Update on Covid Restrictions

A letter from the headteacher on the latest measures being taken at St George

16th June 2021

Dear Parent/Guardian,

Update COVID 19 Restrictions

I hope you and your family are well.  We had hoped that we would be able to lift all restrictions from Monday 21st June 2021 according to the Government’s roadmap. I’m sure you are all now aware that this has been delayed until the 19th July, in essence the end of term.

We have always been honest throughout this process and we are frustrated by this latest announcement especially as we have had only one case since the Easter break, which did not result in any transmission to other students or staff.  All staff have had their first dose of the vaccine and half have had both the first and second dose. However, due to the risk posed by the new Delta (Indian) variant and to comply with the Department for Education’s latest guidance, we have to keep our remaining protective measures in place to keep everyone safe. We were keen to return as much as possible to our normal routines and procedures for the benefit of our students and staff, but also to bring our community back together. We look forward to starting normally in September when we expect to have our original structure of the college day in place and no separate breaks and lunchtimes. I will write to all of you at the end of term to confirm these arrangements.

‘Everyone’s Invited’ website:

You may have heard on the news recently about work to combat sexual abuse and harassment in schools and colleges, including the "Everyone’s Invited" website and a report Ofsted recently produced to identify what needs to be done to combat these issues. Thousands of testimonies were sent in by children and young people sharing their experiences linked to schools and colleges. Sadly, along with 2,700 others including local schools, St George was named in this.  I wanted to reassure you that we consider sexual abuse and harassment is a very serious matter and we are looking at this issue closely. We take a whole school approach to safeguarding our students and we work hard every day to ensure this including through our PSHE work with students. We are currently looking also at the Ofsted recommendations for schools in their recent report to see if there is anything we need to action. We have a very approachable safeguarding team at the school, please contact me or one of our designated safeguarding leads if you are at all concerned or would like to know more about this.  Our DSL’s are listed on our website safeguarding page. Students should be aware of the team as their pictures and where to find them are displayed around the school.  

The following information outlines changes to events for the reminder of our term:

Year 7-10 Presentation Evening: Thursday 17th June 2021:

Congratulations to every student who has received an award for this academic year. You should receive your personalised online message this week and your trophy will be presented to you by your tutor. Unfortunately, due to the restrictions we were not able to hold our normal awards evening in person but hope the message and trophy make up for it.

INSET Day: Wednesday 30th June 2021

For your information we will not be able to hold our summer open evening for prospective pupils on Wednesday 30th June due to the restrictions. It will still be an INSET day but we will be focusing on using the time to prepare for next year.

Year 6 Transition Day: Wednesday 7th July 2021

Unfortunately, next year’s Year 7 pupils come from more than 30 primary schools. Sadly, we cannot bring them together in person on the 7th July due to the restrictions but will be writing to all our new students and parents with updated plans and details for their September start. Fortunately, Miss Provenzano and Miss Cecil have been to many of those primary schools already to visit the pupils in person. We look forward to meeting our new additions to the family in September.

Sports Day: Monday 5th July 2021

Sports day will still take place on the 5th July but in year group bubbles rather than all together on our adjacent sports field.  Please can all students wear their Summer PE Kit to school on the 5th July, which is the white St George PE top and red shorts and white or red socks.

Mentoring Day: Tuesday 13th July 2021

Mentoring Day appointments for all year groups will take place online using school cloud, the same system we have used for parents’ evenings and our autumn and spring term mentoring days. Mr Bedford will be writing to all parents to confirm the details in due course.

Year 11 Celebration Event: Tuesday 13th July 2021

We are determined to put on a celebration event for our Year 11 students, the class of 2021. We will be holding an event for Year 11 on the 13th July. Mr Shelley will soon be writing to all Year 11 pupils and parents with the details and the invite. We look forward to seeing you then and celebrating your well deserved achievements.

I hope you all enjoy the remainder of the summer term and thank you for your son/daughter’s support and positive attitude throughout this half term.

If you have any questions please do not hesitate to contact me on head@stgcc.co.uk

Yours sincerely,

James Habberley

Headteacher