18 December 2020
Firstly, and most importantly, please can I wish you, your families and all who you care for a happy and peaceful Christmas and New Year despite the difficult circumstances that we all face. It is a challenging time and I hope that you and your families remain safe and well over this holiday period.
Start of term in January: The government announced yesterday that Year 11 would return to school at the start of term (Monday 4th January for us) with Years 7 to 10 being taught remotely by logging onto Teams and following their normal timetable, but online. Years 7 to 10 would then physically return to school on Monday 11th January. The short notice of this is clearly frustrating for all of us. The government press release is here and a couple of relevant quotes are “Students in exam year groups, vulnerable children and children of critical workers will all attend school or college in person from the start of term” and “Secondary schools and colleges will operate a staggered return, offering all non-exam year groups full-time remote education, as close as possible to that which students would get in class, during the first week of term, with face-to-face education for all starting on 11 January.” There are also announcements about mass testing in schools, but there is no real clarity about this yet. I will update you again before the start of term with any further information that I receive and with detailed reminders about remote learning.
Covid-19 notifications: I really hope that this doesn't happen, but please remember, you need to tell school if your child has Covid-19. If your child tests positive for Covid-19 having shown symptoms within 48 hours of the end of school on Friday, you should report this to school immediately by emailing head@waltonledale.lancs.sch.uk with details of close contacts from breaks and lunchtimes. We will carry out contact tracing as usual and notify other students and their families so they can self-isolate for ten days.
Free School Meals: The free school meal vouchers have been ordered for the Christmas fortnight. There will be £30 worth, £15 for each week. These will arrive by email to your inbox direct from Edenred, therefore if you have any problems/queries, all instructions/guidance should be on the email for contact purposes as there will be no staff in school to assist with queries.
Mental health support: The NHS have provided a comprehensive list of support agencies in a letter that you will find at https://www.waltonledale.lancs.sch.uk/parents/communication. There is also support available from Kooth - the information is again on the website at https://www.waltonledale.lancs.sch.uk/news/2020-12-17-struggling-at-christmas. Please also have a look at our "Walton Wellness Newsletter" for students, staff and parents/carers - just published and the latest Mental Health Family Hour on caring for someone with mental health issues.
Virtual work experience opportunities: One is aimed largely at Year 10 students and the other is open to Year 10 and Year 11 (delivered in half term). These are to be applied to directly by the young person on the relevant site. Please see our work experience page on the website.
Many thanks for all your support over the past months - this is a great school to belong to!
James Harris
Headteacher
Posted by James Harris
Category: WLD Updates
