Update for parents and carers: Friday 14^th May 2021

Our thoughts and prayers are with families of those recently deceased, people who are unwell, lonely, isolated or unemployed and facing hardship.

We hope that these past days have brought much joy and happiness as members of our community have celebrated Eid!

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

Please continue to support your child in carrying out twice-weekly Covid tests at home. Thank you.

Updated guidance from May 17th regarding use of face coverings in school.

The DFE have published updated guidance for Secondary Schools. The key points are as follows:

• ​Pupils are no longer expected to wear face coverings in school. This includes classrooms and communal areas. 
• Staff are no longer expected to wear face coverings in classrooms. 
• Staff are still advised to wear face coverings outside of classrooms and where a suitable social distance is not possible. This includes use on corridors and in other busy communal areas. 
• Face coverings for pupils may be reinstated and advised in the event of localised outbreaks of transmission. 

As a school, we continue to follow all Public Health and Government Guidance. In some instances, pupils may wish to continue wearing face coverings and especially during this transitional phase. For example, there are several pupils who live with parents who are vulnerable and can’t yet be vaccinated. We will of course support pupils in this and other contexts whereby not wearing a face covering from Monday will cause anxiety and be to the detriment of learning. Over time, we hope that full confidence is restored and anxiety dissipates. 

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.

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 11 now enter the final stages of their education at Holy Trinity and we are confident that these remaining weeks will be successful ones.

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.

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 refer to separate message from Mrs Henvey (Assistant Headteacher) regarding an update to our Homework Policy. I am delighted that this last 12 months has seen a significant improvement in how we access and use online learning as a school. The successful school rollout of laptops has meant that we are confident that we can now take the step to move all pupil homework online. We will continue to support pupils and families where needed, as we make this change together.

In other news: 

School Expansion Project is edging closer to becoming very much a reality in school. We are delighted that youngsters will have excellent facilities to go alongside their high quality curriculum and teaching and learning. Final Funding has been approved, with June 1^st now set as a date for the project to start!

TUPE Consultation process for The Rosary, St Chad’s and St Joseph’s Catholic Primary Schools joining our Academy is progressing well. We are excited by the growth of our Academy from September 1^st.

A huge well done to all youngsters who entered our St Teresa of Calcutta MAC ‘Motto’ Competition!

I am delighted to announce that one of our pupils has made it to the final six of the competition!

Madhia Jangeer (Year 10)

‘A place to learn,

A place to love

A place to hope’

We wish Madhia all of the very best in the final judging process!

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.

Thank you for your continued support of our school and myself, personally. It is greatly appreciated.

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

Monday 3^rd May: Bank Holiday. School Closed.

Thursday 27^th May: Parental Consultation via ‘Zoom’ to discuss updated and statutory Sex and Relationships Education in school from September 2021. Pupils will be receiving a letter to take home w/c 17^th May. All parents welcome to attend.

Friday 28^th May: School closes for Half Term.

This will be a very special day in school as we celebrate the feast of our patronage the Holy Trinity. To coincide with ‘World Culture Day’ on the 30^th May, our whole community are encouraged to wear clothing that represents heritage, culture and family tradition. In addition, special foods from all around the world will be served at lunch. We see this as a positive way to end another busy half term.

Monday 7^th June: School reopens at normal times.

Wednesday 9^th June: Year 11 Final Day in School. Timings to be confirmed, with some final celebrations planned, restrictions permitting.

Friday 16^th July: School closes for pupils and they begin their summer break. Pupils to leave in staggered exit times from 12.30 – 12.45.

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

We would love to be able to offer a Summer School provision to welcome our new Year 7 pupils but we are unclear about the full Government proposal and the final allocated funding total for this. We are also mindful about the Health and Safety implications with our school buildings work project accelerating due to having a largely empty school site. There will be restricted access to the site and a reduction in the facilities we have available. We will assess the benefits and risks of running a Summer School provision and will finalise a decision by May Half-Term.

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