News

 

 

Monday 7th March

Dear Parents, Carers and Students,

Welcome to our weekly update for the tenth week of the Spring Term. This week our thoughts continue to be very much with the people of Ukraine and surrounding countries and for members of our school community with connections to the region.  In our whole school assemblies for Week A this  week we will be sharing information about the current situation and following this up in tutor period. Below in our safeguarding briefing for this week we have put some resources which you may find of help when discussing the issue at home. Please see the section below about how we, as a school community, are supporting humanitarian relief efforts in this region.

Last week saw Y7 Parents’ Evening online and our flexible learning day. Today, Y11 have completed their PPEs and my thanks to students for their hard work and engagement.

There are a number of important messages this week, so please see the sections below. In particular, I would like to congratulate the 501 pupils who have attendance at 95% and above. Given the challenging circumstances, this is a great achievement for all of those members of our Lampton community - well done!

With best wishes for the week ahead,

 Stephen Davis

 

The crisis in Ukraine: 

At Lampton, we take our responsibility as part of our local and international community very seriously. We are aware of the humanitarian crises which are affecting our students and families across the world, including the current crisis in Ukraine. 

In this week’s assembly, students learned more about Ukraine through a video tour of the country pre-war (many thanks to the parent who sent in the video). Mr Pavey also analysed the underlying causes of Russia’s aggressive actions by contrasting the democratic government of Ukraine with Vladimir Putin’s autocratic regime. 

As such, we will be raising money the week of 14th- 18th March to donate to Save the Children, to support them in providing education packs, food, hygiene products and face-masks to children currently in crisis. More information on their work can be found on their website: https://www.savethechildren.org.uk/. 

We will be selling raffle tickets to students during tutor time. Each ticket will be £1 (although children are welcome to donate more if they wish) and will be payable in cash. The winning ticket will be announced via Google Classroom on Monday 21st March, along with the total donations. 

As a school, we will also be spending some time during tutor time writing letters of compassion and support to children around the world. 

We will continue to support students and families in the Lampton community. Further to the links shared last week, these additional resources have been created with a teenage audience in mind: 

How to talk to your teenager about the invasion of Ukraine (BBC Bitesize/Anna Freud Centre)

https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/articles/zbrdjsg

How To Talk To Your Child About The War In Ukraine (YoungMinds)

https://www.youngminds.org.uk/parent/blog/top-tips-for-talking-to-your-young-person-about-the-events-in-ukraine/

If you/ your child has any concerns or questions please don’t hesitate to discuss these with your child’s form tutor or Head of Year. 

For further information on how we can help Ukraine, we suggest visiting this website from the Mayor of London’s office.

 

Changes to our attendance procedures

 

As we start to move beyond the Covid pandemic we are seeking to rebuild students’ positive habits of attendance and punctuality. 

To ensure that we are aware of any students who may be absent from school as early in the day as possible, we are strongly encouraging parents to email us before 8.30 with the full name, form group and reason for absence for their child. If you don’t have access to email, we can also be reached via text message on 07860 055 490. To help staff process student attendance as quickly as possible, please avoid calling the school unless it cannot be avoided. This will help us to message you as early as possible to let you know if your child is absent and a reason has not been provided.

We have also updated attendance section of the website with more information on attendance and punctuality, for more information please see: https://www.lampton.org.uk/1333/attendance

Thank you to all families who support high attendance, there are 501 families who have children with 95% or above attendance - this is fantastic. We thank you for your support.

 

 

 

What is happening with school Covid testing? (Information from UK Government) 

 

Schools are no longer expected to take part in twice weekly testing. This change happened with immediate effect; this means all orders previously submitted were cancelled.

School staff and students are to follow the same testing guidance as the rest of the community.

How to get testing kits in the community?

PCR testing: For anyone who has symptoms of Covid they should get a PCR test. 

• PCR test centre – this is the fastest way to get a test result.  People need to book before turning up at a test site

• PCR homes test kit – this can be ordered online.  Staff, parents or carers, and FE students can order a home test kit for themselves and up to 3 symptomatic members of their household. 

Get a free PCR test to check if you have coronavirus (COVID-19) - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

 LFD testing is only for those meeting the following criteria?

• Eligible for new Covid-19 treatments

• Visiting someone who is at higher risk of getting seriously ill from Covid-19 

• Have tested positive for Covid-19 and to check if they are still infectious after 5 days 

• Work volunteer or visit somewhere that is high risk 

LFD test kits should be order online, they take about 3 days to arrive.  There is still some community availability through pharmacies and Hounslow libraries.  

If someone needs to access assisted testing this can be done at Bedfont library or Hounslow House or at the mobile testing unit.  See council site for where the mobile unit will be

All current community testing arrangement to end 31st March. From the 1st April the national liability insurance covering testing will have expired, so all tests should be used by the 31st March. 

ISOLATION: What are the current guidelines on isolation?

Guidance on isolation remains the same it is just no longer a legal requirement

 The testing on 2 separate days e.g. Day 5/6 does not need to be 24 hours apart 

What happens if families don’t want to isolate ?

If a parent or carer insists on a pupil attending your school where they have a confirmed or suspected case of COVID-19, you can take the decision to refuse the pupil if, in your reasonable judgement, it is necessary to protect other pupils and staff from possible infection with COVID-19”.