Dear Parents/ Carers
We were delighted to welcome all of our students back to school this term. School is once again as it should be; a vibrant, busy and happy environment in which our students thrive as they engage with their excellent teaching and learning. We are delighted to have been able to open up enrichment opportunities to our students this half term and we look forward to continuing these after Easter. Clubs including creative writing, debating, drama, art and sports have been able to take place and students have been enjoying all the benefits these excellent extra curricular clubs offer. We would like to thank you, our fantastic staff and wonderful students for their continued hard work and support in making our term so successful. The vast majority of students have been amazing; so pleased to see their friends and be in class with their teachers. Thank you for your support in ensuring our students have the essentials (two masks, tissues and hand sanitiser), by working as a team we have ensured a safe and smooth return to school.
We must also say a huge thank you to our incredible testing team. They carried out over 4500 tests in less than two weeks, each one with genuine kindness, care and accuracy. The speed at which we implemented the testing programme also meant that all students were back in school accessing face to face teaching by 9th March, which was an incredible achievement and in advance of many schools.
Mask Wearing in the Summer Term
The guidance continues to be updated. As things stand we will continue to expect students to wear masks in all communal use areas of the school, and strongly recommend (again as per guidance) that students wear masks in lessons. We will update you if/when guidance changes.
Testing in the Holidays and Summer Term
All students who have been in school have been provided with personal home testing kits to be used over the Easter break. The intention remains to try and identify cases early and reduce Covid 19 spread. Students are requested to carry out two home tests a week. Remember, if your child has any of the key Covid symptoms they should not use this test and should immediately isolate and have a PCR test booked.
We are also asking that all students complete a test on Sunday 18th April (the day before they return to school). This will help reduce any further transmission within our community. As normal all test results should be reported to national test and trace and, if a positive result is returned, as soon as possible to the school. We strongly encourage all students to continue to be part of the home-testing process; it is in all of our interests to protect ourselves and each other. Should you have any test-related questions please contact sdedmandurring.com.
KAPP
It has been a pleasure to be able to award so many KAPP badges. Company Leaders and the Senior Leadership Team have relished the opportunity to recognise our students for their amazing achievements inside and outside of school. 99 badges have been awarded to those students who submitted outstanding work to the aspiration challenge, which took place during lockdown. You can read more about this here. To date over 800 badges have been awarded, reflecting how amazing our students are and the way in which the values of kindness, aspiration, perseverance and pride are embedded throughout school life.
There is much to look forward to in the summer term and we are excited for the opportunities it will bring. In the meantime we would like to wish you all a very happy Easter break. Stay safe and be proud of all we have achieved this term.
Kind regards
