WEEKLY EMAIL Friday 5 March 2021

Return to school – 8 March 2021

We’re looking forward to seeing everyone back at school on Monday morning and, whilst we know some students may be feeling a bit nervous, we hope that everyone is looking forward to getting back into the swing of school life.

Next week is A Week.

Year Group Spaces
A polite reminder that upon arrival at school, after washing their hands, students need to congregate in their year group spaces until their school day begins:

• 8.45am for Years 7, 10 and 11
• 9.05am for Years 8 and 9.

The areas are:

• Year 7 – Tarmac area between the Gym and the Main Hall
• Year 8 – Tennis Courts next to the Main Drive
• Year 9 – Concrete area at the top of the Main Drive (on the left)
• Year 10 – Tarmac area outside D Block or the Front Field
• Year 11 – B Block yard or the Library

On Monday, all students (including Years 8 and 9) should go straight to their Form Room at the start of their school day, ensuring that they are wearing a mask as they enter the school building.

Remote assembly

This week’s assembly, ‘Study Hard, Stay Healthy’, is delivered by Ms Andrle.

You can download it here or watch it on the Pastoral Google Classroom.

Covid-19 testing

Thank you to everyone who came in to school this week to take their first Covid-19 test before the return to school next week. It was really lovely to see everyone! We were hugely impressed by our students’ exemplary behaviour, mature attitude and the fact that almost everyone remembered to bring a face covering!

As a reminder, in agreement with the York Public Health Team, the second and third tests should be taken at the public testing sites at either:

• York University
• York St John University
• York Stadium complex

Appointments must be booked online before you go to the site.

The second test should be booked within 3-5 days of the first test at school and the third test should be booked 3-5 days after the second. For students who took their test at school this week, dates for the second and third tests are as follows:

PE/Games arrangements from 8 March until Easter

We’re looking forward to seeing everyone next week and can’t wait to start PE and Games lessons again! Please see below for details of what your child should bring and where they should get changed.

Years 7, 8 and 9

Years 10 and 11

If you have any queries, please email the relevant teacher – just click on the links below:

• Miss Lansdall
• Miss Watts
• Mr Randall
• Mr Boothman

Year 11 arrangements for GCSEs

We will be speaking to all Year 11 students early next week to advise them of our approach to GCSE grading in this exceptional year and to give them a clear picture of how the remainder of their time with us will be organised. We will share these details with parents next week.

Eco Laundry – donations of all sizes needed!

Our Eco Laundry remained open during January and February so that we could continue to supply warm clothes to families who needed these and school uniform ready for our return to school next week.

We offer Eco Laundry uniform firstly to families who are entitled to or who have previously received Free School Meals, as well as to any other families experiencing financial hardship. When we have excess stock, we are able to broaden this offer to all families but at the moment our stock of pre-used uniform is very low, with only the smallest sizes left. If your children have grown during lockdown, we would very much welcome donations of pre-used uniform before Easter so that we are able to offer it to all families again in the Summer term.

If you are able to donate any school uniform (including PE kit), please send it into school with your son/daughter and ask them to take it to the School Office or give it to Ms Garner-Steel or Ms Andrle.

Police cadets

If you are thinking of joining the police once you finish in education, being a Police Cadet can be a good introduction to the career. Police Cadet recruitment is now open to all young people aged between 14 and 18 who live in York or the surrounding areas. Applications close at 9am on 19 March.

Full details are available here or on the Careers Bulletin page.

“I’m a celebrity, get me out of here” PE fitness challenge – the results!

A massive thank you and well done to all the girls that have taken part in the ‘I’m a celebrity’ fitness challenge over the last four weeks. They have all worked incredibly hard and should be proud of their efforts. In total, the girls have achieved 7,340 stars which is an amazing achievement.

The winning classes and house can be seen below. Well done once again to Saxons who now have a clean sweep throughout the challenge.

Well done to everyone who took part and thank you for your hard work!

Safeguarding

If you have significant concerns for the welfare of a child, in addition to being able to contact Sophie Johnson during school hours, you may wish to make direct contact with the York MASH (Multi-Agency Safeguarding Hub) on T: 01904 551900, option 3. They operate an out-of-hours service so concerns can be raised with them at any time.

For further information please see the safeguarding link on our school website.