20 March 2020 - letter regarding Key Workers (see attachment below)

 

19 March 2020 - letter for Year 11 students (see attachment below)

 

19 March 2020 - Parentmail to Year 10 regarding GCSE Pod

Dear Parent/Carer

All students GCSE POD login & password details will be reset today.

Please ask your child to login into their school email, where they will find an email with their new personal details.

If your child has any problems with accessing GCSE POD, or not received the email, please contact Mr McKinstry on smckinstry@warnefordschool.org

Kind Regards

Mr S McKinstry
Deputy Head

 

18 March 2020 - Letter sent to parents re partial school closure (see attachment below)

 

17 March 2020 - Letter sent to parents (see attachment below)
 

16 March 2020 – Parentmail COVID-19 Update
Further to my letter last week, you may be aware that headteacher representatives are meeting with the government later today to clarify the role of schools in the community response to the COVID-19 outbreak. If there are any changes to the current position I will let you know immediately. Until then, the school remains open as usual.

Meanwhile, it is absolutely vital that if your child has a new continuous cough and/or high temperature that they do not attend school.

Advice on self-isolation can be found on the www.gov.uk website.

We also understand that there are some very specific home circumstances that mean some students are not currently attending school even though they are well e.g. where there are those with pre-existing conditions in the home. If this is the case, I would ask that students keep on top of their studies by reading, reviewing previous work, revising and accessing BBC Bitesize, Activelearn and/or GCSEPod.

 

16 March 2020 – Parentmail re sports fixtures
Dear Parents/Carers

In line with most other Swindon schools, we have reluctantly made the decision to postpone all sports fixtures and competitions until further notice. The logistics of getting full teams together and being able to release staff to take them has become increasingly difficult given current circumstances.

PE Department, Highworth Warneford School

 

12 March 2020 - Letter sent to parents (see attachment below)

 

2 March 2020 – new helpline launched
Today, the Department for Education launched a new helpline to answer questions about COVID-19 related to education. Staff, parents and young people can contact the helpline as follows:

Phone: 0800 046 8687

Email: DfE.coronavirushelpline@education.gov.uk

Opening hours: 8am to 6pm (Monday to Friday)

Their blanket advice has been updated to say that no school should close in response to a suspected (or confirmed) COVID-19 case unless directed to do so by Public Health England. The Headteacher spoke to a senior clinician over the weekend to talk specifically about Highworth Warneford School and that advice was supported.

Meanwhile, we recognise that there will still be concerns and we want to reassure you that we are constantly reviewing the situation and will act immediately if anything changes. The wellbeing of our students is paramount.

 

25 February 2020 – current status
Current Status: there is no immediate cause for concern and your child is safe to attend school as usual.  The following message is to update and reassure you about the precautions that Highworth Warneford School is taking. We are following the specific advice to educational settings from Public Health England and constantly watching out for all updates on national media and government websites.

Some of you will be aware that the school had a ski trip in northern Italy over the half-term break. This was not in one of the specific “lockdown” areas and they have been told:

“If you have returned from these areas since February 19^th and develop symptoms, however mild, you should stay indoors at home and avoid contact with other people immediately and call NHS111. You do not need to follow this advice if you have no symptoms.”

We are in a different situation to some other schools elsewhere in the country that have not stayed open, as their trips were in different high-risk areas. They are following the advice that they have been given.

School Attendance
Other than those on the ski trip (subject to that advice), your child(ren) should attend school as normal.

Precautions for all to follow

• Follow normal hygiene rules
• Wash hands properly and regularly
• “Catch it, bin it, kill it”: coughing and/or sneezing into a tissues before throwing it away and washing hands.