Dear Parents/Carers,
I hope you and your families are all keeping well? I wanted to write to you to update you on some key items as we approach the end of term:
COVID-19
The government has updated their guidance on how we continue to live with COVID-19. You will probably already be aware that regular asymptomatic testing is no longer recommended by the government and from today, Friday 1 April we will no longer be allowed to distribute the self-test kits to students. If you still have test kits at home and your child tests positive the advice is that they should stay at home and avoid contact with other people for 3 days. If your child is unwell and has a high temperature (but you do not have a self-test kit to check for COVID-19) they should stay at home and avoid contact with others until they no longer have a high temperature and are well enough to return to school. The government want to manage the virus like any other respiratory infection and even though we have seen a small increase in staff and student cases over the last three weeks, we will continue to follow this guidance into the summer term and monitor the situation closely.
I want to thank all parents for your support and patience as we have dealt with the difficulties of the pandemic. I would be delighted to think that this is the end of all the restrictions and disruption; however, I will keep an open mind and continue to communicate any further issues with parents if they arise.
Fantastic Term
As usual our students have done us proud this term. Their efforts and attitudes in class together with their behaviour around the school site has been excellent. We have invited a number of external visitors into school in recent weeks who have been looking at our curriculum, teaching and learning. Every one of the visitors have commented on the fantastic climate for learning in our classrooms and how friendly and welcoming South Craven students are. As Headteacher, I am always looking to improve what we are doing as a school, but know that we are very lucky to work with such engaging, well-behaved and enthusiastic young people.
I also think our students are very lucky to attend such a great school and looking back through the term there has been a fantastic range of activities that they have been able to enjoy alongside their lessons. Examples, include the Year 11 and 13 mock interviews, when a number of local businesses and colleges come to school to put our students through an interview process. The Shakespeare School Festival at Bradford Alhambra, the Performance faculty ‘Move it’ trip to London, our Comic Relief fundraising day including the PE inflatable assault course and activities for our sixth form students with Leeds Trinity and Leeds Beckett Universities as well as Oxbridge workshops for our Year 10, 11 and 12 students. I was also proud to see our Year 10 and 11 students organising and refereeing activities during our Primary Sport Festivals, our Year 7 students raising money for their charities via the Smarties tube challenge and our Year 10 students working with Year 7 students on a structured reading programme.
As we move towards the Easter holidays, I want to wish our Year 11 and 13 students the best of luck as they start the final push towards their exams. Revision activities and websites will now become a big part of their lives as they drive to achieve the successes they deserve. I look forward to the final week of term and then hope everyone enjoys a restful Easter break.
Please get in touch if you have any questions, queries or concerns.
All the best.
Martyn Hill
Headteacher
