Parent Bulletin
Winter 2022 Half Term 1
Dear Parents/Carers
I hope this message finds you well and may I take this opportunity to wish you all a Happy New Year. The new term has started well considering the context we are currently working in.
I thank parents for their support with testing last Tuesday. We had over 1300 students go through the test centre on that day and managed to uncover 17 asymptomatic positive cases. At the time of writing, we have 83 students across the school who are self-isolating as result of a PCR/LFD positive test result. This is a reduction in cases from last week, which were unusually high but was somewhat expected following social mixing during the Christmas break. Similarly, we have seen a high level of staff absence since the start of term which isn’t ideal in re-establishing routines and consistency in the classroom.
Please be aware that your child’s normal school routine is likely to be disrupted due to COVID-19 this month. Also, if you make contact with the school our response times may be longer than normal due to staffing difficulties. Every effort is being made to give our students the best learning experience possible at this challenging time.
- Teachers, if well will teach remotely from home.
- We have pre-booked a higher number of known supply staff who are able to manage classes well in the absence of a teacher.
- Daily checks are being made of all cover lessons to ensure good learning is taking place in the absence of the teacher.
We continue to offer extra-curricular clubs, tutoring and study sessions. Although staffing absence is a concern, at the moment we are managing the difficulties well but should the situation worsen then we will have to look at more creative solutions to address teacher absence i.e. collapsing/merging groups, large groups in the hall etc.
We know that you may find this phase of the pandemic concerning, but we are continuing to monitor the situation closely and doing our very best to keep our provision and routines as normal as possible.
Please also be aware that access to live lessons for self-isolators may be disrupted if your child’s teacher is absent. We understand that in many cases students are unwell during their self-isolation and not able to complete work at home but if students are well, then they are expected to complete work set on ClassCharts or join live lessons when available.
Finally, we ask parents to encourage their child to test twice a week using an LFD test or daily if they are close contacts, and to report all results to the NHS and to school to covid@meadowhead.sheffield.sch.uk
With your ongoing support we will reduce the spread of infection and minimise disruptions to children’s education this year.
Yours faithfully,
Mrs K Grewal-Joy
Headteacher
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