Dear Families,
I hope you are well and have had a restful Christmas break. As you will be aware from various news outlets, on Sunday 2nd January 2022, the government issued guidance to schools strongly recommending that face coverings should be worn in secondary school and college classrooms when students return from the Christmas break. This guidance will remain in place until at least the last week of January. In line with the government guidance, we will require students to wear face coverings in the classroom.
As a rule of thumb, students should wear masks when they are inside the school buildings and can remove them when they are outdoors. Most lesson changeovers involve students going outside so this will help. Of course, students are able to remove masks when eating or drinking in the Refectory or in a wet weather venue. We will continue to re-iterate the need to wash and sanitise hands. We will go through the key points of this guidance with students during virtual assemblies and briefings on the first day back.
The overwhelming majority of students are already used to wearing masks in school but I am aware that there are a small number who are exempt for health reasons. Mr Pepper maintains a list of exempt staff and students which is regularly disseminated to staff. If you think your child should be added to this list then please make contact with Mr Pepper via: dpepper@tytheringtonschool.co.uk.
We know that there are members of staff and students who rely on lip-reading so we will continue to take this into consideration in terms of implementing this policy.
In line with government guidance, we will be carrying out onsite lateral flow testing in the first week back at school. Please can I also ask that your child takes a lateral flow test before coming back to school. Students should continue to test twice a week at home. Should a positive result emerge then please make contact with the school via e-mail on confirmedcase@tytheringtonschool.co.uk.
You will be aware that the government has updated its guidance on self-isolation periods for people who contract covid-19. You can access the updated guidance in the link below:
We are still asking that all household contacts stay away from school for 5 days from the first symptoms or positive test in the house. For students who are absent owing to covid-19, we will provide access to remote learning. We will review this policy in the final week of January.
You will appreciate that this is an evolving situation which requires us all to be as agile and flexible as possible. As we update and adapt our policies, we will keep you posted. I thank you in advance for your patience and support.
If you have any questions or queries then please do not hesitate to make contact with me.
Yours sincerely,
Mr Botwe