Coronavirus Bulletin
Dear Parents and Carers,
As I write, I see jubilant Y11 students before me, many of whom have completed their final assessments! It’s been a long year for them and our Y13s especially and I hope they can start to look forward to their final week in school before their next exciting steps. Thank you so much for working in partnership with us to support them through these turbulent times.
I’d like to remind you that we do need our ‘leavers’ to be available until the end of June should we have any queries around assessments.
We are currently making plans and consulting with students on a Year 11 Prom; Mr Hughes is going to be in touch soon once things are confirmed. We are also planning end of year activities for other year groups and more details will follow after half term.
Covid Rules in School
The Department for Education have not released any confirmation regarding the removal of bubbles and zones in Secondary schools after half term. I have therefore taken the decision that these will remain in place for the safety of students and staff. I am aware that some other schools may be operating in a slightly different way but I have been led by the guidance throughout the pandemic and don’t intend to change now. The safety of everyone is my main concern and, whilst this is not what I would want in the long term, we must do what we have to do for now. Once I have been reassured by Public Health England and the DfE that it is safe to go back to a timetable where students move from lesson to lesson, I will. Thank you for your understanding in this matter.
Use of IT Equipment in School
Sadly, we have been made aware of several schools who have been specifically targeted with malicious computer software, designed to cause disruption to a computer network resulting in a significant loss of critically important data.
At Altrincham College, we invest heavily in up-to-date computer systems to ensure we are doing our very best to mitigate us from the chance of falling victim to such an attack. However, as these occurrences appear to be on the rise in the education sector, we are having to respond appropriately.
This means that students will no longer be able to use USB storage devices in school, nor will they be able to download and/or store certain file types to their own area of the school network.
Please would you reiterate with your child/ward the importance of acting responsibly when using school IT equipment and when logging in remotely from home.
There is lots of e-safety advice and guidance on our school website:
www.altrinchamcollege.com/pastoral-care/safeguarding
and also here:
National Book Tokens
As you know, our library has been out of action since we had to close a large part of the school for repair 18 months ago. We still believe in the value of books and reading! For the time being, staff do not have their own rooms to house subject specific books either but this won’t last forever! National Book Tokens are running a prize draw to win £5000 worth of books for a school library and I would be very grateful if you check out their website for details of how to enter:
www.nationalbooktokens.com/schools
A prize such as this would be a wonderful addition to our school going forwards as we move out of Covid restrictions! Thanks to one of our parents, Mrs Sumner, for highlighting this link to us!
Student Star of the Week
This week’s Star of the Week is Joshua H in Y7! He was a new member of the student panel this week and interviewed candidates for teaching posts at our school. He did an amazing job (as did all the other members of the panel!) but for a novice, he took our breath away! Congratulations to a very articulate young man (his new word)!
Staff Stars of the Week
The award for Staff Star of the Week this week has been shared between Mrs Parnaby (English dept) and Mrs Court (Sixth Form/LRC/PR and Marketing) for going above and beyond in their roles in our school! Congratulations to them both from all your AC colleagues!
Let’s hope the rain and wind stop at some point! Stay warm!
Thank you for your continued support of our school!
Stop the spread! Stay safe!
Have a wonderful weekend!
Kind regards
Ms. Earle
Headteacher