​​Dear parents,

I write this newsletter from school and what a novelty it is. At least slowly but surely the school campus is opening up and as you know, this week the Early Years were allowed in. It has to be said that not only I but the parents, the staff and of course the children were very happy to be having lessons in classrooms. In the foreseeable future we have the Year 11 students coming in from 4 October and behind the scenes we are asking whether any more years can come in, particularly if they have been vaccinated.

On that note, the Government is now working hard to get as many students vaccinated as possible in the next few weeks. There has been a flurry of emails from the Government to us and from us to you, the parents, regarding this. I can tell you that our 16 and 17 year olds have been earmarked to be vaccinated on 27 September and the second dose will be given at an appropriate date thereafter. There is already talk of us preparing lists of 12-15 year olds, and I am sure this will be the next stage. So if fortune favours us, perhaps this next age cohort will be allowed in before the end of the year.

Steadfastly though, we continue to work together to do the best we can with online learning, and I have to commend the teachers on the lessons I have seen, on their innovation, their passion and their hard work which has kept up the interest of the students I have seen. Also, you will see this little vignette of a clip. It is to whet your appetite and to get as many of you participating in this fantastic community/flashmob dance that our student Gabriel and others behind the scenes are trying to create. I mentioned this in my last newsletter - have a look, it is great fun, and the more people we can get involved with the better. A shout out to Gabriel and his team for organizing and doing this. I have been talking to parents who have commended his ability to get the younger children involved.

It leaves me to wish you a nice weekend. Please keep safe and do get in touch with me if you have any concerns or you just want to say hello.