Time to celebrate - we are now part of the Arthur Terry Learning Partnership (ATLP). Our future looks incredibly bright working with the schools already in the trust and new ones joining.
11 May 2020: ATLP response to last night’s Ministerial speech
Many of you will have seen last night’s speech, by Boris Johnson, in which he outlines a number of stages, now that the virus appears to be past its peak. We know that as part of this, reference was made to education, albeit high level. It is important to recognise that the Prime Minister’s words were heavily caveated and conditional: “If we as a nation begin to fulfil the conditions I have set out, then in the next few weeks and months, we may be able to go further. In step two at the earliest by June 1st after half term, we believe we may be in a position to get primary pupils back into schools, in stages, beginning with reception, year 1 and year 6. Our ambition is that secondary pupils facing exams next year will get at least some time with their teachers before the holidays.”
We recognise that this will be causing angst for children, pupils, parents and staff. At this time all schools are awaiting further guidance from the Department for Education which we are expecting later this week. It would be remiss of us to speculate on the detail but assure you that we will be in touch once we are in receipt of more information.
Whatever decisions we take in our schools, we will be guided by the advice at the time. We are committed to supporting all of our children, staff and parents at this difficult time.
Parents will be aware of the statement made by the Secretary of State for Education, Gavin Williamson, in Parliament on 18th March. Schools will be closing their doors on Friday 20thMarch due to the national pandemic. Our children are always our priority. We have been planning over recent days in the event that such a decision was made. We will communicate further details on Thursday. These are difficult times and we thank you for your continued support and understanding.
Updated Guidance
Following on from the announcement made by the Prime Minister on Thursday 12th March, schools within the ATLP will be authorising all absences in the event of parents deciding to self-isolate their children.
Dear parents/carers,
You will, as we all are, be following closely the daily progress and updates of the Coronavirus.
We wish to reassure you that as a multi academy trust we are committed to ensuring the safety and well-being of all of our children, students, staff and families.
The advice coming from Government regarding Covid-19 is updated on a daily basis. Please follow this link below to make sure you are fully up to date on their guidance, particularly the section on what symptoms to be aware of and what to do if you suspect you or a family member may have this coronavirus.
https://www.gov.uk/government/topical-events/coronavirus-covid-19-uk-government-response
There is a public helpline 0800 0468687 and an email line (DfE.coronavirushelpline@education.gov.uk) These are open from 8am to 6pm (Monday to Friday).
And for Public Health England:
https://publichealthmatters.blog.gov.uk/2020/01/23/wuhan-novel-coronavirus-what-you-need-to-know/
The advice remains to call NHS 111 which will put you through to a clinician to go through the symptoms and give advice. If your child is referred for testing or has had contact with somebody who has tested positive for Covid-19, please inform the school immediately.
Whilst the current guidance through this “delay” phase is to carry on as normal, it seems inevitable that the Government may take more measures. In the meantime, please be assured that we have plans in place for different scenarios should they happen up to and including a forced school closure, which will be communicated to you as and when needed.
For the time being, the advice is to continue as normal and encourage your children to follow basic hygiene measures.
Thank you for your continued support, cooperation and understanding.
Richard Gill
CEO ATLP
Coronavirus - Advice from the DFE
The Department for Education has 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)
Please see the link below for additional advice which may be relevant for any staff or pupils recently returning from trips abroad during half term: Additional advice: Coronavirus (Cvoid19)
Public Health England have provided this updated info for travellers
We have received advice from the Department for Education (DfE) regarding the Coronavirus. The overall risk to the UK remains moderate and you should not be unduly worried about the possibility of your children catching the Coronavirus. There are however actions we can take to prevent the spread of any virus as follows:
Latest information and advice can also be found at:
https://www.gov.uk/guidance/wuhan-novel-coronavirus-information-for-the-public
We are delighted to once again feature in the Chamber of Commerce Newsletter. It was wonderful for all the schools in our trust to contribute so genrously to this very worhty cause.
Along with all the other primary and high schools in ATLP, we are holding a non-uniform day tomorrow in return for unwanted adult clothing and toiletries to donate to the Geoff Horsfiled Foundation. Many thanks in adavnce for supporting this very worthy charity.
https://en-gb.facebook.com/geoffhorsfieldfoundation/
With the pending snow forecast for this week I thought it would be helpful to remind parents of our procedures should we need to close the school.
At the earliest opportunity (this may be on the evening before or the morning), Mr Sutton and myself will carry out a risk assessment of the site and the surrounding roads and pavements to assess how safe the school site is and the journey to school. We will consult with Mrs Woodhouse, our Chair of Governors, to make a decision on whether we should close the school. When making the decision, we also have to consider if we have sufficient staff in school to ensure we are able to care for the children. Some of our staff travel a considerable distance to school.
If we do decide to close the school, I will notify the local authority, post a news item on our website and send a text at the earliest opportunity. Please wait for these notifications, rather than contatcting the school.
If you have any questions regarding our procedures, please contact the school office.
It was lovely to see over 150 parents, grandparents and other family members in school this morning working with their children making Christmas crafts.
Huge thank you to Miss Cumiskey for delivering an e-safety workshop to all of our visitors in the hall before they went off to the classrooms. This presentation and useful links is now on our Safegaurding page.
See more photos here.
Please click on this link to share your views on Staffordshire County Council's plans to remove all crossing patrols at the end of the academic year.
Come and join us this Friday for our Christmas Fayre - lots of fun games and stalls to enjoy as well as Santa reading stories to the children. 5.30-7.30pm
Reminder that we have an open session tomorrow at 9am for parents of children who will be starting school next September. If you know of anybody who would be interested in coming, please let them know. Many thanks. Mrs Norton.
To be in with a chance of winning a £5 voucher to spend at the book fair (5th-8th November) the children have been asked to recreate the front cover of their favourite book.
We had a fabulous morning at St George's Church celebrating our Harvest Festival. Rev Gary shared key messages to us about the importance of sharing and that even the smallest gester of kindness makes a difference. The Tamworth Foodbank stock is very low and so the fabulous generosity of our families will have a big impact on our community. Thank you parents for your kindness! See our gallery for images from the service.
WM was in Wednesday's Chamber of Commerce newsletter, which goes out to a number of businesses and organisations in our region. We are really broadening our community since joining ATLP!
We hope you like our new site, please have a look around and let us know what you think.
