News

Monday 10th January

 

Dear Parents, Carers and Students,

Welcome to the weekly update for the second week of the Spring Term 2022.

There is a great deal of  information in this weeks’ update, so could I ask you to take time and read the information carefully.

Last week, our on-site testing took place and my thanks to staff involved in making this run so smoothly and students for their mature co-operation. As of tomorrow, 11th January 2022, confirmatory PCR tests are not required if somebody tests positive using a lateral flow device. There are important details about this below.

We will continue to update you weekly via this link on the school website and also by email and text. Please ensure that we have the most up to date contact information for you.

With best wishes for the week ahead.

 

Stephen Davis

 

• Y13 PPEs - Y13s are sitting their Pre-Public exams this week, as well as some public examinations.  These exams will help students to gauge their understanding and learning so far, as well as providing valuable experience of sitting exams under the conditions that they will experience in the summer.  Students have also been advised that in the unlikely event that public exams are cancelled in the summer, these exams will form part of the evidence base used to formulate their grades.  Students are on study leave for the week & I hope that they will use the time wisely to consolidate their learning at this crucial point in their course.  We wish them  luck!

• Y9 Options Evening: takes place on Tuesday 25th January. Y9 students have been issued with a letter today via parent email and also through the Y9 Google Page. Final details about the arrangements of the event will be issued as soon as possible. We are currently undertaking a risk assessment about the best way to host the event.

• Matilda - our school production has been postponed until late March 2022. We are keen to have this as a face-to-face event so that the students who have worked so hard for a number of months, have the opportunity to perform to a live audience.

• INSET Day 27th January: will go ahead. Therefore, school will be closed for students that day.

• If your child is isolating, they will be able to access work via their subject pages on Google Classroom.

 

Safeguarding briefing: The things I wish my parents had known…

The new Children’s Commissioner, Dame Rachel de Souza, has recently published helpful guidance for parents to talk to their children about sexual harrassment - both online and in the real world. The guidance encourages parents ‘to talk early, and talk often’, and to ‘create the culture before the crisis’ - both messages that the school’s safeguarding team strongly endorse. The guidance can be accessed via this link. If you have concerns about the safety or wellbeing of your child or any other child in the school, please contact the safeguarding team via email safeguarding@lampton.org.uk.

 

New menus in the canteen!

Our menus change on a half termly basis to keep out offer fresh and seasonal, and in response to student feedback. To check out the latest menus, please click on the links:

Week A

Week B

 

Confirmatory PCR tests to be temporarily suspended for positive lateral flow device (LFD) test results

Confirmatory PCR tests following a positive lateral flow device (LFD) test result are to be temporarily suspended from Tuesday 11 January. This will mean that anyone who receives a positive LFD test result will be required to self-isolate immediately and will not be required to take a confirmatory PCR test.

If your child tests positive on a LFD, please send a photograph of this to the school with the date of when the test was taken.

 

Information on the vaccination programme for 12 to 15 year olds

Around half of 12 to 15 year olds have now received at least one dose. 

Young people aged 12 to 15 in England are now being offered a second dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine at a minimum of 12 weeks from the first dose, following advice from the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI).

Parents can book vaccinations for their child, if aged 12 or over, through the NHS booking system.

Vaccination for this group will also continue to be carried out by the school age immunisation service.

The dates for vaccination to take place at Lampton are in early February. We will confirm via this weekly update.

Statement on behalf of Councillor Tom Bruce

 

Dear Residents,

 As we begin 2022, I want to express my full appreciation of our schools and the role they continue to play in supporting children and young people in Hounslow throughout the pandemic. I am immensely proud of the way our heads and their teams have gone above and beyond in their efforts to keep our children's education on track.

 

We know that in the coming weeks that schools are likely to experience the impact of Covid and other winter illnesses. Whilst they will be working hard to remain open and safe, they will also be following the latest guidance and continually risk assessing their activities and the school environment. Potential staff shortages means that there may be times when schools are no longer able to provide face to face education safely, and therefore decisions might need to be taken that lead to class, year group or even whole school learning moving online. These decision will never be taken lightly and the public health and education teams at Hounslow will work closely with any schools facing this situation. This will only be done where all other options have been explored and will only happen for the shortest time possible. I do not want any children missing any more time in school than is absolutely necessary.

 I ask parents to be understanding of the difficult position schools are in at this time and be supportive of the actions schools are taking. The Department of Education are aware of the issues around staff absence and although they are monitoring the position nationally as schools return following the Christmas holidays, I remain frustrated at the government’s lack of concrete and practical solutions.

 We recognise the impact the pandemic has had and how challenging it has been on everyone.  We thank you for your patience and support, for our schools and children, both in the classroom and at home.

Kind regards,

Councillor Tom Bruce | Cabinet Member for Education, Youth & Children’s Services