Dear Parents and Carers
As we approach the end of the school year, I would like to thank you for your continued support and kindness. There have been many challenges that we have faced together over the past year. However, the engagement of your children, their resilience, humour, friendship, hard work, kindness and endeavour, have shone through. Their upbeat, can do spirit has been matched by the staff across our school, and I thank all members of our school community as we continue to pull together whilst we live, work and learn through this ongoing pandemic.
Planning for September 2021
Since my last letter, the Minister has confirmed an additional day for the Jubilee. I can confirm that St Cenydd, along with most other local schools, will take Thursday 2 September 2021 as this Jubilee day. This means that our term will now start on Friday 3 September 2021. This will be an INSET Day. Y7 and Y12 will return to school on Monday 6 September, with years 8-11 and year 13 returning on Tuesday 7 September.
As in my letter last month, it is likely our plans for September will shape and potentially change during the summer break as further information is shared by Welsh Government.
The first draft of the operational guidance for September has now been published by Welsh Government. Welsh Government overview within this guidance states that:
We want to provide as much certainty as is possible for schools and settings ahead of the school holidays so that operational arrangements can be clearly communicated. The approach set out in this guidance includes some changes to the arrangements which have been in place for a significant proportion of the 2020 to 2021 academic year. This reflects the progress that continues to be made with the rollout of the vaccination programme, which will aim to ensure that everyone working in our education system will have been offered both vaccinations by the end of September, growing our defences against the virus. This coupled with emerging data on hospitalisations and severe illness suggests that from the beginning of the 2021 to 2022 academic year we can move beyond the very restrictive approach to dealing with COVID that has been necessary to date.
It must, however, be recognised that the COVID situation remains uncertain, and there may be a need to issue further updates in the event of any significant developments during the summer holiday period. In these circumstances, we will work with stakeholders to consider how best to provide schools and settings with the time required to make any necessary adjustments to mitigations at the start of term (including any enhancements should these be judged necessary and proportionate to ensure safety at that time).
We will publish a Local Covid-19 Infection Control Decision Framework at the start of the 2021 to 2022 academic year. This framework is being developed in partnership with schools, local authorities, public health experts and other stakeholders. It will enable schools and settings to tailor some measures to reflect the level of risk identified locally. Schools and settings will not be expected to make these decisions in isolation - they will continue to be supported by public health officials and their local authority to ensure measures are appropriate to their own circumstances. A transition period will be agreed for the introduction of this framework to enable schools and settings to move to this revised approach.
We are currently planning on the basis of this information from Welsh Government:
- Testing will continue to play a part in supporting schools and settings in the autumn to quickly identify and isolate infected individuals. School staff and secondary age learners should be encouraged to undertake Lateral Flow Tests just before the return to school. Tests will be accessed through community channels during this time. Further communication on this will be made in due course.
- From the start of the new term we will no longer be recommending the routine wearing of face coverings in the classroom for staff or learners. Schools and settings may however wish to encourage their use in areas where there is likely to be more social mixing, such as in communal areas. Face coverings should continue to be worn by learners in secondary schools and settings when travelling on dedicated school transport. As part of a school’s risk assessment process, supported by public health officials, and in discussion with local authorities, schools and settings will be able to decide whether the wearing of face coverings is appropriate anywhere on the school site based on the school’s own circumstances and local context. If however an individual wishes to wear a face covering this should not be prevented.
- Schools and settings should return to their normal session times for the new term.
- Schools and settings should plan on the basis that contact groups will no longer have a role to play at the start of the autumn term, this is consistent with the approach being taken in child care. Contact groups will be replaced by a stronger focus on contact tracing, in line with the general populations. We will use our TTP system in order to identify close contacts of learners who have tested positive, and TTP may contact the school or setting to supplement the information they have gathered with any further intelligence that may be available. Our expectation of schools/settings is that they follow the specific advice they receive from TTP about whether individuals need to self-isolate.
- Cleaning regimes need to be proportionate and in line with any other communicable disease.
We expect further updates to this guidance throughout the summer break. As such, I will write to you by 30 August 2021 at the latest (a week before pupils return to school) outlining and confirming our arrangements for the start of term. As normal, my letter will be sent to you as a link, as well as available on our school website.
School uniform
School uniform standards have been very mixed in the summer term. In many cases this is understandable as parents have not wished to purchase new uniform in advance of the summer break.
We will be returning to a strict school uniform policy in September with all pupils expected to attend in their full school uniform each day. Our school uniform expectations are as published and as detailed on our school website e.g. please ensure that school skirts are knee length, school trousers are tailored, school shoes are black, and that all pupils have the appropriate tie for their key stage. We will be insisting on a return to the highest standards of uniform in September.
For those families who qualify for the 2021/2022 PDG Access Grant, please see below the updated information from CCBC about year groups, rate, criteria and the date that families can apply from:
There will be an on-line application process to be accessed via the Caerphilly website which will go live Monday 2nd August 2021.
Welsh Government have announced that the PDG-A (Pupil Development Grant Access) will continue to be extended to additional school years for the financial year 2021/22.
- All families who are currently eligible for free school meals and entering Reception, Year 1, 3, and 5 in Primary Schools in September 2021 will receive a rate of £125
- For Year 7 in Secondary Schools a rate of £200, and years 8, 9, 10 & 11 in Secondary Schools the rate is £125
- For learners in a special school, special needs resource base or pupil referral unit and are aged 4, 5, 7, 9, 11, 12, 13, 14 or 15
- Funding for looked-after children is available in every school year. (No application process required as direct payment will be made to the eligible families)
For 2020-21 Welsh Government amended the terms and conditions of the grant to allow families to use the funding to assist with purchasing laptops or tablets to help children when learning from home, Welsh Government will continue to apply this amendment for 2021-22. However they advise families to contact their child’s school/setting to discuss loaning equipment before purchasing.
Please contact CCBC if you have any queries about the PDG Access Grant.
Caerphilly Council Transport to School
If your child is currently in Years 7-12, you should have received a bus pass from CCBC. We understand that bus passes for new pupils will be sent out over the summer holidays.
Please note that all pupils are expected by CCBC Transport to travel on the bus that is designated to them by CCBC.
Results Days
It has been a busy end to the term, with provisional Centre Determined Grades for GCSE, AS and A level shared with Years 10-13 in the past weeks. We look forward to their formal results days later in the summer break (10 August AS and A level, 12 August GCSE). We are planning to welcome students onto school site on these days, with results available in the Main Hall from between 0830-1200 on each of these days. If these arrangements have to change in the meantime, we will inform students and you in advance. We very much hope to be able to celebrate the achievements of our students in person!
Year 6 Transition
Mr Dickinson, Mrs Evans, Mr Owen and Mrs Frost have thoroughly enjoyed meeting our new pupils in their primary schools, and meeting those who are coming from further afield. They have told me how impressed they have been by the pupils they have met, by their mature questioning, and by their enthusiasm to start at St Cenydd. We are all looking forward to welcoming them to our school in September.
Staff changes
At the end of this term, we have a number of staff leaving. We thank Mrs Morgans, Mrs Cooper, Mrs Pascoe and Mr Satterly for their many years of diligent service, and wish them each every happiness in their retirements. Mr J Williams is also leaving to take up a new teaching role and Mr Evans, our Rugby Officer, is leaving to train as a PE teacher. We wish them well.
From September, Mr Owen will be Head of Year 7. We also have a number of new staff joining us – Miss Owen (Maths), Mr Loynton (PE), Mrs Marshall (Science) and Mrs Wren (Admin).
On behalf of everyone at St Cenydd, I would like to thank you for your continued support, encouragement and kindness over this challenging year.
I hope that you and your family have an enjoyable and safe summer.
With thanks
Miss Collins
Headteacher
