Headteacher's Update

Dear Parents & Carers,

 

The start of a new term is always very positive and, whilst this term provides a series of quite unique challenges, it has been excellent to witness the excitement demonstrated by our new Year 7 and external Year 12 students. Year 7 look very smart and were clearly keen to start their time as part of our school community. Our teachers and support staff have also enjoyed getting back to what they do best, helping students to learn and develop in a safe environment. We will start working with our Year 11, 12 and 13 students today, with that process completed when Years 8, 9 and 10 return on Monday. Each year group will spend extended time with their Form Tutors initially, so that they can gain an understanding of how the school will operate during the Autumn Term. They need to learn new routines, will have to be very organised, need a clear understanding of why good hygiene and social distancing are both necessary and, above all else, an awareness of their role within our community; whilst actions always have consequences, the need to be considerate towards others has never been more important. A lot will be different, but positive relationships between young people and their teachers is integral to all successful schools and that won’t change.  We have welcomed students back, have explained that we will offer them as much support as possible and have asked them to support each other and their teachers in adapting quickly to new routines.

 

We have spent the summer preparing to re-open and have worked very hard to act upon the guidance offered by the Department for Education and, as a Local Authority School, Durham County Council. We have assessed risk very thoroughly and I have already shared an overview of the key issues with you in my letter dated 18^th August 2020. That letter can be found at this link.

 

As you would expect, there have been some updates and changes that we have had to implement this week too. We expect that to be a consistent theme in the Autumn Term, as all schools will need to adapt. I would encourage you to download the school App and to check the school website on a weekly basis so that you are aware of any important developments. I will write a weekly update for the website and we will communicate any important changes with students in their form classes too. We have learned a lot already by having four year groups back in school and the following information should help you to prepare for Monday.  

 

• Transport & School Buses – We are delighted that Durham County Council’s Transport Team are providing a new school bus service to support the school and to offer a higher level of security for students and the wider community. They have organised a new service based upon the number 48 Arriva service from New Brancepeth. If your child usually travels by that service, please read the following news item very carefully: Arriva 48 Service Update.
   
• Social Distancing within the local community – Many things have changed between March and September and that includes the guidelines for businesses and shops within our local community. Social distancing measures are in place as part of the health and safety measures being used by local shops at peak times. Therefore, if your child is used to buying food from any local shops please be aware that they now have stringent rules in places to keep their staff safe. As a consequence, it might not be possible for your child to visit local shops before or after school. If that is an issue, could you please ensure that your child eats healthily before school and, if possible, that they bring snacks or food with them. We have no influence at all over how businesses within our local community operate and we simply wanted to make you aware that it might not be possible for students to access local shops as they might normally expect to. The school is not currently in a position to provide break time food and students will need to be organised and to plan ahead. Please remember too that students need to bring their own water into school as we are not allowed to use water fountains as part of national guidelines.

 

• Masks & Face Coverings – We have thought very carefully about our guidance regarding masks and strongly recommend that students wear masks in communal spaces, such as the school atrium and corridors. We have made this recommendation based upon the nature of our school building and on our experience so far this week. Please read the following news item for additional detail: Update on Masks and Face Coverings. 

 

• Equipment – We have regularly stressed the importance of good organisation and the need for students to have the equipment that they need for each lesson. This is clearly even more important now and I would emphasise again the need for each student to have pens (including a green pen), pencils, a ruler and a glue stick. Teachers will share any subject specific requirements with individual classes and will communicate with you via student organisers. We cannot provide these items for students anymore and it is very important that they are well equipped for school.

 

• Lockers – We are aware that a number of students in years 8, 9, 10 and 11 may have items in their lockers that they were unable to collect in March 2020. We will provide an opportunity for students to collect any items in the coming week. Year Leaders will share this information with their year groups.

 

• Lateness – All students should access the school site between 8.00 a.m. and 8.20 a.m. They will then be guided to their ‘protective bubbles.’ It is vitally important that all students arrive on time. Those who are late without good reason are not only negatively impacting upon their own education, but will also make it very hard for other members of the school community to keep them safe. Please make sure that your child is punctual and that they take full advantage of their time in school. Lateness is unacceptable and time is very precious this year.

 

• Mobile phones – Students are not allowed to use their mobile phones at any point on the school site, unless given permission to do so by a senior teacher. Our school policy is to confiscate student phones if that rule is broken and to return them at the end of the school day. However, that will now be very difficult as our teachers will be working within a number of protective bubbles and may not be available to return phones until the following day. Please make sure that your child understands that phones are not allowed and that, if confiscated, we will not be able to return them quickly. Therefore, they should keep their phone turned off and out of sight.

 

• Musical Enrichment Activities and Instrumental/ Vocal Tuition - It will not be possible for the Music Department to start their usual rehearsal schedule of the start of term, but they very much hope to be able to offer some enrichment activity later in the year when the time is right. When these can resume, pupils will be informed of these activities in school and these will also be communicated to parents.
  Weekly lessons with Durham Music Service will resume in school from Monday 14th September, however there will be a few changes which will enable this to take place as safely as possible.
  Lessons will continue to take place on a rota basis, and although it may be possible to fix some lessons for Sixth Form pupils in study periods, this is not guaranteed.
  In order to reduce the need for pupils to move around the building to view timetables, these will be emailed (blind copied) to parents/carers with only the first names of pupils on the document. Please would you ensure that your child writes the information into their organiser to ensure that they remember the day and times of their lessons. Please note that some pupils may have lessons on different days each week.
  Please would you ensure that pupils remember their instruments on the relevant day because it will no longer be possible for parents and carers to access the site and drop these off at reception.
  Pupils will be able to access the music corridor at the start and end of the day to deliver and retrieve their instruments from the store rooms. Please could we ask that pupils do not leave instruments on site overnight so that thorough cleaning of the storage spaces can take place.
  If you have a Year 7 child who is receiving tuition, please reassure them that it may take a few weeks to get into the swing of things and that they should not be too worried if they miss the occasional music lesson at the start of term. Any member of the Music Department can help them find where they need to be, and answer questions they might have.
  Please do email school@durhamJohnston.org.uk FOA Mr Holmes (Head of Music) if you have any questions or need further clarification.

 

There has been a significant amount of national speculation and opinion regarding education since March 2020. It is wonderful to finally have our students back and to be able to focus upon learning, good relationships and a sense of purpose within the school community.

 

Mr O’Sullivan 
Headteacher