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Coronavirus Bulletin

Monday 11th May 2020 

Coronavirus Daily Bulletin

STAY SAFE; STAY ALERT 

Dear Parents/Carers,            

I hope you and your families are keeping safe and well. 

I wanted to send you a bulletin tonight on the back of Mr Johnson’s briefing yesterday. His announcement did not give a date for Secondary schools to re-open but he did say that if the ‘R’ levels are suitably low, Year 10 and Year 12 students MIGHT return to school a few weeks before the summer holidays. 

Obviously, that then means that all other year groups will not return before the summer and online learning will continue. In the next couple of weeks, we are hoping to have some tutorial videos for students led by our staff and also will trial 'Zoom' assemblies. Further details to follow but we have been encouraged by our students’ involvement in everything staff have offered thus far! 

Our plans for the re-integration of students will be broken down into three phases. Obviously business will not be ‘as usual’ and certainly will not be for quite some time therefore any plans we make will be subject to change at short notice depending on the national picture. In general they will probably look this: 

Phase One (June-July 2020): Ascertaining what transport will be available for students to and from school; staggered re-entry for Y10/12 later this term to ensure social distancing can be maintained at all times; timings of the school day will also be staggered and only a basic amount of curriculum time will be delivered across subjects; maintaining provision for vulnerable children/key workers’ children on the school site from all year groups; possible transition activity for Y6s moving up to our Year 7; mental health and well-being support for students and staff in place as a priority; staff amendments to the curriculum and their planning which will still enable students to make excellent progress.  

Online provision for all students in current Y7,8,9 will be provided and bridging tasks, as far as possible for the current Y11 going on to further study, will also continue.  

Phase Two (Sept-Dec 2020): We think there may be re-entry for all year groups from September but this will still mean a phasing-in of students a year group at a time. How this will be phased in, what the day will look like in terms of academic work but also pastoral support and wellbeing time needs to be finalised; transport to and from school will need to be discussed with TfGM; time this term will be prioritised in getting student knowledge, understanding and skills back to where it was before lockdown and then building upon this; time spent understanding necessary new school ‘rules’ whilst being mindful of the fact that students and staff may still be too unwell to attend school. 

Phase Three (Jan 2021 onwards): looking to whether we are in a position to return to a normal timetable/school day from January 2021building on Government directives nearer the time. 

Before any phased reintegration, the school must be fully clean with enough facilities for handwashing/sanitisation. We will be installing mobile toilets as soon as possible now that businesses are starting to go back to work and this will be swiftly followed by the installation of mobile classrooms (English block roof repairs have been severely impeded by the pandemic as you will understand). Social distancing markers will be placed around the site with teachers moving round from lesson to lesson in the short term, rather than students; breaks and lunches will need to be staggered and a smaller catering offer might be all we can provide for a short time.  TfGM are being contacted regularly to find out what transport arrangements will be available to students and what this might look like if social distancing measures continue. We will share all updates with you via this bulletin. 

Please be assured that any opening of school will ONLY happen once I am reassured there is no health risk to staff and students. Over the next few months, as parents and carers, you will have the ultimate say in whether your child is well enough to attend school or if you need to keep them at home due to self-isolation or shielding. Their attendance figures will NOT be measured during this time and penalties for non-attendance will not be issued. 

Years 11 and 13 are still very much in our thoughts and we are doing our best to ensure they remain engaged with study and life at AC, also with preparation for next steps. There is transition information and resources for both Year 11 and 13 included on the Sixth Form weekly bulletins which can be found on the news page of the Sixth Form section of the website: www.altrinchamcollege.com/sixthformnews 

Year 11 students are advised to use the KS5 Pre-reading list to begin reading around their chosen subjects. The one on the website is the most up to date copy. Students who have applied for A-Level maths have been sent work packs to complete before starting the course in September.  

Year 13 students have been focused on preparing to move away from home. Last week, the focus was on mentally preparing for life at university using these resources: 

Students were also reminded to apply for their student accommodation following guidance from UCAS:  

www.ucas.com/undergraduate/student-life/undergraduate-accommodation   

Mrs Brennan has also been in contact with our more vulnerable students to provide extra pastoral care.  

I am sure, like me, Mr Johnson’s announcement yesterday threw up slightly more questions than it answered however we continue to liaise with other Trafford schools to work our way through this and very much value your support as we do so. 

I am moving to weekly bulletins until the end of term with any further updates sent to you via the usual means of communication in between these times. Our ‘family’ ethos at AC remains strong; we strive to educate the whole child and as we move forward we will work together with you to ensure the best possible outcomes from all this. 

Kind regards,

Ms Kim Earle