As a school, we are overjoyed following the government announcement regarding the re-open to all pupils from 8th March. We cannot wait to see everyone back in school and in face-to-face lessons. However, the return is not as straightforward as we would like, and it, unfortunately, is not as simple as everyone being back in school as normal on Monday 8th. The government has announced that we need to arrange testing for all students before they go into any lessons and for a school of our size, this will probably require some form of staggered start, with the continuation of online lessons during this time. The Department for Education has published detailed guidance on how schools are to manage the requirement for pupils and staff to be tested, and we are expecting more information over the next few days. We hope you will understand that we need time to draw up detailed plans, and we will communicate these on Monday 1st March.

More details below.