Dear parents and carers
Thank you to everyone who has worn a mask on site, or contacted us to say they are exempt, since the new national lockdown has been introduced. As a school, we try our best to ensure that systems are in place to keep everyone safe and we appreciate your support in achieving this. Can I take this opportunity to remind everyone the importance of maintaining the 2 metre social distancing rule when on the school property?
Once again, we have had concerns raised about people congregating at the exit gate which makes it difficult for other families to get past safely. Please can you ensure that if you have collected your child, you leave the vicinity of the school as soon as possible; or if you are waiting to collect your child, you stay away from the exit gate until you can see your child coming out. There is plenty of space near the main entrance gate for parents to meet their children.
I would also like to inform parents that we have decided to withdraw from the COVID testing scheme. This has not been an easy decision to take, but we know a number of parents have had difficulty registering their child onto the scheme and were unsure if they had actually completed the registration process. We have contacted the testing providers on several occasions, both this week and last, to ask for support and they have not responded to our queries. I have also spoken to another headteacher in Gateshead, who has already taken part in the pilot, and her experience of the first wave of testing was that it was disorganised, disruptive to school life and lead to some parental and staff frustrations. We do not want to be faced with the same situation at our school.
I can only apologise to staff, parents and carers who have signed up for the scheme and were hoping to support research into COVID, however, we feel until the scheme is better organised it is something we cannot implement.
If you have any questions please do not hesitate to get in touch
Many Thanks
Lucie Forrest
(Headteacher)
To download a copy of this letter please click on the link below:
parents and carers information 06.11.20docx
