Coronavirus updates

20th January

The Government has changed its guidelines on the wearing of face coverings. They have stated that face masks will no longer be mandated generally, though people are still advised to wear coverings in enclosed or crowded spaces, particularly when meeting strangers. They also advised that, from today, Thursday 20^th January, secondary school pupils will no longer have to wear face masks in classrooms and that the Department of Education will remove guidance on their use in communal areas “shortly”.

As of today, Thursday 20^th January 2022, we will follow this guidance and students will no longer have to wear face coverings in class, however we will continue to ask students who are not exempt from wearing face coverings to continue to do so in corridors at lesson changeover. We of course understand that due to there still being Covid cases within our school community some students may choose to continue to wear their face coverings in classrooms and we will support them to do so.

We will advise on further changes when we have clarification from the DfE or PHE.

18th January

Please be aware of the latest guidelines around Covid, as detailed in this graphic:

7th January

We wrote to parents today, as follows:

Re: Welcome Back

Dear parents and carer,

We hope you had an enjoyable time over the festive period and thank you for your continued support and understanding around the mass testing which took place at the High School.

It was lovely to see students back at school yesterday and I was able to have year group assemblies to welcome them back and to share with them some of the changes that we are putting in to place around teaching and learning this term.

One of the changes we are making is in regard to our relational behaviour policy and directly linked to sanctions as a result of students receiving a red reset.

Whilst the vast majority of our students work and engage positively in our classrooms unfortunately there are a very small number who do receive red resets. We have made some changes to the sanctions applied if a student receives a red reset which we are confident will have a positive impact for all students. Please refer to our relational behaviour policy (link) if you require further information.

All students are clear about the changes to this aspect of the behaviour policy and the fact that it will be active from Monday 10 th January 2022.

I know that you will be keen to support us in focusing on the quality of teaching and learning which is taking place in the classrooms and our priority of minimising disruption to their child’s learning.

Thank you in anticipation of your ongoing support.
Yours sincerely

Sammy Crook
Head

Update 14th December

Due to updates to the Covid-19 guidance, we have written to parents to set out how they affect us. Here is a summary.

Lateral Flow Device Testing. Guidance now states:

‘Lateral flow tests should be used before people enter “a high-risk setting”, such as a crowded place.’

Additionally, from today (Tuesday 14th December 202) daily lateral flow testing for seven days is introduced for fully-vaccinated people who are contacts of all positive Covid cases. This replaces self-isolation for contacts of Omicron cases.’

And finally – ‘Pupils at secondary schools are “strongly advised” to continue to wear face coverings in communal areas; as should staff and visitors at all schools and childcare settings’.

For those students for whom we have consent, we will be giving out Lateral Flow Device test kits for them to bring home over the Christmas period and ask that you continue to test three times per week.

Return to school in January and on-site Lateral Flow Device Testing

Once again the Government has asked us to provide onsite testing for all students upon their return to school.

To facilitate this, with minimum impact on learning, all students will work remotely (from home) on Wednesday 5th January and physically return to school on Thursday 6th January.

Please note that this facility is for your convenience and there is no obligation for you to attend.

On-site testing will take place as follows on Wednesday 5th January:

Year 7 9:30am – 11am
Year 8 11am – 12:30pm
Year 9 12:30pm – 2pm
Year 10 2pm – 3pm
Year 11 3pm – 4pm

Thank you for your support during these unprecedented times.

Update 10^th December

In line with last week, we have written to parents/carers with changes in how the school will operate next week. Those requiring school provision will be able to access to the booking link from this evening: https://tiverton.devon.sch.uk/covid-19-school-attendance/

We will instigate the following plan for week commencing 13^th December 2021:

Monday 13^th December 2021

Year 10 will work from home.

Years 7, 8, 9 & 11 will be in school in normal lessons.

Tuesday 14^th December 2021

Year 9 will work from home.

Years 7, 8, 10 & 11 will be in school in normal lessons.

Wednesday 15^th December2021

Year 7 will work from home

Years 8, 9, 10 & 11 will be in school in normal lessons

Thursday 16^th December 2021

Year 8 will work from home

Years 7, 9, 10 & 11 will be in school in normal lessons

Friday 17^th December 2021

Year 11 will work from home

Years 7, 8, 9 & 10 will be in school in normal lessons

Update 4^th December

We have advised parents of the following home working schedule. Those requiring school provision will be able to access to the booking link from midday Saturday: https://tiverton.devon.sch.uk/covid-19-school-attendance/

Monday 6^th December 2021

Year 7 will work from home.

Years 8-11 will be in school in normal lessons.

Tuesday 7^th December 2021 & Wednesday 8^th December2021

Year 8 will work from home

Years 7, 9, 10 & 11 will be in school in normal lessons

Thursday 9^th December 2021

Year 9 will work from home

Years 7, 8, 10 & 11 will be in school in normal lessons

Friday 10^th December 2021

Year 10 will work from home

Years 7, 8, 9 & 11 will be in school in normal lessons

Update 3^rd December

We have emailed relevant parents, but be aware that we are asking all year 7 students to work from home on Friday 3^rd December. Appropriate work will be set for all students on Google Classrooms, and we would encourage them to log in from Tutor time in the morning.

For parents/carers of children in year 7 who are key workers or who have children identified as vulnerable we will continue to provide onsite provision for your children tomorrow, when the rest of their year group are working remotely. There is a form for parents/carers to complete (below) which is available via our school website to book a place for your child.

Year 7 students accessing the one site provision as a key worker status or vulnerable child should come to the hall at the start of the day when the rest of their year group are working from home.

All other year groups (years 8 – 11) should attend school as normal.

COVID-19 School Attendance

Update 29 November 2021

You will no doubt be aware that a variation of Covid called Omicron is concerning Government, which means that guidance around wearing of masks has changed. In line with mandatory wearing of face coverings in places such as shops, Government has strongly recommended that secondary schools once again ask students and staff to wear masks in communal areas of school. We want to ensure we help stem the spread of Covid and we have made the decision to do just that. From today, we will require students and staff to wear masks when moving to and from lessons and in shared indoor spaces other than classrooms.We are speaking with students in class to explain the change in detail. This will not apply to those students with agreed exemptions. We will keep you informed of any further changes that we need to make as a school, and will also put updates on our website.

Update 1 November 2021

Due to high levels of Covid in Mid Devon please can we politely request that parents/carers or external visitors only enter our site or report to reception if they have a pre-booked appointment or have been contacted by a member of staff to collect their child.

Update 17 October 2021

We have written to parents about arrangements during the next week. Year 10 will be working from home Monday and Tuesday; Year 9 on Wednesday and Thursday; and Year 8 on Friday.

For keyworkers or those with children identified as vulnerable, students may still be able to come into school, so please login/register here ASAP:

https://tiverton.devon.sch.uk/covid-19-school-attendance/

A reminder:

On Monday 18th and Tuesday 19th October Year 10 students will remain at home and work remotely via Google classrooms. Years 7, 8, 9 & 11 will be in school on both days as normal.
Year 10 will return to school on Wednesday 20th October.

On Wednesday 20th and Thursday 21st October Year 9 students will remain at home and work remotely via Google classrooms. Years 7, 8, 10 & 11 will be in school on both days as normal. Year 9 will return to school on Friday 22nd October.

On Friday 22nd October Year 8 students will remain at home and work remotely via Google classrooms. Years 7, 9, 10 & 11 will be in school as normal. Year 8 will return to school after half term as normal.