Important information

The latest Olympus ParentaI Update is here and the July edition of our newsletter is available here. 

I appreciate that there is a wealth of information and am grateful for you in taking the time to read through the important details.

As you will be aware, we received notification of positive COVID cases in each of our year 7-10 cohorts on Wednesday of this week. Through contact tracing this has led to a number of students and staff being required to isolate. Unfortunately, this has also led to the postponement of a number of events that we had planned for next week but we have worked closely with Public Health England and the local authority to ensure that that we continue to make decisions in the best interests of our students, staff and wider community.

1. Plans for week beginning Monday 19^th July

As a result of staff absence and not being able to recruit sufficient cover teachers from supply agencies we have decided to alter our provision for next week. This is under constant review and is subject to change, should we have additional positive COVID cases reported to us.

For those students who have not been asked to self-isolate the plans for next week are as follows:

2. No Change to Covid-19 Regulations in School Next Week – please see details of this in the Olympus Update that is included with this email. 

3. Covid-19 update – Although the relaxation of Covid-19 rules will give greater freedom to meet with friends and relations and to travel, there is significant concern around the continuing rise of Covid-19 infection rates in our local community, which has had a direct impact on many local schools. Unfortunately, we have seen increasing numbers of positive cases in local schools, which has resulted in many learners and staff having to self-isolate. For the start of the new academic year we will continue to: 

• Minimise contact with individuals who are required to self-isolate (e.g. as they have tested positive) by ensuring they do not attend the school.
• Ensure face coverings are used in recommended circumstances.
• Advise everyone to clean their hands thoroughly and more often than usual.
• Ensure good respiratory hygiene by promoting the ‘catch it, bin it, kill it’ approach.
• Maintain enhanced cleaning, including cleaning frequently touched surfaces often, using standard products such as detergents.
• Minimise contact across the site and maintain social distancing wherever possible.
• Keep occupied spaces well ventilated.                                                                      

The Government has provided an updated information guide for parents and carers - Step 4 update – what parents and carers need to know document. From Monday 19 July schools no longer carry out routine contact tracing. From this point onwards, close contacts of positive Covid-19 cases will be identified and contacted by NHS Test and Trace. Please note that testing is not necessary for learners during the summer break unless they are attending school. 

4. Results days – will take place on 10 and 12 August respectfully, for A level and GCSE results. Further detail is available via the website and newsletter but we hope these will take place in person! 

5. Start of Term Arrangements for September- Government guidelines state that we need to ensure that all secondary school age learners have had two confirmed negative LFD tests within 3-4 days of one another before they can start school in September. We have adapted our plans as follows, and you will notified by email of the exact timings for your child to attend for their LFD tests. 

 Many thanks for your continued support and kindness during these challenging times.

Kind regards 

Ben Dilley