Redden Court School

COVID-19 UPDATE, DEEP CLEAN AND SCHOOL CLOSURE

18th November 2020

Dear Parents/Carers,

Firstly, I would like to thank you all for your on-going support at a particularly challenging time. Over the last week we have experienced a steady increase in the number of cases both in the local area and at Redden Court School. I write to inform you that I have made the decision to close the school for everyone on Thursday 19th and Friday 20th November. This will allow for a deep clean of the school to take place and a four day break from having the school community on site.

This is not a decision I have taken lightly and have consulted with Public Health England, the Havering Local Authority and the Success for All Educational Trust before doing so. All stakeholders are in agreement that this is the best course of action to minimise any further risk at this time.

Furthermore, it has been decided that students in Year 7 and 8 will work remotely for an extended period of time and will not return until Monday 30th November. Year 7 and 8 have been the most affected by positive cases and, as a result, large numbers of students are self-isolating due to being identified as being in close contact with someone who has tested positive. If your child is in Year 7 or 8 and has a self-isolation date beyond the 30th November then he/she should not return to school until the latter one.

Those entitled to Free School Meals during the isolation period will be emailed a voucher to spend at a local supermarket.

Does my son/daughter have to self-isolate during this period? What about the rest of the family?

Only students who have been sent home to isolate as having been identified as a close contact of a positive case need to self-isolate. Other members of the household do not need to isolate unless your child develops symptoms and a test will need to be taken by your child.

What if my child tests positive?

If your son/daughter tests positive for COVID-19 then please contact the school immediately. If the positive result is received on the 19th or 20th November then please email the relevant Head of Year or absence@reddencourtcloud.co.uk. Please see the link to the PHE ‘Stay at Home’ Guidance: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/covid-19-stay-at-home-guidance

Will work be provided?

For Thursday 19th and Friday 20th November work will continue to be provided online. We have detailed weekly guidance for this already on the Distance Learning page of our website with a scheme of work sheet for each year group and subject. www.reddencourtcloud.co.uk/information-for-parents/distance-learning

All subjects are providing work on students’ Google Classroom classes and other online platforms such as Hegarty Maths, Seneca and SAM Learning, with all work and progress being monitored by teachers. There will be plenty of work for students to access independently and with their SAM Learning accounts they can explore 1000s of extra resources at their leisure. We also have a page dedicated to revision resources, which is particularly useful for our Key Stage 4 students: www.reddencourtcloud.co.uk/curriculum/revision

How will lessons be provided for Years 7 and 8 next week?

As the whole of Years 7 and 8 will be at home next week, we will be providing online lessons and it is our intention to provide as many live sessions as possible during the normal timetable from Monday 23rd to Friday 27th November. As stated in our Digital and Distance Learning Policy, an online lesson can include:

• Research tasks or assignments using resources shared by the teacher and submitted by the student, usually on Google Classroom including teacher feedback and student questions

• Tasks or assessments on subject approved, external, online platforms such as Hegarty Maths, Seneca or SAM Learning. The teacher can monitor for progress checks and provide support and feedback.

• Pre recorded videos prepared by a teacher to deliver lesson content, instructions or feedback

• Live sessions that may include a video or audio stream and the opportunity to communicate with a teacher at a scheduled time with joining instructions being shared each day with students via email or Google Classroom.

Teachers will be monitoring attendance to online lessons and student engagement with follow up calls being made if required. Students can access our lessons using any device that has the Internet, such as a Chromebook, Laptop, PC/Mac, Phone or Tablet. If you have no or limited online access at home, please contact scarrington@reddencourtcloud.co.uk and we will explain our support for providing work in this instance.

Teaching staff will need time to effectively prepare for the delivery of many online lessons for Years 7 and 8 next week and therefore will not be contactable on Thursday 19th November. As the school is closed to all staff and students, there will also be limited expectations of the online lessons they can deliver on Friday 20th November from home but we can assure you that we will all do as much as we can and as stated above, there will be plenty of work available. Over the next two days, students at home without online access can use their phones to see the work set, with Google Classroom apps and more available for free, or books previously provided.

Year 11 PPE/Mock

The Year 11 PPE1/Mock examinations will still take place as shown on the schedule sent out to parents/carers via ParentPay. The first day being Monday 23rd November. As in past years, any students absent from school due to illness will sit the missed examinations when they return. Please be assured that all safety protocols are in place as determined by the London Borough of Havering Examination Risk Assessment.

Please note, a large number of students being identified as close contacts is not an indication of a huge number of positive cases. Instead, it reflects an effective track and trace system being employed and a determination from us as a school to reduce risk where possible.

More details of what to do if your child displays symptoms and all things COVID-19 related have been sent out previously and can be accessed on our website.

On behalf of my staff and I, thank you again for your on-going support .

Yours sincerely,

Mr A Henry

Headteacher