal routines have been many, and there have been moments of concern and anxiety for everyone, but the spirit of St Anne’s has been maintained strongly and proudly over the last two terms.”

 

Positive cases over half-term

Over the half term, we had a number of our school test positive for coronavirus. They were mostly asymptomatic with the rest being mild symptoms. There were no school link between them that we could determine; these appear to all have been community cases. In any case, for all, symptoms developed more than 2 days after the end of the half-term and so advice from PHE is that there are no actions needed in terms of asking other members of the school community to self-isolate. Rest assured that if there was a need for you to act, we will let you know.

Telling us about absence – a reminder from a previous message.

There are inevitably students who will rightly self-isolate as they have symptoms and are awaiting testing. Thank you to all those that have taken mild symptoms seriously and ensured that they have got tested before coming back to school. You can let us know about an absence by calling the school number 02380 328200 and pressing 2 for years 7-11 and pressing 1 for sixth form. Alternatively, you can email attendance@st-annes.uk.com to keep us up-to-date, ensuring that you leave your child's name and tutor group.

We have created a helpful "What if" guide about attendance which is on our website, and is also attached to this message for you to refer to. It explains what you should do in any of the following cases:

  • your child develops symptoms and they are awaiting a test result,
  • they test positive for coronavirus,
  • someone else in their household develops symptoms and they are awaiting a test,
  • someone else in their household tests positive,
  • they are identified as a "close contact" by NHS Test and Trace,
  • they have travelled back from somewhere that requires a time of quarantine, and
  • they have received advice to shield.

All the best

James Rouse

Headteacher

Telephone: 023 80328200 Email: info@st-annes.uk.com