Equipment, uniform and face coverings letter - 20/10/2020

Dear Parent/Carer,

I am writing to remind everyone of our ongoing requirements regarding equipment, uniform and face coverings. Whilst the great majority of pupils are meeting our high expectations, some have begun to let their standards slip a little.

Equipment

We have issued all pupils with a plastic case containing the everyday materials they will need to do their schoolwork each day: pens, a pencil, a ruler, highlighter, eraser, mini- whiteboard, pen and wiper etc. Pupils leave their case in their form rooms each night, and each morning they can replace items that have run out etc through top-up supplies held by their form tutors.

• Should a pupil mislay or lose their entire case then we will request £2.00 to fund a replacement, which will include the stock of pens etc that it came with originally. Their form tutor will coordinate this with their Head of Year.

Pupils are welcome to bring a calculator to school, however we do not permit the use of mobile phones during the school day. We request that they are kept out of sight and are turned off if brought in from home.

Uniform

The pupils are outside more now and we have doors and windows open during lesson time to provide ventilation. If staff judge a room to be cold they can permit pupils to wear their coats during the lesson, in addition to their blazers. 

Our uniform requirements are clear and are detailed on our website. When pupils arrive in incorrect uniform (for example in jeans, or in non-uniform skirts) we endeavour to lend them freshly laundered items from a small range that we keep in stock.

An area that has arisen in the last week concerns the wearing of ‘hoodies’, which are not allowed. Pupils may only wear the official school jumper in school and hoodies, ‘sports tops’ and the like will be confiscated. A parent/carer should then contact their child’s Head of Year  to arrange a mutually convenient time to collect the item of clothing.

Finally, whilst we do not encourage facial piercings we are aware that a very small number of pupils have nose piercings. Only a small, discrete stud is allowed, all other facial piercings are not permitted. Earrings must also be small discrete studs.

Face-coverings

Many, many schools in the county have now reported positive COVID-19 cases, although thankfully we have not yet had to manage such an incident at SPA. 

We continue to apply a range of COVID-secure measures and were pleased to have our  efforts recognized for their rigour by one of the educational unions recently.

Our pupils have been brilliant in wearing face coverings in corridors and crowded places.

However, some pupils do forget to bring them on occasions and sometimes they break. Having a spare one with them would be a good move.

In order to maintain the safety of others we are introducing two measures to manage such incidents:

Parents will be contacted to bring into school their child’s forgotten face covering. Whilst we await the arrival of the face-covering, the pupil will be based in the school hall and will not have to mix with others in crowded school spaces.

1. Alternatively, the Heads of Year have a small stock of face coverings that pupils may purchase for 50p each. (If you think that your son/daughter is somewhat prone to losing or forgetting things then it might be tactical to stash a 50p coin in their bag or blazer pocket!)

Finally, to change the tone I want to let you know how pleased I have been with the way in which the pupils have adapted to the new approaches that we have been forced to adopt. In addition, I have been extremely impressed by how quickly the pupils settled back into the daily routine of school following the long absence most of them had due to lockdown. They have been calm in their approach and engaged in their learning from the very beginning. It has been an excellent start to what will no doubt be a challenging year but by continuing to work together I am confident we will be able to provide a safe, caring and enriching environment for our pupils to learn.

Yours faithfully,

Trevor Gannon

Assistant Headteacher

Sewell Park Academy