End of Week ParentMail 25.06.21
Dear Parent/Carer,
As you may be aware today we say our final goodbye to our 2021 leavers from Year 11 and Post 16. It has not been the final few months that anyone expected, but I am so proud of how the students have coped with the challenges that they have faced and the confident young adults that they have grown to be. Thank you to all the parents and carers who attended our virtual assembly. It was lovely to see so many faces helping to celebrate the journey the students have been on during their time here at school. They all leave West Lancashire Community High School ready for the adventures ahead of them as they move to college. On behalf of all of the staff at the school, I wish them all the very best for the future.
Yesterday we were extremely fortunate, given the current restrictions, to be able to finally host our Prom for both the class of 2020 and 2021. It was a fabulous event and the students looked amazing. The party bus set the tone and the students were able to let their hair down and enjoyed a great afternoon at Holland Hall. Thank you to all of the staff who supported the organisation of the Prom and the PTA who helped to support the event and make it so memorable for all involved.
Today is the final day of our current classes as we prepare on Monday to transition students to their new classes, and in some cases Key Stages, ready for September. We appreciate that the students and indeed yourselves may be anxious about the changes, but please be assured that the staff have been working exceptionally hard behind the scenes to make the transitions as smooth as possible. If you have any concerns please contact your child’s class teacher or departmental lead.
The changes to the new classes mean that new departmental bubbles will be formed from Monday. As staff and students move from their current bubbles into the new Key Stage bubbles we will enter a short period of time in which we will have to be extra cautious and vigilant. With COVID having a 7-day incubation period, the risk of transmission of an asymptomatic case from one bubble to another will be at its highest until Wednesday of next week. With this in mind we have made the decision that from Monday we are going to return to on-site daily testing of all consenting students as they arrive in school. This will be undertaken on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday next week. We anticipate that the process will be more efficient than earlier in the year as the students are more familiar with the protocols of the lateral flow tests. The only major change from the previous on-site testing is that we will not be routinely recording the results with the NHS, this is a significantly time consuming exercise. Alternatively, we will only be registering any tests that provide a positive result. If you have not had any contact from school by 11.00 am, you can assume that your child’s test was negative. I would still encourage you to continue to test the students at home twice a week and keep them in this routine. From the 5 July, for the final two weeks of the academic year we will then return to testing on a Monday and a Friday.
Finally, from the 8 July we are stopping anybody other than essential visitors to the school site. This will hopefully mean that any periods of isolation required as a result of a positive case associated with the school would be completed by mid-July.
Have a lovely weekend.
Kindest regards,
Mr L Fazackerley
Headteacher