Home Covid-19

Covid-19

Coronavirus latest update 

We wish all members of the Haileybury Turnford community our very best wishes during this time.  Please follow all government advice fully.

During this period, all information for students, staff and families will be communicated via text, email and our website.  We will also use our Facebook and Twitter accounts for some news and information.

Students in Year 7-11 should access Class Charts daily at www.classcharts.com and use their school email accounts to contact staff.

Sixth Form teachers will use their school email accounts to communicate with student. Sixth Formers should use their school email accounts to contact staff.

All staff contact details can be found on our website.

Haileybury Turnford Reopening Plan

Please find all letters after 13th August in the documents at the end.

13th August 2020

This is the second of my three planned updates throughout the summer holidays.

I hope you remain safe and well and are coping with the extreme weather we have had, with the longest stretch of high temperatures in almost 60 years.

AS/A Level and Level 3 vocational Results Day – today

Today is a very unusual Results Day.  Our priority has been to support our students with ensuring they have their destination secured beyond Year 13.  There has been much in the national press about this year’s process for generating results and there was never going to be an easy solution following the decision to cancel exams this summer.  I am proud of the great care and professionalism shown by our sixth form teaching staff who painstakingly followed the government guidance during lockdown to create our centre-assessment grades for each student.  We have also been very impressed with the balanced, sensible and mature approach from our students in such challenging times, and for their engagement in planning for their next steps beyond Year 13.  Some further information about this year’s “Exam Results” can be seen at the end of this letter and on the school’s website.  It shows the wide-ranging university and employment destinations for our class of 2020.  We wish them all great success in their futures.

Restricted access to the school site throughout August

Our enabling works in preparation for the construction of our new building are going well, and are ahead of schedule.

Between now and 28^th August:

• All traffic will enter and leave the site via the current exit gate
• Please drive very slowly (speed limit is 5 mph)
• There is no parking available in the car park at the front of the school

Our other major project, the upgrading of the water management across the site, continues to progress well too.

Arrangements for September’s full re-opening to all students

Preparation continues for our full re-opening in September.  I will provide further updates in my next letter on Tuesday 25^th August, with further specific year group information coming from other senior staff too.  The details in my letter from 16^th July give information about the start dates for the new academic year, and also the new timings of the day for different year groups.  That letter can be accessed here: https://haileyburyturnford.com/app/uploads/2020/07/re-opening-letter-16.7.20.pdf

School Calendar 2020-21: Key Dates for parents

Term Dates are clearly shown on the school website here: https://haileyburyturnford.com/term-dates/.  There will be fewer activities and events than normal on the calendar due to COVID-19 until October half-term 2020.  We will then update the calendar further as the COVID-19 situation develops.  We are planning for Parents’ Evenings to take place in the Spring Term after Christmas.  Due to the uncertainty of COVID-19 and the implications for schools, please note that specific events are subject to change and we hope in due course activities and events will be able to take place, including the potential for some trips and visits.

4^th August 2020

This is the first of my three planned updates throughout the summer holidays.

I hope you are well and have been able to enjoy the summer sunshine whilst continuing to follow the current government guidance to control the transmission of COVID-19.

Current guidance can be seen from the two hyperlinks below, which includes updated information about self-isolating at home for at least 10 days from when your symptoms started and arrange to have a test to see if you have COVID-19.  All other household members must stay at home and not leave the house for 14 days.  If anyone else in the household starts displaying symptoms, they must stay at home for at least 10 days from when their symptoms appear, regardless of what day they are on in the original 14-day isolation period.

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/coronavirus-outbreak-faqs-what-you-can-and-cant-do/coronavirus-outbreak-faqs-what-you-can-and-cant-do

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/covid-19-stay-at-home-guidance/stay-at-home-guidance-for-households-with-possible-coronavirus-covid-19-infection

Updated Home-School agreement for September

Thank you to families who have already completed and returned our updated Home-School agreement.  It sets out the ways in which we can fully support our students and minimise risk to students and staff during the ongoing COVID-19 situation.  More details are in the attached letter from Mrs Goodes, Vice Principal.

A Level and Level 3 vocational Results Day – Thursday 13^th August

Mrs Shivalkar, Assistant Principal & Head of Sixth Form will be in further contact with sixth formers expecting exam results to provide more details about arrangements.  The day has been organised to ensure that we can maintain social distancing in line with government guidance.  Results cannot be released until 8.00am on Thursday 13^th August.  Please also note that it will not be possible for sixth formers or parents to park on the school site if coming to collect results (further details are below).

Restricted access to the school site throughout August

Please note that our contractors are on site undertaking enabling works in preparation for the construction of our new building.  The works include enlarging the exit gate so that large vehicles can come on site and supplying utilities to the building site for the new building.

Between now and 14^th August:

All entrance and exit to the site is via the entrance gate

Please DRIVE VERY SLOWLY (5 mph) as vision is limited for those exiting the site and the gate is narrow

There is no parking available in the car park at the front of the school

Arrangements for September’s full re-opening to all students

The school site is being prepared for our full re-opening in September.  I will provide more detailed updates in my next two letters on Thursday 13^th August and Tuesday 25^th August.  The details in my letter from 16^th July give information about the start dates for the new academic year, and also the new timings of the day for different year groups.  That letter can be accessed here:

https://haileyburyturnford.com/app/uploads/2020/07/re-opening-letter-16.7.20.pdf

17th July 2020

A year like no other …

As we reach the end of the academic year, it is no exaggeration to say that it has been a year like no other.  I have been so impressed by the resilience and commitment of our students to their new normal.  The quality of the work completed from home has been amazing, recognising that it has been very challenging for many students and families.  The work completed by students who have been working in school with us since school closure on 23^rd March has been excellent, and we are pleased that we have been able to provide this provision, including during the holiday periods.  Having Year 10 and Year 12 students back in school for lessons in recent weeks has been excellent too.  Students have been really positive and committed, and we only wish we could have welcomed back students in other year groups too.  We have also been pleased to meet with some individual students and families in Year 7, 8 & 9 to provide support in advance of September.

We have endeavoured to stay in close contact with all students during the past 4 months.  I am very proud to say that we have done this through telephone calls, email, using Class Charts and the growing use of Microsoft Teams for live lessons.  I hope you have enjoyed reading our newsletters, updates on social media, and videos following events such as VE Day 75 and Global Running Day.  It has also been amazing to see how virtual events through video and Microsoft Teams are possible to ensure we stay connected.  Year 6 transition, Year 11 leavers’ assembly, Year 12 induction and virtual Sports Day this week are just four examples of how we can do things together, even if physically not all in the building!  It has also been great to have our virtual lockdown learning awards this week which I hope you have been able to view.  Thank you for embracing our new normal and for all of your kind words and positive comments about how we have kept in touch and supported students and families during lockdown.  However, we do hope we can return to more normal times before too long and we look forward to seeing all students back in classrooms again in September.

Great news: Site Development at HT

I am delighted to share some excellent news about our school site development.  Our recent Condition Improvement Fund bid to the Department for Education for major upgrading of the water management at school has been approved.  The project value is £829,782 and will ensure the water management at HT remains safe, compliant and efficient.  This work will commence over the summer holidays.  Of great interest too, I am sure, is that we expect local planners to approve the application for our new building with 15 classrooms and library before the end of July.  This new building will represent 30% of the entire teaching space at Haileybury Turnford.  The pre-works will start over the summer holidays, and all being well, we expect the building work to be in full swing from early next term, with a proposed completion date in mid-2021.  This is an exciting prospect for us all, and I will update you with more news as soon as I am able to.

Farewell to staff

We will be saying farewell to a small number of staff at the end of term.

Mrs Cumming will be moving onto a new full-time post teaching Food Technology after 11 years at the school.  She was originally appointed as a cover supervisor, qualified as a teacher whilst with us, and has taught a  number of subjects at HT as well as managing the Food Technology area.  We also say farewell to Mrs Lutterodt-Acquah who is re-locating to China for family reasons.  Her contribution to Maths has been excellent, and she played a significant role in our wonderful Year 11 Maths results last summer.  Also leaving us is Mr Rye who has taught sixth form History during the past two years, who will be retiring at the end of the academic year.  We wish him well with his retirement.  Mr Datta, who has led our partnership work with Haileybury, as well as teaching Maths and French with us is moving on to a new post at the University of Cambridge.  Mr Coleman, Mrs Njenda and Mr Uriri who have been with us this academic year are also moving on.  We wish all colleagues well and thank them for their work with our students at Haileybury Turnford.

I will introduce our new members of staff at the start of the academic year in September, who we welcomed to HT this week, for their staff induction.  We are fully staffed for September.

Have a good summer break

We look forward to welcoming our new Year 7 students in September and we are excited about welcoming all students back to school full-time.  School starts on Friday 4^th September for Year 7 and Year 12 students.  All other year groups return the following week.

Thank you for your tremendous support for the school this year, and especially in recent months.  I would like to wish all students and families a very pleasant and safe summer.  I will be in regular contact with re-opening information over the summer, and all updates will appear on our website.  We will see you in September.

16th July 2020

Plans for September: an update for families

Following my letter from Monday this week, I can now provide further details about our re-opening plans for all students in September.

It is necessary to change how school operates from September to ensure we prioritise student safety, and are able to follow all government guidance for our full re-opening.  We are taking a very similar approach to other local secondary schools, but each school is making particular decisions according to their individual circumstances.  We remain in unprecedented times and I would ask parents to understand and respect the decisions made by each local school.

From September:

• The school timetable will be changed to cater for different arrival and departure times for different year groups and the sixth form (“bubbles”), and to accommodate break and lunchtime arrangements.  Where siblings arrive together, they should arrive at the earlier time listed below if in different year groups.
• We will have staggered break and lunchtimes meaning only some bubbles will have break and lunchtime at the same time – bubbles will be kept separate at break and lunchtime.
• We will continue to teach a broad and balanced curriculum (with the full range of subjects for students).
• We will have an updated Home-School agreement, to support our re-opening and new arrangements (Mrs Goodes is coordinating this, and will send information to all families).

Arrival times, break and lunchtimes and finish times for each year group for when we return to school in September are listed below.

Due to the very large number of changes, new routines and expectations for students we wish to ensure we make the start of term in September runs smoothly, and all students feel safe, confident and reassured about our new arrangements.  School will be very different to when students last attended.  We will therefore have a phased start to the academic year which will include different year groups starting on different days, and also having some remote learning mixed with being at school whilst we do this.  This is the only way to ensure all students are fully inducted with the support of their form tutors and other staff.  It will also enable us to ensure we induct all students in using Microsoft Teams and Class Charts, which we will be fully using for all year groups should we have any period when all students or year groups cannot be in school due to a rise in confirmed COVID-19 cases in school or in the local area.  We will be fully ready to have our blended learning provision ready for that eventuality should we have to take that action during the autumn term.

Start of term arrangements for all year groups can be shown below.

We will communicate further details about how school will operate in September during the summer holidays.  I will provide updates to families on Tuesday 4^th August, Thursday 13^th August and Tuesday 25^th August, as well as immediately before the start of term in September.

13th July 2020

Plans for September: all students to return to full-time education at the start of the autumn term

Following the publication of government guidance, we have been planning in detail how we will safely re-open to all students in September.  I am delighted that we will be in a position to welcome all students back to school full-time in September.  The safety of all students and staff remains our highest priority, and we are working through a very wide range of measures to protect students and staff, and minimise contact and mixing for when we fully re-open.  The “new normal” will be very different to how school operated previously, and will involve the staggering of the start and end times of the day, and have different break and lunchtimes for year groups, to help to minimise contact and mixing.

The guidance for the full opening of schools from the start of the autumn term can be found here:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/actions-for-schools-during-the-coronavirus-outbreak

There is also specific information for parents and carers here:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/what-parents-and-carers-need-to-know-about-early-years-providers-schools-and-colleges-during-the-coronavirus-covid-19-outbreak/what-parents-and-carers-need-to-know-about-early-years-providers-schools-and-colleges-in-the-autumn-term

There are 9 specific actions that schools must take to reduce risk and create an inherently safer school environment.  I have listed each of the 9 points below, and have given initial information about how we will address each of them.

1. Minimise contact with individuals who are unwell by ensuring that those who have coronavirus (COVID-19) symptoms, or who have someone in their household who does, do not attend school

• We will adopt a strict set of procedures to ensure the guidance is followed.
• Students, staff and other adults must not come into school if they have coronavirus (COVID-19) symptoms, or have tested positive in the last 7 days, and we will ensure that anyone developing coronavirus (COVID-19) symptoms during the school day is sent home, in order to reduce the risk in schools and further drive down transmission of coronavirus (COVID-19).

2. Clean hands thoroughly more often than usual

• The guidance states that coronavirus (COVID-19) is an easy virus to kill when it is on skin and that this can be done with soap and water or hand sanitiser.
• We will ensure that students clean their hands regularly, including when they arrive at school, when they return from breaks, when they change rooms and before and after eating.
• We will have an increased number of hand sanitiser stations to support the washing of hands, in addition to other hand washing facilities and the current number of hand sanitiser stations.

3. Ensure good respiratory hygiene by promoting the “catch it, bin it, kill it” approach

• We will ask all students to have tissues with them, as well as providing emergency supplies in school.
• Posters, rules and expectations will educate all students to use tissues for respiratory hygiene, and the safe use of bins.
• Public Health England (based on current evidence) does not recommend the routine use of face coverings in schools, but if children wish to, or are required to wear them on their journey in to school on public transport, we will help them with removal and how to safely store their face covering.
• If guidance about face coverings changes, we will respond to all updated guidance.

4. Introduce enhanced cleaning, including cleaning frequently touched surfaces often, using standard products such as detergents and bleach

• Enhanced cleaning is already in operation across the school site.
• Further cleaning will also occur across the school site with all students returning from September.

5. Minimise contact between individuals and maintain social distancing wherever possible

• To reduce the number of contacts between students and staff we will keep groups separate, in “bubbles”.
• We will adopt bubbles for each year group in Key Stage 3 and 4 (Year 7, 8, 9, 10 and 11), and place Key Stage 5 (the Sixth Form) in their own bubble owing to their age and sixth form routines in school.
• Within the Sixth Form bubble, we will endeavour to keep social distancing in place between Year 12 and 13 as far as possible.
• We will therefore have 6 bubbles, and they will largely be kept apart from each other.
• In school we will have staggered break and lunchtimes meaning only some bubbles will have break and lunchtime at the same time – bubbles will be kept separate at break and lunchtime.  There will initially be a more limited food service, and we will have a COVID-secure payment system in place.  Spaces used will be cleaned before subsequent groups arrive.
• The school timetable will be changed to cater for a staggered start and end to the day for different bubbles, and to accommodate the break and lunchtime arrangements described above.
• We will be in a position to share the updated timetable structure later this week which we are currently finalising.  The current start and end times will be slightly different to current arrangements for some bubbles.
• We will continue to teach a broad and balanced curriculum to all year groups.
• Students will be taught in their bubbles, and the guidelines allow students to move to specialist rooms for their lessons if necessary.  Equipment, books and resources will not be shared between bubbles unless quarantined or cleaned.  Students may be given wipes to contribute to the cleanliness of the environment, for example, to wipe PC keyboards and mice after use.
• We will be teaching students in their form groups at Key Stage 3 where possible.  This creates smaller “mini-bubbles” in those year groups.
• Staff will minimise their proximity to others, ideally staying 2 metres from students and other staff.
• Not all students within a bubble will be able to socially distance from each other; but students will be encouraged to keep their distance from other students where possible within bubbles.
• We will minimise and seek to avoid the passing of materials within lessons between individuals.  This means practical lessons in subjects such as Art, Photography, Dance, Design & Technology, Drama, Music, PE and Science for example, will all be controlled in new ways, including implementing the guidance limiting singing, shouting and the sharing of equipment.
• Desks in classrooms will mainly face the front of the room, although it is very clear in the guidance that students sitting next to others in their year group bubble is entirely appropriate.  However, physical contact between students is not permitted, which is no different to normal.

6. Where necessary, wear appropriate personal protective equipment (PPE)

• The guidance is very clear that the majority of staff in schools will not require PPE beyond what they would normally need for their work.
• PPE is only likely to be needed where a student becomes ill with COVID-19 symptoms while at school and if a distance of 2 metres cannot be maintained.  We will have procedures in place to meet the guidance.

7. Engage with the NHS Test and Trace process

• We are required to ensure that staff, parents and carers understand that they will need to be ready and willing to: book a test if they are displaying symptoms; provide contact details of anyone they have been in close contact with if they were to test positive for coronavirus (COVID-19) or if asked by NHS Test and Trace; self-isolate if they have been in close contact with someone who develops coronavirus (COVID-19) symptoms or someone who tests positive for coronavirus (COVID-19).
• We ask parents and staff to inform the school immediately of the results of a test.

8. Manage confirmed cases of coronavirus (COVID-19) amongst the school community

• Schools will not do this alone – we will be guided by the local health protection team.  This team will also contact us directly if they become aware that someone who has tested positive for coronavirus (COVID-19) attended the school, as identified by NHS Test and Trace.   The local health protection team will advise about whether individuals need to self-isolate from school, and whether that self-isolation should extend to class groups or to bubbles.  In the event of partial or total closure, we will provide remote learning, using Class Charts and Microsoft Teams for live lessons.

9. Contain any outbreak following local health protection team advice

• If there are 2 or more confirmed cases within 14 days, or an overall rise in sickness absence where COVID-19 is suspected, we will work with local health protection team who will advise us as to any necessary actions.

Student Attendance is compulsory from September

It is vital that children and young people return to school – for their educational progress, for their wellbeing, and for their wider development.  School attendance will again be mandatory from the beginning of the new academic year in September

A small number of students may still be unable to attend in line with public health advice because they are self-isolating and have had symptoms or a positive test result themselves, or because they are a close contact of someone who has coronavirus (COVID-19).  If your child is unable to attend school for any of these reasons, there will be appropriate remote learning provision in place, which can be discussed further as necessary with your child’s Year Achievement Coordinator.

Shielding advice for all adults and children will pause on 1 August, subject to a continued decline in the rates of community transmission of coronavirus (COVID-19).  This means, that the small number of students who will remain on the shielded patient list can also return to school, as can those who have family members who are shielding.  Some students no longer required to shield but who generally remain under the care of a specialist health professional may need to discuss their care with their health professional before returning to school in September (usually at their next planned clinical appointment).

Where children are not able to attend school as parents are following clinical and/or public health advice, the absence will not be penalised.  Remote learning provision will be put in place.

If you have concerns about your child returning to school, because you consider they may have other risk factors, you should contact your child’s Year Achievement Coordinator or a senior member of staff, to enable us to work together and put further measures in place to reduce risk where possible.

Please note that if you are planning a holiday over the summer period, which may involve travelling abroad, it will be important to ensure students are able to return to school at the start of term.  Please consider that it may be

necessary to build in any relevant quarantine period on your return which does not extend into the start of term.

School Calendar for 2020-21

We will be publishing our school calendar with key dates before the start of term in September.  Due to COVID-19 we are not currently planning any school trips or visits for when school returns in September.  Once we are able to plan such trips and visits with confidence again, we will start to consider what is possible to offer to students.

We are not currently expecting to run the normal Parents’ Evenings in the autumn term.  However, should they not take place, we will make alternative arrangements to ensure there is communication between school and parents, including through email, telephone and possibly Microsoft Teams.  More details will follow in September.

Safeguarding arrangements

Updated safeguarding arrangements will be developed as necessary, and will be communicated to all parents at the start of term.

Rewards

We will be continuing with our wide range of rewards for students in September, and will continue to use Class Charts to support this.  Class Charts enables parents to immediately see where students have been acknowledged for their commitment in lessons, with homework and their wider achievements.

Behaviour & Discipline

We will be updating our Home-School Agreement for all year groups, as we have done for Year 10 and Year 12 students since their return from 15^th June.  More details will follow, with clarity about how the school would follow-up incidences of poor behaviour.  Class Charts enables parents to have immediate sight of any behaviour points issued.  We will be taking a particularly strong approach to any student who deliberately puts their health and safety, or the health and safety of other students and staff at risk.  We are fully committed to ensuring school is a safe, calm and purposeful learning environment.

School Uniform

Full school uniform will be worn and it will need no extra or different cleaning methods or frequency.

Next steps

To enable us to fully respond to the government guidance for re-opening we are currently developing many new operational procedures, some which we have used with Year 10 and Year 12 students since 15^th June.  We will communicate further details about how school will operate in September during this week, and then will provide further information and updates during the summer holidays including immediately before the start of term in September, and then once term has started.

Before we open fully to all students in September, the governing body will meet to approve the school’s Risk Management Plan and Risk Assessments to enable the safe opening for all students and staff.  Once this documentation has been approved, it will also be shared with all families during late August, and a copy placed on the school’s website prior to re-opening.

8th July 2020

Plans for all children and young people to return to full-time education at the start of the autumn term

Following the publication of last week’s government guidance for schools, we have been planning in detail how we will safely re-open to all students in September.  The safety of all students and staff remains our highest priority and we will be in a position to share full details in the coming days before the end of term.  We are working through a very wide range of measures to protect children and staff, and minimise contact and mixing.

We are fully committed to all students returning to school full-time from the start of term in September.  However, the ‘new normal’ will be very different to how school operated previously, and will involve the staggering of break and lunchtimes for different year groups for example, to help to minimise contact and mixing.

The guidance for the full opening of schools from the start of the autumn term can be found here:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/actions-for-schools-during-the-coronavirus-outbreak

Please note that we are not proposing to change term dates for the autumn term.  They can be seen on our website here: https://haileyburyturnford.com/term-dates/.  This means that Year 7 and Year 12 students will return to school on Friday 4^th September and students in all other year groups will return to school on Monday 7^th September.

GCSE and A Level exams next summer and plans for vocational qualifications

There is currently an Ofqual consultation taking place nationally on proposed changes to the assessment of GCSE and A Level exams for 2021 and a position paper on plans for vocational qualifications, which will directly affect current Year 10 and Year 12 students.  Further details can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/ofqual-launches-consultation-on-2021-exams-and-assessments.  Once this consultation has concluded and final proposals adopted, I will share further details and implications for us.  This consultation closes on 16^th July.

Senior staff changes: September 2020

Mr Macaulay and Miss Newman have both been appointed as Assistant Principals from September 2020.  Mr Macaulay will be leading our work with Year 10 and Year 11 students and ensure we place the highest possible priority on supporting students in these year groups next year.  We will be doing all we can to support their mental health and wellbeing as we return to school, in addition to the focus on supporting them with their studies.  He will directly lead our work with Year 11, and work very closely with Ms Johnson as Year Achievement Coordinator for Year 10.  Miss Newman will be leading our curriculum work, and teaching and learning in classrooms, to ensure this provision is well planned and delivered to all students across the school.

Student provision in school and at home

It has been excellent to see Year 10 and Year 12 students continuing to work so positively in lessons in school.  We have also increased our live lessons on Microsoft Teams, and it has been very good to see student engagement with these lessons in a wide range of subjects.  This provision for Year 10 and Year 12 will continue until the end of term on Friday 17^th July.  It was also excellent to see a big turnout from students on Microsoft Teams for our virtual Year 12 induction last week.  Students should ensure they complete transition work to help them prepare for Year 12.  We very much look forward to working with our new sixth formers in September.  This week we also welcome our new Year 7 students to our virtual transition day – we have prepared lots of interesting virtual learning materials to give students a great taste of their new school.  We very much look forward to our new students joining us in September and welcoming new families to our HT community.

In the final week of the school year, next week, we have our Challenge Week for students in Years 7, 8 and 9.  More details will be sent to families in these year groups with information about how to be fully involved, which will include our virtual Sports Day too.  There are lots of Challenge Points on offer, and we will announce the winners of this year’s House Competition at the end of term.

IT devices for disadvantaged students

I have been thrilled by the response to the launch of our IT device donation scheme.  Following on from a substantial donation from a former student, we have received further donations from families and friends of the school in previous days, taking the total donated so far to nearly £5,000.  This has been a quite amazing response to improve our IT device provision.  In addition, we have received some laptop donations which we will loan out to students to support with their learning from home.  Our DfE laptops and 4G routers have also arrived and we are in the process of delivering these to students.  All donations of any amount make a direct impact on our students – thank you for all contributions received.  Should any family wish to donate, please contact me directly via email at newmanr@haileyburyturnford.com.

Continued positive feedback from families

Very kind sentiments have continued to be passed on by families, praising the school’s support and communication since we closed back in March.  Thank you for taking the time to do this.  During what has been a very difficult and challenging few months for families, students and staff, this feedback provides a real boost for us as we continue to do all we can to support our students.

“Communication has been excellent: texts, notifications about achievement points, phone calls and newsletters … It is clear from the calls and info sent out that HT are supporting our students holistically and at an individual level academically and beyond. It’s not just about the work, but also about the student themselves … and this gives great confidence in HT.”

Please also look out for an article on our lockdown learning in this week’s Mercury.

2nd July 2020

Plans for all children and young people to return to full-time education at the start of the autumn term

The Secretary of State for Education, Gavin Williamson, announced the government’s plans for all children and young people to return to full-time education at the start of the autumn term in Parliament today.

The government has published the supporting guidance that provides schools with the details to plan for a full return which has been developed in close consultation with sector stakeholders and medical experts from Public Health England.  This guidance sets out a range of measures to protect children and staff and sets out advice on how schools can minimise contact and mixing.

The guidance for the full opening of schools from the start of the autumn term can be found here:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/actions-for-schools-during-the-coronavirus-outbreak

We will digest the content of the guidance, and make our detailed plans to enable us to re-open to all students, in all year groups from September.  I will write to families with updates when I am able to, during the course of the next 2 weeks, before the end of this term.  There will also be further communication throughout the summer holidays as required.

Despite the obvious questions that this guidance will raise for us all, please could I ask that you avoid the temptation to ask specific questions at this stage, until we are able to develop our detailed plans to respond to today’s government guidance.

1st July 2020

Virtual Year 11 Leavers’ Assembly and Year 12 Induction

We had our Leavers’ Assembly via Microsoft Teams last Friday.  It was not something any of us could have imagined when we started the academic year back in September.  My thanks to Mr Macaulay for coordinating the assembly, and ensuring that our magnificent Class of 2020 were able to reflect on their time in secondary school.  I was pleased that we had such a large turnout with the majority of the year group and family members joining this assembly.  We have been working with many students again today, for our virtual sixth form induction.  I am delighted that we will have a large Year 12 in September and we will do all we can to provide the best possible support for all Year 11 students with destinations beyond Year 11 between now and September.

Our new Head Students have been elected

I would like to congratulate our new Head Students Joshua Asiedu, Sevgul Giritiloglu and Samantha Porter who have been appointed to their new student leadership roles this week following a rigorous application and interview process.  They each equipped themselves very well, and they will play a very important role during the next 12 months, working alongside senior staff and leading our student body.

Student learning until the end of term

Keep going!  We recognise the challenges school closure has continued to bring.  Year 7, 8 and 9 students should aim to complete as many projects as possible before Friday 10^th July.  We then have a range of different activities to form the last week of term.  Year 10 and Year 12 students have a full programme of ‘live’ lessons on Microsoft Teams as well as face-to-face lessons in school right up to the end of term.  The last week of term will also feature our virtual Sports Day, the culmination of the House Competition, virtual Assemblies and our Lockdown Learning Awards.  Miss Newman will be sharing more details in due course.

Individual meetings with students in Year 7, 8, 9 & 13

We have commenced individual meetings in school with Year 7, 8 and 9 students who have found lockdown challenging, and are planning to meet with Year 13 students who would like further support with decision-making about their next steps following the uncertainty caused by COVID-19.  We will be following the same health and safety protocols that we used for individual meetings with Year 10 and Year 12 students and their families.  Our pastoral staff are in the process of making appointments with families.

Government guidance for September and the proposed full re-opening of schools

This guidance for schools is due to be published by government later this week.  The government’s intention is for all students to return to school full-time.  We will communicate our plans as soon as we are able to once the guidance has been published and we have worked through the implications for us.

A happy retirement …

This week we say farewell to Marcia Alcock who retires after 28 years of distinguished service to the Turnford School, Haileybury Turnford and A10 communities. During her career, Mrs Alcock has been Head of Girls’ PE and a longstanding member of the PE Department.  She led many trips abroad including to Barbados, South Africa and she ran the school’s annual ski trip for many years.  She also organised school Dance Shows and through her work with the A10 Sports Partnership has had a direct impact on the health and wellbeing of hundreds of local primary school children.  Marcia has taught thousands of local children, including many now HT parents over her career, and we wish her a long and healthy retirement.

22nd June 2020

Welcome back to lessons for Year 10 and Year 12 students

It has been wonderful to welcome Year 10 and Year 12 students back to school for lessons today, following last week’s meetings with students and families.  All safety measures are in place to ensure we can make this return to school as safe as possible for all students and staff.  Our full risk management plan can be viewed on our website, and can also be found here: https://haileyburyturnford.com/app/uploads/2020/06/HT–HfL–Secondaryreturning–v03.pdf.  This document will continue to be updated as necessary, with the current version always available on the school website.  We have written to Year 10 and Year 12 families separately with full re-opening details.  Please do not hesitate to contact us as necessary with any queries or issues.  We are here to answer your questions.

Updates for other year groups

Following an update to the government’s secondary schools guidance last week, schools are now able to invite students in other year groups into school for a meeting before the end of this term, where it would be beneficial.  We are developing our plans, and will be in contact with further details this week.  We wish to meet with some students, starting no earlier than this Friday 26^th June.  We are going to focus on meeting with students who have found lockdown the most challenging, so that we can aim to provide further support before the summer holidays.

Free School Meals voucher scheme confirmed for the summer holidays

I was delighted that the government took the decision last week to fund free school meal vouchers to families during the summer holidays, following the campaign by footballer Marcus Rashford.  The scheme will support children who are eligible for free school meals with a voucher to cover the full six week summer holiday beginning next month, which schools will be able to order before the end of term. Vouchers will be provided via the existing system run by Edenred. Schools are still waiting for further guidance, and Mr Megaw, Assistant Principal will be in touch with families when we have further information to share.

Catch-up funding for missed teaching time

At the end of last week, the government announced a £1 billion catch-up package to support students who may have fallen behind due to lost teaching time as a result of COVID-19 and school closure.  Additional funding is clearly welcomed to support students, and once the government release further details about this funding, we will be in a position to plan how it will benefit our students.

Will all students return to school in September?

At the end of last week, the government stated that their intention is for all students to return to school full time in September.  Clearly there is much uncertainty, and many questions that all schools and families will have.  Gavin Williamson, Education Secretary, stated on Friday that guidance on safety measures will be published in the next fortnight.  Along with senior colleagues, I continue to plan for various scenarios, and we will keep doing that whilst waiting for the government guidance, to ensure that we can communicate final plans to all staff and families promptly, and before the end of term.

I hope you have a good week ahead. I very much look forward to this Friday’s Year 11 Leavers’ Assembly. We are all hugely disappointed that it is not possible to have this assembly in school this year, but we are committed to making Friday’s Leavers’ Assembly the very best it can be for our Class of 2020, via the internet, on Microsoft Teams.  Full details will be provided by Mr Macaulay to enable all families to join our virtual Leavers’ Assembly on Friday morning.

16th June 2020

Re-opening to Year 10 and Year 12 students

It was wonderful to welcome Year 10 and Year 12 students and their families back into school yesterday, for the first time since school closed on 20^th March.  We also continue to welcome into school our vulnerable students, and those whose parent has been a critical worker throughout the period of lockdown.  Staff have been meeting with Year 10 and Year 12 students and families in the Hall and Sixth Form Centre respectively, hearing about how students have been coping whilst at home.  We have an increased number of staff in school to support our re-opening to Year 10 and Year 12 students, which will increase further once small group teaching begins with these year groups from next week.  If there are particular themes which emerge from the initial meetings, we will contact all families with our responses later in the week, especially if unable to answer queries during the meetings.  We look forward to meeting with more students and families in the coming days.

We are currently developing our offer of ‘live lessons’ using Microsoft Teams with Year 10 and Year 12 students.  More details will follow later this week, and we will continue to work with individual families where IT devices or broadband is not available to ensure we can provide the best possible curriculum in these circumstances.  Year 10 and Year 12 students will have a ‘blend’ of small group teaching in school if able to attend, and ‘live lessons’ using Microsoft Teams until the end of term.

Update for Year 7, 8 and 9 students

For Year 7, 8 and 9 students, our projects will continue for the next 4 weeks, before some different activities in the last week of term for students in these year groups.  We are also making plans to introduce ‘live lessons’ using Microsoft Teams from September should school not be fully open to all students.  Our planning will continue over the coming weeks, so that we are ready to offer a ‘blended curriculum’ of some lessons in school and some ‘live lessons’ using Microsoft Teams if necessary to do so.

Update to secondary school government guidance

Secondary school government guidance was updated yesterday.  The important change was that, in addition to secondary schools welcoming Year 10 and Year 12 students for some face-to-face support, where possible, schools may invite students in other year groups in for a meeting before the end of this term, where it would be beneficial.  Once we have considered how we are able to respond to this change to the government guidance, I will update families – this update is likely to be early next week.

12th June 2020

Re-opening plans for Year 10 and Year 12 students and plans for other year groups
From Monday 15th June we will be welcoming Year 10 and Year 12 students and their families back into school for
initial meetings. This is the first, cautious part of our re-opening of the school, in the safest way possible for all students and staff.

We are following all government guidance fully to minimise risk and ensuring social distancing measures are followed at all times for the safety of students and staff. For any family who wishes to read the school’s full reopening risk management plan, it can be viewed on the school’s website on our policies page: https://haileyburyturnford.com/information/policies/ Our COVID-19 Home School Agreement can also be found on this page of the website, which we will be discussing with Year 10 and Year 12 students and families in the initial meetings next week. Attached with this letter too, are the Frequently Asked Questions and Answers which we have put together for families, relevant for those students who will be returning to school.

I do however recognise that some families will remain frustrated and anxious that their child is not currently able to return to school, and there remains uncertainty about when this may happen. Schools are currently pressing the government to develop its strategy for wider school re-opening proposals. I will communicate what our plans are when able to do so.

We will do all we can for students in Year 7, 8 and 9 too, and continue to be really impressed with the engagement and quality of work from so very many of you. Keep going! We have published the e-Principal’s Book and our latest Newsletter for families today which highlight this excellent commitment from our students. We are proud of what you are achieving in such difficult circumstances. We are also looking forward to our ‘virtual’ transition events for Year 6 students who will be joining us in September, virtual events for Year 11, and also for Year 13. Although we are not able to do the normal transition and rite of passage events and activities for students, we will be doing all we can to provide the support at these important transitions. More details will continue to be sent to each year group respectively.

5th June 2020

Re-opening plans for Year 10 and Year 12 students and plans for other year groups

From 15^th June, secondary schools are able offer face-to-face support to supplement the remote education of Year 10 and Year 12 students, which should remain the predominant mode of education during this term for students in these year groups.  School will not re-open at this stage for students in other year groups.  Based on the latest scientific and medical advice, it is necessary to continue to control the numbers attending school to reduce the risk of increasing transmission.  Schools are able to have 25% of the Year 10 and Year 12 cohort (for schools with sixth forms) in school at any one time.

The full secondary school guidance, published by the government during half-term can be accessed here:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/preparing-for-the-wider-opening-of-schools-from-1-june/planning-guide-for-secondary-schools

In addition, there is additional guidance written for parents and carers which can be accessed here:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/closure-of-educational-settings-information-for-parents-and-carers/closure-of-educational-settings-information-for-parents-and-carers

At yesterday’s governing body meeting, the school’s re-opening plans were fully examined.  At the end of this meeting, the school’s risk management plans for its re-opening were approved.

Thank you to Year 10 and Year 12 families for completing the surveys sent to your earlier in the week.  The majority of families indicated that they would wish to attend initial meetings in school from week commencing 15^th June, and would also be positive about small group teaching from week commencing 22^nd June.

I will write to all Year 10 and Year 12 families further on Monday 8^th June with more detailed information which will be specifically relevant to those year groups who we very much hope we will see back in school, even if on a very limited basis, during the next few weeks.  This will outline in detail the ways we will be managing risk and ensuring all social distancing measures are followed for the safety of all students and staff.

For Year 7, 8 and 9 students, it is not possible for them to return to school at this time unless they are eligible for our vulnerable child and critical worker provision.  Our remote learning provision will continue, using Class Charts for teachers to set work and provide feedback.  Please contact the relevant Year or Assistant Year Achievement Coordinator with specific queries or issues.

Mr Macaulay has also written to Year 11 families today to ask for support with planning for our end of Year 11 ‘virtual’ assembly.  Our sixth form team will continue to be in touch with Year 13 students too, to support with plans for moving on from Haileybury Turnford, whether to employment, college or university.

Other updates

We have today published the latest Year Group Bulletins.  As with previous bulletins, they show the wonderful work being completed by our students from home.  Bulletins can be viewed here: https://haileyburyturnford.com/newsletters-bulletins-and-e-principals-book/

In order to remember those that have lost their lives to COVID-19, we intend to open a Book of Remembrance on the school’s website.  If you wish to pay tribute to someone that has died from COVID-19, or would like to leave a message for someone that has suffered a loss, please email Mrs Amatruda at amatrudaj@haileyburyturnford.com 

Thank you for your continued support, and my good wishes to all families as we navigate our way through this very difficult period.

1st June 2020

I hope you remain well, and were able to enjoy the excellent weather whilst still remaining safe and following the government’s social distancing guidance during the half-term break.

Work setting this half-term

As communicated to each year group before half-term, we will be continuing to set work as we have done in recent weeks.  Our new curriculum projects for students in Year 7, Year 8 and Year 9 can be seen on Class Charts, and work will continue to be set via Class Charts for students in Year 10 too.  Work will continue to be set via email, and in some cases there will be lessons on Microsoft Teams, for Year 12 students.  We will be communicating too with Year 11 students, to support transition to our sixth form, or college; and with Year 13 students to support with next steps beyond HT.

Coronavirus testing

The government recently announced that anyone with symptoms of coronavirus is now eligible to book a test, including children under the age of 5 years.  Anyone experiencing a new, continuous cough; high temperature; or a loss of, or change, in their normal sense of smell or taste (anosmia) can book a test.  A coronavirus test can be booked here: https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/coronavirus-covid-19/testing-for-coronavirus/ask-for-a-test-to-check-if-you-have-coronavirus/

Re-opening plans: update

The government published its re-opening guidance for secondary schools during half-term.  The full documentation can be accessed here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/preparing-for-the-wider-opening-of-schools-from-1-june/planning-guide-for-secondary-schools

From 15^th June, secondary schools have been asked to offer face-to-face support to supplement the remote education of Year 10 and Year 12 students, which should remain the predominant mode of education during this term for students in these year groups.  School will not re-open at this stage for students in other year groups.  Based on the latest scientific and medical advice, it is necessary to continue to control the numbers attending school to reduce the risk of increasing transmission.  Schools are able to have 25% of the Year 10 and Year 12 cohort (for schools with sixth forms) in school at any one time.

Therefore, initial meetings in school with some Year 10 and Year 12 students and their families will now take place from week commencing 15^th June.  The purpose of these meetings will be to re-familiarise students with the school environment, to discuss how they have coped during lockdown, talk about the work that has been done at home in recent weeks and to start thinking about next steps.

e are planning to be in a position to start face-to-face teaching with very small groups of Year 10 and/or Year 12 students from week commencing 22^nd June.  We will continue to be guided by all updated government guidance for secondary schools as it emerges and communicate our more detailed plans with Year 10 and Year 12 families.  We will be following all social distancing measures and we will have very small number of students attending to ensure school is safe for all students and staff.  This will involve staggered days and times for students, smaller class sizes, a different timetable, frequent handwashing and additional cleaning to our school facilities.

To support our detailed planning, please could all Year 10 and Year 12 families complete our short survey to share your views, worries and potential issues.  This will be sent to you by email later today.  Please could you respond by the end of the day on Wednesday 3^rd June.  We are also asking whether you would attend a face-to-face meeting in school with a member of staff next week.  It will be for each family with a Year 10 and Year 12 student to decide whether they wish to attend such a meeting, or send their child to school for the subsequent provision that we are able to offer during the rest of this term, based on the information and guidance we are able to provide about how we will manage our re-opening.

In summary

• From today we are continuing with the existing arrangements for working from home for all students other than those vulnerable students and those whose parent is a critical worker and cannot be safely cared for at home.
• From 15^th June, we are planning to have initial meetings in school with some Year 10 and Year 12 students and their families.
• From 22^nd June, we are hoping to start face-to-face teaching with very small groups of Year 10 and/or Year 12 students.
• More specific details about our proposed in-school provision for Year 10 and Year 12 students will be communicated to those year groups separately.
• All families must make their own decision about whether they wish to attend a meeting at school, or send their child to school for the subsequent provision.

21st May 2020

Can I be tested for coronavirus?

The government is clear that the country is past the peak of COVID-19 infections, and that it is time to start easing some of the lockdown measures, including for schools.  The government has also announced this week that anyone with symptoms of coronavirus is now eligible to book a test.  Anyone experiencing a new, continuous cough; high temperature; or a loss of, or change, in their normal sense of smell or taste (anosmia) can book a test.  A coronavirus test can be booked here: https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/coronavirus-covid-19/testing-for-coronavirus/ask-for-a-test-to-check-if-you-have-coronavirus/

When will school re-open?

The government are asking secondary schools to offer some face-to-face support before the summer holidays to supplement the remote learning of Year 10 and Year 12 students and to be ready to do that from 1^st June at the very earliest.  With senior staff, I have been planning for different possible scenarios and I can provide an update.  The most important principle guiding our planning work to move beyond the current arrangements is to ensure that school can be safe for students and staff. 

During next week and week commencing 1^st June (first week after half-term) we will continue with our planning for a phased re-opening.  We hope to have initial meetings in school with some Year 10 and Year 12 students and their families week commencing 8^th June (second week back after half-term).  The purpose of these meetings will be to re-familiarise students with the school environment, to discuss how they have coped during lockdown, talk about the work that has been done at home in recent weeks and to start thinking about next steps.

We will not be in a position to start face-to-face teaching, even with small groups of Year 10 and/or Year 12 students in school week commencing 1^st June or week commencing 8^th June.  We will continue to be guided by government guidance for secondary schools as it emerges and plan to move towards teaching small groups on a very limited scale from week commencing 15^th June at the very earliest.

Once school starts to re-open, it will be very different to the school that students previously attended.  We will be following all social distancing measures and we will have very small number of students attending to ensure school is safe for all students and staff.  This will involve staggered days and times for students, smaller class sizes, a different timetable, frequent handwashing and additional cleaning to our school facilities.  I am confident we can manage this successfully, but our approach will be to take small steps over the coming weeks to ensure this can happen in due course, whilst at the same time being ready to adjust our plans as necessary.

Following half-term, week commencing 1^st June, I will communicate more specific details about our plans and send you a short survey to complete to seek your views, worries and potential issues.  In this survey, we will ask whether you would attend a face-to-face meeting in school with a member of staff, during the week commencing 8^th June.  Ultimately, it will be for each family with a Year 10 and Year 12 student to decide whether they wish to attend such a meeting, or send their child to school for the provision that we are able to offer, based on the information and guidance we are able to provide about how we will manage our re-opening.

 Therefore, from 1^st June we will continue with the existing arrangements for working from home for all students other than those vulnerable students and those whose parent is a critical worker and cannot be safely cared for at home.  Further details about our home learning arrangements for after half-term will be sent to you before the end of this week, which are being coordinated by the relevant senior staff with oversight for each year group.  We will also publish the next edition of our Newsletter for families and e-Principal’s Book at the end of this week to share our students’ achievements whilst they have continued to work at home.

And finally …

I am pleased to welcome back Mrs Megaw today, who returns as part-time Art & Photography teacher following her maternity leave.

Please continue to look after yourselves, and most importantly, stay safe.  If there are particular issues over the May half-term break please do not hesitate to contact me directly.  We are not asking teaching staff to be working over May half-term other than a small number of volunteer staff in school: it is important that staff, as far as possible, are able to spend time with their families.  However, planning for our potential re-opening will continue, we will continue to deal with urgent issues, and we remain available to provide whatever support we can.  I will write to families following the half-term break on Monday 1^st June unless there are any urgent updates that are required during next week.

21st May 2020

Coronavirus Drive-through testing in Hertfordshire has expanded

Our NHS partners have provided us with the attached information about how to access Hertfordshire’s pop-up COVID-19 drive-through test centres.  In addition to the weekend (Saturday, Sunday and Monday), an additional day has been added – Thursdays.

The pop-up sites in Watford (Thursdays) Hertford (Saturdays), Watford (Sundays) and Stevenage (Mondays) have been commissioned by local NHS organisations and are supported by the military. Testing at each site will open at 10am and run until 4pm.

Please note because the Household Waste Recycling Centre in Stevenage has now re-opened adjacent to the test centre, please ensure you follow the signs to the test centre as there will be queues for the Recycling site.

Information about the test criteria, together with an explanation of what to do if you meet the criteria for a test is included in the attached document, please note the eligibility criteria has changed, in addition to the extra day, both testing criteria and an additional symptom have been included.  Please click the link below.

Coronvirus testing in Hertfordshire has expanded

15th May 2020

When will school re-open?

The government are asking secondary schools to offer some face-to-face support before the summer holidays to supplement the remote learning of Year 10 and Year 12 students and to be ready to do that from 1^st June at the very earliest.  With senior staff, I have been planning for different possible scenarios but it is too soon to take any final decisions.  The most important principle guiding our planning work to move beyond the current arrangements is to ensure that school can be safe for students and staff.  We remain in a public health emergency, and all next steps will be taken with this in mind.

Once there is further information, I will communicate the details to you clearly.  It is very unlikely for much to change on 1^st June from the current arrangements in school and existing arrangements for working from home are likely to continue during the week commencing 1^st June for all students other than those vulnerable students and those whose parent is a critical worker and cannot be safely cared for at home.  I will provide further updates next week.

Information published by the government for parents and carers about the wider opening of nurseries, schools and colleges, transport, attendance, free school meals and remote education can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/closure-of-educational-settings-information-for-parents-and-carers

Mental Health Awareness Week: 18^th-24^th May

Hosted by the Mental Health Foundation, Mental Health Awareness Week will take place next week.  The theme is kindness.  Lots of information can be found here: https://www.mentalhealth.org.uk/campaigns/mental-health-awareness-week  Wednesday 20th May is “Thank a Teacher Day”, so please do consider sending a message to a member of staff that has helped during lockdown.  More details can be found here: https://haileyburyturnford.com/thank-a-teacher-day-20th-may/ 

And finally …

Please continue to stay in touch with staff.  Our latest Bulletins for students in Year 7, 8, 9 & 10 have been published this week.  They are wonderfully uplifting and a celebration of each year group community.  If you haven’t seen them, they can be viewed here: https://haileyburyturnford.com/newsletters-bulletins-and-e-principals-book/  My great thanks to staff, students and families for your contributions to these bulletins.

12th May 2020

I hope you remain safe and well following the Bank Holiday weekend in which we commemorated the 75^th anniversary of VE Day and our gratitude for the enormous suffering previous generations endured.  It was a poignant reflection, given our current difficulties.  It was really uplifting to see the VE Day celebrations taking place amongst members of the HT community – thank you for sending us your photographs, many we have posted to our Twitter feed and Facebook page.  Do take a look!

When will school re-open?

Following the Prime Minister’s statement on Sunday evening, further government guidance was published yesterday.  The full guidance can be found here: Click here.  The Department for Education coronavirus helpline is also available to answer questions about COVID-19 relating to education and children’s social care.  Parents and young people can contact this helpline by telephoning 0800 046 8687 between 8am to 6pm – Monday to Friday and 10am to 4pm – Saturday and Sunday or follow the link here: Click here.

The government are asking secondary schools to offer some face-to-face support before the summer holidays to supplement the remote learning of Year 10 and Year 12 students and to be ready to do that from 1^st June at the very earliest.  It is very unlikely that students in other year groups will return before the next academic year.  The next step for the school is for me and senior staff to plan how to respond to this initial government guidance.  The most important principle guiding our planning work to move beyond the current arrangements is to ensure that school can be safe for students and staff.

School will therefore remain closed for the foreseeable future, other than to vulnerable students and those whose parent is a critical worker and cannot be safely cared for at home.  Please contact Mrs Goodes, Vice Principal directly at goodesm@haileyburyturnford.com if you feel this provision applies to you.

Once we have further information about any partial re-opening arrangements, I will communicate the details to you clearly.  Further details will not follow until next week at the earliest.

And finally …

Please continue to stay in touch with staff.  Our Year Achievement Coordinators and Assistant Year Achievement Coordinators are continuing to coordinate contact with families.  Please do contact them with any issues or concerns.  Equally, do not hesitate to contact me directly, or any other member of the senior team if necessary.  All staff contact details can be found on our website: https://haileyburyturnford.com/contact-us/staff/  We have also published our Mental health and Wellbeing Newsletter which can be found here: https://haileyburyturnford.com/app/uploads/2020/05/Mental-Health-and-Wellbeing-Newsletter-1.pdf  to provide further support and guidance to families.

7th May 2020

When will school be open again?

This remains unknown, despite significant speculation in the media.  We expect to hear some information from the Prime Minister this weekend.  We will then be in a position to plan for what will happen after May half-term and communicate this with families.

Student achievements

The latest newsletter for families, and e-Principal’s Book have been published today.  They continue to show and acknowledge the excellent work our students are doing whilst at home.  Thank you for all you are doing to support your children – we know that it is difficult, and that each family has differing circumstances.

VE Day 75

Tomorrow sees the 75th anniversary of VE Day. We would like to encourage all families to support and mark this important occasion by taking part in a lockdown VE Day celebration or by taking part in one of the VE Day activities which we shared earlier in the week. Details can also be found on the school’s website – https://haileyburyturnford.com/app/uploads/2020/05/VE-Day-75-celebration.pdf, on Class Charts and our Twitter feed. Please do share your VE Day experiences with us, and send a photograph to Miss Newman via email at newmand@haileyburyturnford.com

And finally …

We say farewell to Mrs Sylvester this week.  She has worked at the school since 2007, and given such excellent service, teaching English to so very many students.  She has moved on to a Head of English position at a special school in Hertfordshire.  We wish her our good wishes as she moves onto this new post.

1st May 2020

Work setting during the next 3 weeks

We plan to continue setting work for students in the same way during the next 3 weeks up to May half-term.  For projects on Class Charts, the new due date is 22nd May.  Students should be choosing to complete projects that they have not tackled in the past 3 weeks.

Students in Year 7 and 8 should continue to complete a minimum of 3 projects each week from a range of subjects.  If students are able to, they should complete more projects than this each week with a suggested maximum of 6 projects each week.  We remain mindful that each family will have different circumstances and we wish to continue to set work which is both manageable and sustainable for families.  If all projects are completed, Miss Newman has also uploaded some further resources onto Class Charts which will be available from Monday.  Please contact Mr Walsh further with any queries.

Students in Year 9 should continue with project work or coursework if more appropriate for some subjects.  This work continues to be set on Class Charts.  If all projects are completed, Miss Newman has also uploaded some further resources onto Class Charts which will be available from Monday.  Please contact Mr Megaw with any further queries.

Students in Year 10 should continue with completing work set by their teachers on Class Charts which in some subjects will continue to be in the form of longer project-style pieces of work.

Students in Year 11 should continue to prepare for Sixth Form work, which can be found on the school website here: https://haileyburyturnford.com/prep-work-for-sixth-form-college-and-work/

Students in Year 12 will continue to have work set by email by their class teachers, and advice and support is available for Year 13 students here: https://haileyburyturnford.com/app/uploads/2020/04/Letter-to-Year-13-students-3.4.20.pdf  Sixth form students should continue to keep in touch with the Sixth Form management team for support as necessary.

When will school be open again?

This remains unknown, but we should expect to hear more information from the government next week.  Once we have further information we will be in a better position to plan for what will happen after May half-term.

Keeping in touch

We have published the third of our Student Bulletins for students in Year 7, 8, 9 and 10 this week.  Do take a look at them if you haven’t already – they continue to provide a great way to keep our students connected to their year groups, and provide positive news during this difficult time for us all.

28th April 2020

When will school be open again?

Boris Johnson was very clear yesterday that the lockdown is likely to continue for a while yet.  We plan to continue setting work for students in the same way in the coming weeks up to May half-term.  Once there is further information about any easing of the lockdown, and the implications for schools, we will start to communicate how this will apply to us.  It is very likely that some form of social distancing in schools will be necessary, as part of any phased re-opening in due course.  Like you, I am waiting to see what the government decides in the coming weeks.

Exams in Summer 2021

Supporting current Year 10 and Year 12 students is going to be hugely important to support their preparations for public exams in summer 2021.  Although the focus in currently on Centre Assessed Grades (to replace exam grades) for our current Year 11 and Year 13 students, we are aware that Year 10 and Year 12 students will require significant support once school re-opens.  Much more detail about support for students in these year groups will follow once school is open again.  During this closure period, we would urge all Year 10 and Year 12 students to do all they can to keep working, and to remain in touch with their teachers for support.

‘Thank You’ to the NHS and Key Workers

It was wonderful to see so many students, family members and staff wearing blue last Thursday.  Thank you for sending your photographs to us!  We have shared many of these photographs on our website, on our Twitter feed and Facebook page and you can now view our staff video too here: https://vimeo.com/412342897

An update on our new building

Our planning application has now been made and meetings have continued remotely between the school, the Department for Education and our contractor during the past few weeks.  The timescales have not changed as a result of school closure, and it is hoped that work will begin this summer once planning permission has been granted.

Keeping in touch

We are continuing to contact families, led by our pastoral teams, to check whether there is anything further we can do to support, including providing help with work queries.  We are prioritising contact on need, but if there is anything you require support with, please do not hesitate to be in touch with us.  We want to help as much as is possible at this time.

24th April 2020

‘Thank You’ to the NHS and Key Workers

It was wonderful to see so many students, family members and staff wearing blue yesterday.  Thank you for sending your photographs to us!  We have shared many of these photographs on our website, on our Twitter feed and Facebook page.

Our latest newsletter for families

Our latest newsletter for families has been published today.  It is on our school website, and has also been sent to you.  It shows some of the excellent work, and achievements of our students this week.  Very well done to all of our students for continuing to adjust to, and persevering with completing your school work from home – we know this is not straightforward and difficult for many families.  Please do not hesitate to contact your Year Achievement Coordinator or Assistant Year Achievement Coordinator with any queries – we are here to help.

Internet access and digital devices

Last weekend, the government announced potential support for some disadvantaged secondary school students, for care leavers and children with social workers who do not already have internet access or digital devices to enable access to remote education resources during school closure.  We have received further information today and Mr Megaw, Assistant Principal will be coordinating this process on our behalf.  The information received today states that students in Year 10, ahead of GCSEs next year, are eligible if they would otherwise not have internet access or digital devices to enable access to remote education resources.

Guidance for families when a child is unwell or injured

The number of children attending Urgent Care and Emergency Departments has dropped in recent weeks.  Families are understandably concerned about taking their children to health settings at this time but this has resulted in some children presenting late and as a result being very poorly.  The East & North Herts and West Herts Trust have produced the attached guidance for parents/carers when a child is unwell or injured.  Please take a moment to look at the guidance.

https://haileyburyturnford.com/app/uploads/2020/04/covid19_advice_for_parents_when_child_unwell_or_injured_poster-1.pdf

If there is anything else you need support with, please do not hesitate to be in touch.

20th April 2020

Over the weekend, the government has been very clear that schools will remain closed for the foreseeable future.  The government also announced potential support for some disadvantaged secondary school students, for care leavers and children with social workers who do not already have internet access or digital devices to enable access to remote education resources during school closure.  As soon as we have the details about this we will provide further information to enable us to place orders for devices for eligible students.  Please note, parents and students will not be able to order the devices themselves.

In addition to our curriculum, with work being set on Class Charts (Year 7-10) and via email (Year 12), some additional online resources have been launched today.  The government has launched a new website to support online learning: https://www.thenational.academy/and the BBC has launched their updated BBC Bitesize website: https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize  As a priority, students should complete the work set by our teachers, but some of these resources might be of interest to families to supplement our HT curriculum.  We would value any feedback should families access any of these resources.

Say ‘Thank You’ to the NHS and Key Workers by wearing blue this Thursday 23^rd April

Mrs Goodes has written to families this morning to let you know about this initiative which we would encourage you to support on Thursday so that we can show our collective appreciation as a school to our NHS and key frontline workers, working to help to save lives.

Staff change

In addition to the staff changes I communicated last week, Mrs Tarantini-Amor has now moved on to her new school.  She has been with us for 3 years, teaching Spanish and supporting our English as an Additional Language provision with real skill and commitment.  We wish her well as she moves on to her new role as SENCO at Roding Valley High School in Essex.

16th April 2020

Welcome to the Summer Term.  Even if the weather perhaps feels like summer, nothing else is normal.

I hope that everyone managed to have a good Easter weekend, and stayed safe and well.  As we adjust back into term time again this week please continue to stay in touch with staff as particular issues arise.  Equally, please do not hesitate to contact me directly.  All staff email contacts can be found on the school website here: https://haileyburyturnford.com/contact-us/staff/

This week has seen the launch of our new projects for students in Key Stage 3, with the aim to ensure that work set is manageable and our curriculum is sustainable during school closure.  Thank you for the initial positive feedback this week and to our students for completing great work at the start of this week.  We plan to continue celebrating this work through our regular newsletters and awards.

Years 7 and 8: Project based work via Class Charts

Year 9: Project work or continuation with coursework if more appropriate for some subjects via Class Charts

Year 10: Continuation of GCSE work, though this may now be in the form of a longer project-style piece in some subjects via Class Charts

Year 11: Preparation for Sixth Form work which can be found on the school website here: https://haileyburyturnford.com/prep-work-for-sixth-form-college-and-work/

Year 12: Work set by email – the same as before Easter

Year 13: No work will be set – there is advice and support available for Year 13 students here:  https://haileyburyturnford.com/app/uploads/2020/04/Letter-to-Year-13-students-3.4.20.pdf

Staff changes

At the end of the Spring Term, we said farewell to Mrs Noble, our school counsellor, who has chosen to retire.  She has provided wonderful service since first joining the school in 2004.  She has supported many of our students over the past 16 years, providing a confidential counselling service which has become ever more in demand over the years.  We will miss her calm and reassuring presence around school, and wish her well for her retirement.

Mr Morgan, our temporary Maths teacher left us at the end of the Spring Term, and we have been joined by Mr Uriri to teach Maths in the Summer Term.

At the start of this term I would also like to welcome Mrs Bisceglia joining us in Modern Foreign Languages, and Mrs Puchalski joining us as Subject Leader for Drama whilst Mrs Wells is on maternity leave.  In addition, Mrs Ashby, Faculty Leader for PE is on maternity leave, and Miss Simeou is our Faculty Leader for PE this term.

3rd April 2020

This will be my final letter to families before the Easter break.  Currently, I do not plan to write to families during next week or over the Easter weekend, unless there is urgent information which I need to communicate.  We will continue to post updates to the school website over the Easter break and use text and email to share particular information if necessary to do so.

It has been a quite extraordinary few weeks, and certainty not anything I had ever imagined could happen.  The whole HT community has come together magnificently to respond to the health emergency pandemic.  Thank you for all you are doing to support each other, and for the support for your children in such uncertain times.

From after the Easter break, starting on Tuesday 14^th April, we will be setting work in a different way.  Ms Just, Vice Principal, is writing to families about this in more detail.  We hope it will help to address some of the challenges around workload for some families, and provide a manageable and sustainable curriculum over the coming weeks.

We have been continuing to develop the information for families on our school website at www.haileyburyturnford.com.  There is specific information for families about keeping your child safe online and information to provide support for parents at this time, which can also be accessed here – https://www.who.int/emergencies/diseases/novel-coronavirus-2019/advice-for-public/healthy-parenting.  I hope these prove useful, with some good practical ideas.

Do continue to look after yourselves, and most importantly, stay safe.  Do continue to stay in touch and connected with friends and family using the wide range of ways to do this.  If there are particular issues over the Easter break please do not hesitate to contact me directly.  We are not asking staff to be working over Easter other than a small number of volunteer staff in school: it is important that staff, as far as possible, are able to spend time with their families.  However, the school is set up to deal with urgent issues, and we remain available to provide whatever support we can.

Our Summer Term begins on Tuesday 14^th April, and I will write to families at the start of term.

31st March 2020

I hope you and your family remain safe as we all continue to adjust to staying at home to protect the NHS and save lives.

I currently plan to communicate with families twice this week: today and later in the week before we break for Easter.  There will be communication from other staff throughout the week, including information from Mrs Goodes, Vice Principal, today who has updated families on safeguarding arrangements during our school closure.  We are also making contact with different year groups with specific relevant information, and we will circulate our newsletter for all families at the end of the week.

If there is more urgent, or breaking news which I need to communicate, I will continue to do so as the need arises.

I am very grateful to families for taking the time to provide feedback via our survey at the weekend.

The two key themes arising from the survey results are:

• the great thanks that families wished to give to teachers for the work set to date, and for the regular updates being provided by the school
• the different challenges for families arising from work being done from home

This feedback is helping us to shape our curriculum, and how we wish to set work for after the Easter break.  We will share more details about this before the weekend.

Once we reach the Easter holiday, we will treat this as a holiday from school work, and teachers will not be setting work from Monday 6^th April to Monday 13^th April (inclusive).  Our summer term commences on Tuesday 14^th April, and we will again setting work from that date.

Do continue to look after yourselves, and most importantly, for all of us, is to ensure that we follow the government advice to stay safe, and to provide support for each other at home.  Please continue to stay in touch with us, and to seek support and advice as necessary. We are here to help, and provide whatever support we can.

27th March 2020

We have reached the end of our first week, in which we have all had to adapt to huge changes in our lives.  I hope that you are managing to work out new routines at home which I have no doubt will continue to change over time, as all families continue to deal with their own circumstances.

Thank you for all of the messages of support that have been sent to me and other members of staff throughout the week.  This has been hugely appreciated, and has really helped us to remain connected as a community at the start of our closure period.  I hope we have been able to provide the right reassurances and support, and are able to sustain this in the coming weeks.  We want to give families the opportunity to provide further feedback.

Please click on the link to our survey below to provide some feedback to us over the weekend. This will support us with our planning over the coming weeks.

https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/7RX8QXZ

Students have completed some wonderful work throughout this week.  Do take a look at the first of our weekly newsletters for families, showcasing our students’ work and achievements from this week.  Our students are amazing, and we thank you for the great support you have been providing them too.

Do continue to look after yourselves, and most importantly, for all of us, is to ensure that we follow the government advice to stay safe, and to provide support for each other at home.

Please continue to stay in touch with us, and to seek support and advice as necessary.  We are here to help, and provide whatever support we can.

25th March 2020

I hope that you are adjusting to, and coping with the significant changes to our lives which are now with us. I hope that we have been able to provide reassuring responses when you have tried to contact us for support, advice, or answers to particular issues in the past few days. I also hope that you are managing to work out some kind of new routine at home. This will be more difficult for some households, and is likely to change over time, as all families deal with different circumstances. Try to go with what works for your household over the coming weeks, and adopt new routines which work for your family.

We will seek feedback from you at the end of the week to help us adapt what we are doing, and to provide the best possible support and guidance we are able to provide to families whilst school is closed. Please do share your feedback and thoughts with us should you wish to. We wish to keep in regular contact, and provide the right reassurances and support. Equally, do not hesitate to make contact with either me directly, or specific members of staff with particular queries or questions specific to you. All staff email addresses are listed on the school website at https://haileyburyturnford.com/contact-us/staff/

It has been hugely uplifting to see such a positive response from students throughout this week, with lots of work sent to teachers. We have plans to share examples of our students’ work, and we have done this using our Twitter feed this week.

We are focusing on up to the Easter break at present. As we move in the summer term, we will continue to adapt the ways we are working to ensure we are providing the best support should there be a long closure period. Most importantly at present, we must all follow the government advice to ensure we all stay safe: to stay at home, protect the NHS and save lives, to remain positive, and have faith in ourselves and communities that we will get through this health emergency.

24th March 2020

Our Prime Minister was very clear when speaking to us all last night:

Stay at home
• Only go outside for food, health reasons or essential work
• Stay 2 metres (6ft) away from other people
• Wash your hands as soon as you get home

Anyone can spread the virus.
Government advice can be read here:

https://www.gov.uk/coronavirus

and full guidance on staying at home and away from others can be read here:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/full-guidance-on-staying-athome-and-away-from-others

The single most important action we can all take, in fighting coronavirus, is to stay at home in order to protect the NHS and save lives. Thank you to all families for considering whether it is essential for your child to attend school if you are a critical worker or if your child is vulnerable. Having only a very small number of students at school has meant that we have been able to have a very low number of staff at work. This has enabled us to protect our staff as fully as
possible, and ensure they too are able to follow all government advice as fully as possible. Thank you.

It is a very difficult time for us all and it will continue to be challenging for us all to adapt to our new circumstances. Please remember that teachers are available during the school day from 8.30am until 3.00pm via email. Please do make use of email to gain reassurance as any issues or concerns arise. If there are more general questions or queries about work setting for students, please contact Miss Newman, Director of Teaching & Learning, via email at newmand@haileyburyturnford.com.

It has been excellent to see so much work completed and sent to staff in the past two days. We have plans to celebrate our students’ achievements with our
community during our closure period, and we will communicate more details in the coming days.

23rd March 2020

Today we see the start of a period of school closure, and the strongest advice from government about how we should all act to stay safe, protect ourselves and others. Our teaching staff have been adapting to these new arrangements too, and have been uploading learning materials to Class Charts at www.classcharts.com Students must ensure that they can access our online
curriculum, and contact staff by email should there be any difficulties.
Teaching staff are setting work, following the normal school timetable. It is Week 1 on the school timetable this week.

To help our students adapt to working from home, we have created a short video with some practical guidance which can be accessed from the links below, please copy and paste into your search engines.

https://turnfordorgmy.sharepoint.com/:v:/g/personal/dursol_haileyburyturnford_com/EQPA1zlVvMZKpttyXJMh6AwBG_zIc9n5FVo
CTchmWKpQMQ?e=4%3av1fDVd&at=9

We have created a short video for parents too:

https://turnfordorgmy.sharepoint.com/:v:/g/personal/dursol_haileyburyturnford_com/EXJpNag4NRREhtnCye1KNx4ByzinA90PEbRbKUTuquYpw?e=1Vvmze

It is a very difficult time for us all and we recognise it will be challenging to adapt to our new circumstances.

Please remember that teachers are available during the school day from 8.30am until 3.00pm via email. Please do make use of email to gain reassurance as any issues or concerns arise. If there are more general questions or queries about work setting for students, please contact Miss Newman, Director of Teaching & Learning, via email at newmand@haileyburyturnford.com

22nd March 2020

Coronavirus latest information for parents and carers: Sunday 22nd March
From tomorrow, school is closed until further notice. There will be further information tomorrow morning to support the start of the next phase of our response to the coronavirus pandemic, including reminders about our
expectations for students, and support for families.

Students in Year 7-11 should access Class Charts daily at www.classcharts.com and use their school email accounts to contact staff. Sixth Form teachers will use email to communicate with students. Sixth Formers should use their school email accounts to contact staff. All staff contact details can be found on our website: https://haileyburyturnford.com/contact-us/staff/

If you have indicated the necessity to access our provision in school from tomorrow, you will have had further contact from Mrs Goodes, Vice Principal, today. I must stress that students must not arrive in school tomorrow
morning unless this has been pre-arranged for those families with key workers and vulnerable students. Please direct any queries about this to Mrs Goodes by email at goodesm@haileyburyturnford.com.

For parents of children who are in receipt of Free School Meals, please direct any queries to Ms Just, Vice Principal. We have already communicated with you about arrangements for this week. Ms Just can be contacted by email at justk@haileyburyturnford.com.

There will also be further information tomorrow following the cancellation of this summer’s exams for students. Our Prime Minister was very clear today about the responsibility each one of us have to follow the government
guidance about social distancing. Please could I strongly urge every person to follow all government advice fully as our community responds to this global health emergency. Please stay safe, and provide support for each
other.

20th March 2020

From Monday 23rd March, school is closed until further notice.
We wish all members of the Haileybury Turnford community our very best wishes during this time.

I have been overwhelmed by our community’s response this week, working together to support each other. One simple example of this was seen in the amazing response to our local food bank collection. A huge thank you for all donations. Our staff have been magnificent, and responded with such compassion and care to provide the necessary support for our young people as events have unfolded throughout the week.

Thank you for all the messages of support and good wishes from parents too, who have wanted to pass on their thanks to staff members. This has been hugely appreciated – thank you. From Monday, all information for students, staff and families will be communicated via text, email and our
website. We will also use our Facebook and Twitter accounts for some news and information. The latest information will be available on the homepage of our website too.

Students in Year 7-11 should access Class Charts daily at www.classcharts.com and use their school email accounts to contact staff. Sixth Form teachers will use email to communicate with students. Sixth Formers should use their school email accounts to contact staff. All staff contact details can be found on our website: https://haileyburyturnford.com/contact-us/staff/

More detailed information will continue to be circulated to specific year groups. We have communicated separately to those families with key workers and vulnerable students with details about next week. Parents of
children who are in receipt of Free School Meals have also been communicated with, to share arrangements for next week.

Please can I strongly urge every person to follow all government advice fully as our community responds to this global health emergency. Please stay safe, and provide support for each other. There will be further communication over the weekend if necessary, and certainly on Monday morning.

19th March 2020

Our students and staff have been simply magnificent in school today trying to process yesterday’s announcement that we will close at the end of the day tomorrow and that exams this May/June have been cancelled.

We have written separately to different year groups throughout the day with more specific information for individual year groups, including the arrangements for working at home whilst school is closed.

The school is only partially open to students in Year 7, 8 and 12 on Friday 20^th March.

From Monday 23^rd March, we will only be open for the children of key workers and children who may be considered vulnerable.  We are still waiting for more guidance from the government; Mrs Goodes, Vice Principal will be writing to parents as soon as this government guidance is published to schools.

Tomorrow, we also expect the government to give further information about the alternative arrangements which will be put in place as a result of exams not taking place this summer.  We will share this information once it is published.

The safety and welfare of our students and staff remains our highest priority.

Current government advice is as follows:

• if you live alone and you have symptoms of coronavirus (COVID-19), however mild, stay at home for 7 days from when your symptoms started.
• if you live with others and you or another member of the household have symptoms of coronavirus, then all household members must stay at home and not leave the house for 14 days.  The 14-day period starts from the day when the first person in the house became ill.  It is likely that people living within a household will infect each other or be infected already.  Staying at home for 14 days will greatly reduce the overall amount of infection the household could pass on to others in the community.
• for anyone in the household who starts displaying symptoms, they need to stay at home for 7 days from when the symptoms appeared, regardless of what day they are on in the original 14-day isolation period.

The symptoms are:

• A high temperature (37.8 degrees and above)
• A new, continuous cough

Thank you for your continued support throughout this very difficult week and the numerous kind messages of support for our staff and their families.  We will continue to do all we can to support the whole HT community throughout these unpredictable times.

18th March 2020

I am sure you are aware that the Prime Minister announced earlier this evening that schools in England will close at the end of the day this Friday 20^th March until further notice, but will still be required to look after the children of key workers and children who may be considered vulnerable.  Much more detail will follow for families tomorrow. 

The Prime Minister also announced that public exams will not be taking place as normal in May/June for students.  The government has not yet communicated what alternative arrangements will be put in place.

We will be meeting with Year 11 and Year 13 students tomorrow morning in the Hall to speak with them, and provide information and support.  We will write to families with further information tomorrow.

Our contingency planning for school closure means that we are ready to support students during this period through the use of online curriculum resources for students as well as Class Charts and the school’s email system for communication between teachers and students.  We also have plans in place to support those students who do not have Internet access.  Further detailed information will follow tomorrow now that this decision has been made by the government.

We have a partial closure until the end of the week with Year 9 and Year 10 students not in school which was communicated to those year groups earlier today.  We are open for all other year groups tomorrow.

The safety and welfare of our students and staff remains our highest priority.

Current government advice is as follows:

• if you live alone and you have symptoms of coronavirus (COVID-19), however mild, stay at home for 7 days from when your symptoms started.
• if you live with others and you or another member of the household have symptoms of coronavirus, then all household members must stay at home and not leave the house for 14 days.  The 14-day period starts from the day when the first person in the house became ill.  It is likely that people living within a household will infect each other or be infected already.  Staying at home for 14 days will greatly reduce the overall amount of infection the household could pass on to others in the community.
• for anyone in the household who starts displaying symptoms, they need to stay at home for 7 days from when the symptoms appeared, regardless of what day they are on in the original 14-day isolation period.

The symptoms are:

• A high temperature (37.8 degrees and above)
• A new, continuous cough

The full stay at home guidance for households with these symptoms can be found from the first hyperlink below, and we have also issued a Pastoral Newsletter today to all families which can also be viewed from the second link below and it is also on our website:

https://haileyburyturnford.com/app/uploads/2020/03/Pastoral-Newsletter-8-COVID-19-Advice-Support-and-Information.pdf

Please contact our Attendance Officer as usual to alert the school if your household are required to stay at home.  Otherwise government advice continues to be that your child should attend school as normal unless your child has other illness or unless a student is not able to attend because of an underlying health condition that means they, or a family member in their household, are particularly vulnerable to coronavirus.

This guidance applies equally to all staff members who should self-isolate should they show these symptoms or others in the same household show symptoms.

Thank you for your support throughout this very difficult week and your understanding during these unprecedented times.

17th March 2020

The safety and welfare of our students and staff remains our highest priority.
Current government advice is as follows:

• if you live alone and you have symptoms of coronavirus (COVID-19), however mild, stay at home for 7 days from when your symptoms started.

• if you live with others and you or another member of the household have symptoms of coronavirus, then all household members must stay at home and not leave the house for 14 days. The 14-day period starts from the day when the first person in the house became ill. It is likely that people living within a household will infect each other or be infected already. Staying at home for 14 days will greatly reduce the overall amount of infection the household could pass on to others in the community.

• for anyone in the household who starts displaying symptoms, they need to stay at home for 7 days from when the symptoms appeared, regardless of what day they are on in the original 14-day isolation period.

The symptoms are:

• A high temperature (37.8 degrees and above)

• A new, continuous cough

The full stay at home guidance for households with these symptoms can be found from the first hyperlink below, and we have also issued a Pastoral Newsletter today to all families which can also be viewed from the second link below and it is also on our website.

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/covid 19 stay at home guidance

https://haileyburyturnford.com/app/uploads/2020/03/Pastoral-Newsletter-8-COVID-19-Advice-Support-and-Information.pdf

Please contact our Attendance Officer as usual to alert the school if your household are required to stay at home. Otherwise government advice continues to be that your child should attend school as normal unless your child has other illness or unless a student is not able to attend because of an underlying health condition that means they, or a family member in their household, are particularly vulnerable to coronavirus.

This guidance applies equally to all staff members who should self-isolate should they show these symptoms or others in the same household show symptoms.

We currently have a number of students and staff who are self-isolating, but do not have any students or staff who have tested positive for coronavirus, or who have been in close contact with someone who has tested positive for coronavirus.

If students become unwell during the school day with a new, continuous cough or a high temperature, we will contact you for them to go home. Equally, staff will be sent home should this apply to them.

Our aim remains to keep Haileybury Turnford open until government policy changes. Nevertheless, there are minimum safe staffing levels for school to be fully open and as a result of an increase in staff absence through self-isolation it is necessary to partially close the school to Year 9 students on Wednesday 18th March (tomorrow). We have made this decision to ensure we can maintain safe and appropriate staffing levels. Please
contact Mrs Goodes, Vice Principal directly at goodesm@haileyburyturnford.com if you are a Year 9 parent who has any specific queries or concerns.

Events and activities beyond the core timetable have been suspended until further notice.

Should the government decide that schools across the country should close, then we will follow this updated advice fully. Our contingency planning for this eventuality is ongoing, and it will involve the use of online curriculum resources for students as well as Class Charts and the school’s email system for communication between teachers and students. We are also in the process of planning to support those students who do not have Internet access.

Curriculum resources for students in Year 9 who are well, and for students in other year groups currently selfisolating, will be issued tomorrow morning to go with the work already set on Class Charts.

Current government guidance on coronavirus and information for the public can be found
at https://www.gov.uk/guidance/coronavirus-covid-19-information-for-the-public
Thank you for your support and understanding during these unpredictable times.

16th March 2020

The government has updated its guidance to all persons this afternoon.

The safety and welfare of our students and staff remains our highest priority.

All persons should self-isolate at home for a period of 14 days if they, or anyone in their household, has either a high temperature or a new continuous cough.

We ask all families to keep their children away from school for a period of 14 days if they are concerned that their child might be displaying these symptoms or others in the same household show symptoms.  Please contact our Attendance Officer as usual to alert the school if this applies to your family.  Otherwise government advice is that your child should attend school as normal.  This guidance applies equally to all staff members who should self-isolate should they show these symptoms or others in the same household show symptoms.

We currently have a small number of students and staff who are self-isolating, but do not have any students or staff who have tested positive for coronavirus, or who have been in close contact with someone who has tested positive for coronavirus.

If students become unwell during the school day with a new, continuous cough or a high temperature, we will contact you for them to go home.  Equally, staff will be sent home should this apply to them.

Our aim remains to keep Haileybury Turnford open until government policy changes.  Nevertheless, there are minimum safe staffing levels for school to be fully open and in the event of heavy staff absence through self-isolation it may be necessary to partially close the school to some students.  We would only make this decision when it is essential in terms of safe staffing levels, and our decision about when to send children home would be made on the basis of their age and whether they have public examinations planned for this summer.  Decisions may be made at short notice but we would hope to inform families on the day before if we have to partially close to some year groups.  We currently plan to be open to all year groups on Tuesday 17^th March.

We have either postponed or cancelled a number of events this week and next week.  Year 8 Parents’ Evening is postponed on Thursday 19^th March, as is our Music Concert on Tuesday 24^th March and Awards Evening on 26^th March.

Should the government decide that schools across the country should close, then we will follow this updated advice fully.  Our contingency planning for this eventuality is ongoing, and it will involve the use of online curriculum resources for students as well as Class Charts and the school’s email system for communication between teachers and students.  We are also in the process of planning to support those students who do not have Internet access.

Whilst the school is open we are not in a position to provide specific work for individual students whose families have chosen to keep them absent for precautionary reasons.  Teaching staff are focusing on teaching those students in school.  However, homework set on Class Charts should be completed by students who are well, but self-isolating, and we have produced further online curriculum resources for students to work from which will be sent out and also placed on our website tomorrow.

Clearly there remains significant uncertainty ahead, but we are making preparations to ensure our students and staff can continue to work from home, if not unwell themselves, during a closure period which could last for an extended period.

Our cleaning team will continue to take additional measures, as per guidance provided to them, and we continue to promote regular hand washing for all members of the school community.  Current government guidance on coronavirus and information for the public can be found at https://www.gov.uk/guidance/coronavirus-covid-19-information-for-the-public

Thank you for your support and understanding during these unpredictable times.

13th March 2020

The safety and welfare of our students and staff remains our highest priority.

As communicated last week, the government has updated its guidance to all persons.  All persons should self-isolate for a period of 7 days should they show the symptoms of either a high temperature or a new continuous cough.  We ask all families to keep their children away from school for a period of 7 days if they are concerned that their child might be displaying these symptoms.  Please contact our Attendance Officer as usual to alert the school if this applies to your child.  This guidance also applies to all staff members who should self-isolate for a period of 7 days should they show these symptoms.

Our aim is to keep Haileybury Turnford open until government policy changes.  Nevertheless, there are minimum safe staffing levels for school to be fully open and in the event of heavy staff absence through self-isolation it may be necessary to partially close the school to some students.  We would only make this decision when it is essential in terms of safe staffing levels, and our decision about when to send children home would be made on the basis of their age and whether they have public examinations planned for this summer.  Decisions may be made at short notice but we would hope to inform families on the day before if we have to partially close to some year groups.

Should the government decide that schools across the country should close, then we will follow this updated advice fully.  Our contingency planning for this eventuality is ongoing, and it will involve the use of online curriculum resources for students as well as Class Charts and the school’s email system for communication between teachers and students.  We are also in the process of planning to support those students who do not have Internet access.

Clearly there remains significant uncertainty ahead, but we are making preparations to ensure our students and staff can continue to work from home, if not unwell themselves, during a closure period which could last for an extended period.

Our cleaning team will continue to take additional measures, as per guidance provided to them, and we continue to promote regular hand washing for all members of the school community.  Current government guidance on coronavirus and information for the public can be found at https://www.gov.uk/guidance/coronavirus-covid-19-information-for-the-public

Thank you for your support and understanding during these unpredictable times.

Useful websites:

The school is following Public Health England advice which is updated daily:

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/coronavirus-covid-19-information-for-the-public

As per the advice, good personal hygiene is very important; students are reminded of the importance of regular and routine hand-washing.

Travel advice with implications for returning travellers or visitors arriving in the UK in the last 14 days can be viewed here, which is updated daily:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/covid-19-specified-countries-and-areas/covid-19-specified-countries-and-areas-with-implications-for-returning-travellers-or-visitors-arriving-in-the-uk

Self-isolation advice from NHS England can also be viewed here:

https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/coronavirus-covid-19/self-isolation-advice/

10th March 2020

The school is following Public Health England advice which is updated daily:

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/coronavirus-covid-19-information-for-the-public

As per the advice, good personal hygiene is very important; students are reminded of the importance of regular and routine hand-washing.

Travel advice with implications for returning travellers or visitors arriving in the UK in the last 14 days can be viewed here, which is updated daily:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/covid-19-specified-countries-and-areas/covid-19-specified-countries-and-areas-with-implications-for-returning-travellers-or-visitors-arriving-in-the-uk

Self-isolation advice from NHS England can also be viewed here:

https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/coronavirus-covid-19/self-isolation-advice/

Documents: