Our school motto guides us to ‘learn to love’ all people made in equal in the image and likeness of God. We follow the commands of God, which are to be loving, peaceful and tolerant.

Prayer:

Lord, make me an instrument of Your peace.

Where there is hatred, let us sow love;

where there is injury, pardon;

where there is doubt, faith;

where there is despair, hope;

where there is darkness, light;

where there is sadness, joy.

Amen

We continue to operate within full Government and Public Health guidelines for schools. Our policy and how we have set-up this academic year has been to limit the number of children who are required to be at home and isolating. We respect the reasons why children are required to isolate and fully support them, but we want children in the building and learning every single day. Please continue to support your child in carrying out twice-weekly Covid tests at home. Thank you.

We keep children, parents and staff who are currently isolating, very much in our thoughts and prayers. We look forward to welcoming back youngsters from 8I 10I this Monday (12th July).

We continue to follow this guidance:

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.

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 the rest of the year with any changes happening in September.

On Tuesday 6th July, the Secretary of State for Education provided an update regarding school provision for young people for September. In summary, the following information was shared:

· Children should not face greater restrictions over and above adults and the wider society.

· From the 16th August, children should only isolate if they have tested positive for Covid19. If children have been identified as a ‘close contact’ of someone who has tested positive, they will not be required to isolate but will be ‘advised’ to take a PCR test by NHS Track and Trace.

· From September: Staff and pupils are still expected to remain off from school if they are displaying main Covid symptoms and are advised to book a PCR test.

· From September: The use of ‘bubbles’ is to end in all education settings.

· From September: Responsibility for contact tracing to be deferred to NHS Track and Trace and not schools.

· From September: There is no requirement for staggered start and end times for pupils.

· From September: Face coverings are not expected to be worn in school by pupils or staff.

· From September: There are no requirements regarding Social Distancing both indoors and outdoors.

· From September: Schools are encouraged to maintain established and strong practices regarding ventilation and hygiene. (School to reflect on this. There are a number of strong practices that we can bring forward into the new academic year).

· From September: Secondary Schools are expected to administer two on site tests for all pupils returning to school.

· Regular and frequent home testing should continue until the end of September.

· If there are concerning local outbreaks on a mass scale, previous measures could be reintroduced. This to be determined at a Local Government Level in first instance.

Holy Trinity cautiously welcomes a return to more aspects of education that we have been familiar with pre-pandemic.

From September, the school day will return to 8.40am – 3.00pm for all pupils.

In other news:

School Expansion Project has started and the site has been transformed! We plan to update our website with footage which tracks the work that is taking place over the coming months. All being well, work will be completed on January 24th 2022.

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.

A reminder of some key dates as we approach the end of this academic year:

It is our ambition and priority to provide a meaningful end of year academic and progress report for all youngsters. It is important to note, that accuracy in this data and reporting, is more significant than producing something to ‘tick a box’.

Wednesday 7th and Thursday 8th July: Thank you to parents of Year 10 who attended meetings with teachers this week!

Monday 12th July: Year 7 Virtual Parental Meeting and Progress Review. Parents will receive their child’s end of year report. Pupils will complete a series of reflective tasks and set their targets for next academic year. Pupils will work from home and online during the day and join parents in their meetings with tutors. There will be an assembly to start the day via ‘Teams’ at 9am. If there are any issues with individual children or families, provision will be made available

to support in school. Pupils will be receiving a letter in the coming week with all of the details.

*Next year’s Year 9 and Year 10 will be prioritised for Parental Meeting and Progress Reviews from September. It is hoped that we can do aspects of this in person.

Friday 16th July: School closes for pupils and they begin their summer break, on this day we welcome back 8A after their isolation period.

This will be a non-uniform day with money raised distributed between CAFOD and Islamic Relief.

C Crehan to deliver a whole school short assembly via ‘Teams’ from 9.00 – 9.15

Pupils to receive a lunch at their normal times.

Pupils to be dismissed at the following times:

Year 7 and Year 10: 12.30

Year 8 and Year 9: 12.40

The start of the following week will be remaining INSET time for staff and will see an acceleration in the school buildings work project.

Key dates for the start of next academic year:

Thursday 2nd and Friday 3rd September: INSET days for teachers only.

Monday 6th September: Year 7 and Year 11 only 8.40am

Tuesday 7th September: All Year Groups return to school 8.40am

* *In light of the above Covid update, we are mindful of our expectation around testing pupils upon their return. This may mean that we need to revise this schedule. This may mean that pupils will be tested in school and then return home on that first day. More details to follow.

I am delighted to confirm that ‘Summer School’ for new Year 7 pupils and children in our current Year 7 who would most benefit from this extra provision will be taking place from Wednesday 21st July – Friday 30th July.

An information flyer that has been emailed regarding booking a place for this provision. Please email this address ccorrigan@holytrc.bham.sch.uk to reserve your place and we are reminded that this provision is free to families and fully funded by Government and school. There are no limits to the number of places that we can offer.

*If youngsters can’t make a particular day for whatever reason it is completely fine as long as we have as much warning as possible. Youngsters can sign up for as many days as they want and there is no obligation for them to do all of it unless they want to of course!

I am delighted that 70 places have been reserved already!

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 good weekend.

Mr Crehan