Update for parents and carers: Thursday 1^st April 2021

We continue to operate within full Government and Public Health guidelines for schools.

Our thoughts and prayers are with all who are unwell with Covid 19. We continue to pray for the families of those who have lost their lives. We pray for our NHS and Social Care workers, who are battling hard to preserve life and to keep us all safe.

On Tuesday 23^rd March, we observed prayers and reflection in school, to mark the anniversary of the first national lockdown in England.

It has been wonderful having all of our children back in school and learning since Thursday 11^th March. Pupil Behaviour and Attitudes to Learning remain positive with schools routines quickly reastablished.

Pupils have now received testing kits to use at home. Tests are to be administered twice each week. Pupils have watched instruction materials in school and have discussed this process with their tutors and teachers. A full set of instructions and information is provided with the testing materials. Pupils are confident and experienced now in self-administering and taking swabs. If you are any questions or concerns with this process, please contact school and we can advise and support accordingly.

Parents will receive an email / text with details regarding recommendations for when tests are taken.

In addition, pupils have also responded very positively to wearing face coverings in their lessons. Thank you parents for continuing to support youngsters in having multiple and spare face coverings with them for school.

Our current timings for school start and exit have worked very well since September for a whole host of reasons but principally to support with safety. Our compressed curriculum model has meant that pupils have full subject coverage with no learning time lost. Despite the huge challenges, the quality of education at Holy Trinity remains excellent and at the very highest standard. Key performance indicators are showing very pleasing progress data for pupils in all years. It seems sensible to continue with these timings for now but to keep them under constant review as we move into the summer term.

Despite the current challenges, we continue to be ambitious for all of our youngsters and there are a number of important and exciting developments happening for each year group in the weeks and months ahead:

Year 7 – We are aiming to resume an extra-curricular programme starting with Sport after Easter.

Year 8 – Pupils will participate in the ‘Next Generation Citizenship Project’ in the summer term.

Year 9 – Pupils have started the process of looking at their GCSE Option Subjects through a series of special assemblies.  

Year 10 – We are delighted that 33 youngsters have taken the opportunity to study for a 4^th and additional Option Subject Qualification

Year 11 – Pupils are working very hard to prepare for final school exams in May.

Please refer to the associated document for a full timeline of Year 11 provision up until their leaving date on Wednesday 9^th June.

It was wonderful seeing so many Year 11 Pupils and Parents during Progress Evenings using our new ‘School Cloud’ virtual platform on Wednesday 24^th and Thursday 25^th March. We will reflect on this practice and would welcome your feedback before deciding on whether this becomes a regular option and feature of school life.

Key Performance Indicators for pupils in Year 11 have consistently shown ‘outstanding’ progress for pupils since they started in Year 7. Youngsters are on course to achieve an exceptional set of outcomes placing them amongst the highest achieving pupils in the country.

In other news, we are again delighted that we are over-subscribed for places in Year 7 for September and are currently receiving a huge volume of applications for places in other year groups.

Please encourage youngsters to enter our St Teresa of Calcutta Multi-Academy Catholic Company ‘Motto’ competition! There are prizes at each stage with all participants receiving something! A large volume of entries already, which is superb! Deadline is 21^st April!

As we progress through these challenging times together, we must be mindful that our continued collaboration and strong working partnership is the only way in which we can overcome the challenges that are faced.

Our school mission has been strengthened during this pandemic, which is to provide all of our pupils with an excellent education, to support them in achieving absolutely anything that they set their ambition for. There are ‘no limits’ to what can be achieved in our school.

We must continue to take all proactive and preventative measures to ensure the safety of all. Thank you for your continued diligence in wearing a face covering and maintaining social distance when you visit school.

If your child or any of the household are displaying any of the main symptoms of Covid19, such as a new or continuous cough, a high temperature or fever, a loss or change to taste or smell, you are expected to stay at home, isolate and to seek a test.

A reminder that school closes for the Easter holidays on Thursday 1^st April at 12.00.

To support with safety, we will stagger exit times slightly. Year Groups will leave at the following times:

11.45: Year 8 and Year 10

11.50: Year 9

12.00:  Year 7 and Year 11

Pupils will have the option to get a lunch before they leave should they wish.

School will reopen for pupils on Tuesday 20^th April at its normal times.

Please look out for details regarding Food Vouchers that will be distributed prior to the Easter Holidays. This is a huge administrative task and as always, we really appreciate your patience and understanding.

Please look out for further information via text message, pupil email, ‘Microsoft Teams’ messages, updates to this website, or letters posted to your homes.

Thank you for your continued support.

With every best wish for a wonderful Easter break.

Mr Crehan