Start of Term 3 Letter

Dear Parent or Carer,

I hope that you and your family had an enjoyable and safe Christmas and I send you every good wish
for a happy and healthy 2022.

I wanted to update you on information relating to the school re-opening this week. As you know, today (Tuesday 4th January) is a pre-planned staff training day with students returning for the start of term three on Wednesday 5th January.

During the Christmas break, the Prime Minister has updated national guidance on face coverings in
school. From Wednesday, face coverings should be worn by students in classrooms. This is a
temporary measure aimed to reduce the spread of the Omicron variant within schools and is due to
be reviewed later in January. Some people may be exempt from wearing a face covering; if your
child is exempt and you have not already informed the school, please do contact us as soon as you
can. We would like to stress the importance of students being sensitive towards individual
circumstances, particularly in instances in which their peers may not be wearing a face covering.
Students, staff and essential visitors should continue to wear face coverings in all communal areas
within the school, unless they are exempt. Similarly, students should continue to wear face coverings
on public and dedicated school transport, again, unless they are exempt. Other protective measures
that were in place before the Christmas break remain in place:

•  Ventilation in classrooms
•  Sanitising hands before every lesson
•  Adhering to contact tracing and isolation regulations
•  Reverting to virtual assemblies
•  Only essential visitors will be allowed on site

Parent access to school will be limited to emergencies only until further notice (as it was early last
year) and it is strongly advised that you call or email the school before coming on to the premises.
Unless it is an emergency, any parental contact will be via telephone, email or a virtual meeting via
Microsoft Teams.

Following my communication in November, students are required to undertake an LFT test before
returning to school. This can be done on-site (on Tuesday 4th January for those who have requested
this) or at home. You can remind yourself of this information here.
communication letter

If you opted for your son or daughter to complete their test at home, please make sure they do this
either tonight or before leaving for school on Wednesday.

We will of course, do all we can to keep our school open for face-to-face learning. However, if we
are impacted by rising case numbers within year groups or large staff absences, we may need to
move some year groups to remote learning. We can all play our part in preventing this by following
the safety measures in place such as wearing face coverings and continued testing.
Important

Following the Christmas break, if your child has developed symptoms of COVID-19 they should not
return to school on Wednesday 5th January. Please book a PCR test and seek advice from the NHS
website at https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/coronavirus-covid-19/. In this instance, please contact
the school office from Tuesday 4th January, and we will advise you on the measures.
We continue to encourage all students and staff to participate in regular COVID-19 testing. This will
help reduce transmission after a period of social mixing during the holidays. Students are asked to
continue testing twice weekly at home and to report all results to NHS Test and Trace and to their
setting using this link. We continue to make LFT tests available to students who need them. Even if
you have tested positive for COVID-19 within the last 90 days, you are strongly encouraged to take
part in LFT testing once you have completed the isolation period for prior infection. If your child
needs more LFT tests, these can be collected from Wednesday from the school office.
A reminder that since Wednesday 22 December, the 10-day self-isolation period for people who
have tested positive has changed. If your child has tested positive but receives a negative test result
on day 6 and day 7 of their isolation period (at least 24 hours apart) then they can leave selfisolation
on day 7.

I hope that the information in this letter is helpful and clear. If you have any questions, please email
us on office@holcombegrammar.org.uk We are committed to ensuring that our school is a safe
learning environment for pupils and staff and will continue to take decisions in the best interests of
our pupils, while following Government rules and advice.

Yours sincerely,
Mr L.Preston
Principal
Holcombe Grammar School