I hope that you are all keeping safe and well. In light of the Government’s announcement this week regarding students returning to school on the week beginning Monday, 8 March, I just wanted to give you a quick update as to how we are progressing with preparations.
We will be operating a staggered return to school throughout the week in order to conduct the Asymptomatic Testing programme as required by the government. Each child, for whom we have consent, will be required to be tested 3 times upon return with each test taking place 3-5 days apart. Students will be allowed to return following their first negative test and the remaining two tests will be conducted on site during the following 2 weeks.
I will write to you next week to inform on which day your child will be returning to school and at what time they will need to report to school. This is huge logistical task, and we are planning for it to be as smooth as possible. It will however mean that some year groups do not return until Friday, 12 March. Therefore, until you child is requested to attend school, we will continue to deliver lessons remotely and a new timetable will be released next week with the details of when each year group will return to school.
Whilst testing is not compulsory, the purpose of Asymptomatic testing is to identify those students who do not show any symptoms but are still carrying the virus and are contagious. It is important that as many families as possible give consent for testing as this not only keeps you and your child safe, but it also helps to reduce infection rates in the school and the wider community.
The links to the letters are here – Consent Form
If these can be filled out as soon as possible this will really help with the planning process so that we know the scale of testing to be undertaken.
The Government have also stated that all students and staff are required to wear masks in the classroom as well as corridors and other communal areas. Can you please ensure that your child arrives at school on their assigned day with an appropriate face mask. These must be disposable or plain in colour and not have any logos or slogans on them
There will be plenty of communication to families over the coming week, and I hope that you appreciate that it is difficult task to re-open school in this way. If you have any questions, please ask your child to contact their Head of Year or contact school via email on info@collegiateacademy.org.uk
Kind regards
Mr Irish
Principal
