Dear parent/carer,

It has been a first half term like no other and I would like to thank you for your support and understanding as we’ve worked our way through it. As we know, the number of COVID-19 (coronavirus) cases has continued to rise in Newport, as in the country as a whole and we have had to have year groups out of school self-isolating at times. Whilst this is deeply frustrating, it is to protect everyone of course and therefore a necessary step.

The fact that there appears to have been no transmission of the virus between learners and/or staff in school is a reassuring indicator of the effectiveness of the systems and processes we have in place in school up to this point. Please read the ‘First Week Back After Half Term’ section carefully in this newsletter for information about which learners need to attend school for the first week after half term.

As always, please continue to be vigilant for symptoms of coronavirus in your children and do not send them to school if you suspect they have any symptoms. The following guide is taken from the NHS website:

The main symptoms of coronavirus are:

* a high temperature – this means you feel hot to touch on your chest or back (you do not need to measure your temperature)
* a new, continuous cough – this means coughing a lot for more than an hour, or 3 or more coughing episodes in 24 hours (if you usually have a cough, it may be worse than usual)
* a loss or change to your sense of smell or taste – this means you’ve noticed you cannot smell or taste anything, or things smell or taste different to normal

If your child does display any symptoms please inform the school, arrange for a test and then let us know the result of the test as soon as possible.

End of Day Times

Whilst we are happy with the effectiveness of almost all of our systems to reduce the risk of transmission of Coronavirus, we still have some concerns about the end of the school day. Despite learners leaving via five different exits (allocated for their year group), we still have children meeting up outside school and unintentionally mixing

across year groups. This increases the risk of transmission of the virus across year groups. We are therefore considering staggering the end of the school day to reduce this risk. This would only mean a change of approximately 10 minutes at the most for some learners, who would leave slightly earlier than others. This is still being reviewed and we will communicate further if and when we decide to go ahead with it. This type of arrangement is in place already in a number of schools across Newport.

Contact Details

We continue to have difficulties contacting some parents/carers by phone. Please ensure that we have your up to date contact number – if you are unsure, please get in touch with us to check. It is vital that we are able to contact you, not only for a coronavirus related matter, but for any emergency or urgent reason. Please note that a call from school may show a ‘number withheld’ or similar message on your phone. It is vital that we are able to contact a listed ‘emergency contact’ for your child at any time during the school day. Not being able to do so potentially presents a safeguarding issue which we may need to take further with the local authority and social services.

First Week Back After Half Term

As you will be aware, due to the ‘firebreak lockdown’ measures announced in Wales we will only be open for learners in Year 7 and 8 for the first week after half term. A very small number of learners from other year groups may also be asked to attend at the discretion of the school and you will already have been contacted or will be today if this includes your child.

If your child is attending school and uses public transport, please check with the bus company as timetables may have been changed due to the lockdown restrictions in place in Wales.

All other learners will need to stay home and undertake home (blended) learning. This means that they should undertake learning for specific subjects when they would normally have been in that lesson in school. We recognise that not all learners may have access to the internet or have an appropriate device (eg laptop, chrome book etc.) at home – please let us know via email admin@lliswerryhigh.org if that is the case with your child and we will provide a home learning pack for them.

Do contact us if you need any other support with home learning – your child can of course communicate with their teacher via Google Classrooms if they have internet

access. We have been informed that all year groups will return to school the following week (Monday 9^th November).

If your child is in the very small group attending school but not in Year 7 or 8 (as referred to above) and normally receives a free school meal, you should have received a voucher for this week (this is only for those learners not in Year 7 or 8). This means that your child should bring their own food to school as a free school meal will not be provided in school in addition to the voucher.

Exams in the First Week Back

We have a small number of learners who will be sitting exams in the first week after half term. Of course these learners are not in Years 7 or 8. However, they should still attend for their exam and then leave school immediately after. Where possible, parents/carers should arrange for them to be dropped off and collected and learners should not arrive too early. Those learners involved have been spoken to in order to ensure that they know exactly what they need to do. However, as always, if you have any further questions don’t hesitate to contact us. Please be aware of any changes to the times and frequency of public transport should your child have to use the bus to get to school for their exam.

Finally, once again I would like to thank you all for your support and understanding as we move through these unusual times. I recognise that this continues to be an anxious time, but please be assured that we will continue to do everything within our control to minimise risk and keep your child safe whilst in school. I hope that you have a good half term break and I look forward to welcoming our learners back initially on Monday 2^nd November (Year 7 and 8 and identified learners from other year groups) and then on Monday 9^th November for all learners.

Best wishes,

N Davies
Headteacher

Here is what you can expect for learners if their year group is not in school. If you do not have access to IT or the internet please let us know as a matter of urgency. It is vital that learners continue their learning during term time even if they are not in school and engage in the blended learning provision.

The Welsh Government will implement a new process for data collection on attendance from Monday 28 September. This new collection builds on discussions officials have held with ADEW and Data collection leads in local authorities. The data will be collected through the Welsh Government’s School Data Provisioning Service, which is currently used by Hwb.

Please find below some updated and new guidance documents:

Please also find below links to some videos on YouTube regarding when children should be in school and testing.  

When to get your child tested?

 How to get your child tested

Learners Self-Isolating

If your child is required to self isolate all their work will be available on their subject google classrooms so they can keep up with the lessons that are being delivered in school. They can also stay in touch with their teachers using this platform. 

If you do not have access to a computer, laptop, digital device or internet please let us know and we will arrange for work to be sent home for the period of self isolation.

Important Coronavirus (Covid-19) Information for Parents/Carers

Please note the following information about when to keep children home, request a test etc. This is a school summary – more detailed Welsh Government guidance can be found at https://gov.wales/education-coronavirus

School contact details: phone 01633 277867 or e-mail admin@lliswerryhigh.org

Symptoms:

The symptoms of coronavirus (COVID-19) are:

* a high temperature – this means you feel hot to touch on your chest or back (you do not need to measure your temperature)
* a new, continuous cough – this means coughing a lot for more than an hour, or 3 or more coughing episodes in 24 hours (if you usually have a cough, it may be worse than usual)
* a loss or change to your sense of smell or taste – this means you’ve noticed that you cannot smell or taste anything, or things smell or taste different to normal

To protect others, please do not go to places like a GP surgery, chemist or hospital if you or your children have any of these symptoms. Get a test to check if you or your child has coronavirus and stay at home until you get the result.

If your child displays symptoms at home:

Keep them, and any brothers or sisters (everyone in the household) at home and book a test. Inform the school of the situation and also the result of the test.

If someone else in your household displays symptoms:

Keep your child/children (everyone in the household) at home until a test is taken and the result known. Tell the school the result of the test.

If your child is in contact with someone outside your household who tests positive:

Your child may only need to be tested if you are contacted by someone from the Track and Trace team (also known as TTP –Track, Trace and Protect). Please contact the school to discuss whether your child can attend school.

If your child displays symptoms in school:

Your child will be kept apart from other children, we will inform you and ask you to collect your child and any brothers or sisters. It is vital that we can contact you during every school day. You will need to arrange a test for them.

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Dear Parents and Carers

Please ensure that we have the correct and most up-to-date emergency contact details for your child.  It is vital that we are able to contact you should your child become unwell at any time during the school day and that you can collect your child as a matter of urgency.

Alternatively, you could provide us with an additional emergency contact who could come to collect your child from school on your behalf if necessary.

If we are unable to contact you, we will have no option other than to contact Social Services for the well-being of other learners in school.

If you have changed your contact details or wish to add an additional contact, please send this information to admin@lliswerryhigh.org stating your child’s full name and tutor group.