Dear Parents/Carers
Thank you to the many of you who attended the virtual Autumn Re-opening Parent Forum yesterday. The presentation covered all essential points about our re-opening plans for September, which have to be complex and detailed in order to meet the expectations of the government guidance.
For those who were unable to attend, the meeting was recorded and can be accessed by following the link here.
I would strongly advise any parent who did not attend to watch the video of the recording and I also attach the PDF of the slides below as an additional aid. You can also view the full risk assessment below that the school has carried out while making plans for September. We invited parental questions and feedback at the meeting and were able to answer most of them, but we will follow up with further communication around the 20 August.
The key points to note are:
- School starts for Years 7 and 12 on Tuesday 1 September and for all other year groups on Wednesday 2 September. Exact timings will be confirmed in August. In line with government guidance, we expect to see all students in school on time on their allocated day. If you have any concerns about your child attending school in September, please contact their Year Leader/ Key Stage Assistant Headteacher or Mr Williams.
- The School Uniform Policy has not changed and can be found at the end of this email. Note in particular that all coats should be plain black (with no denim/ leather and no logos/ decoration) and all shoes should be plain, black, hard leather. Please read the Uniform regulations carefully - you can contact the school from Monday 24 August if you are in any doubt about what your child should be wearing in the new academic year.
- Students should bring all the usual equipment, but should also ensure that they have glue, small round-end school-safe scissors and hand-sanitiser to support the school in minimising the sharing of equipment. As with the uniform, the required equipment list is at the end of this email.
- There are a number of ways that we will try to support your child’s transition back fully in to school life related to the curriculum, teaching and learning, welfare and wellbeing support, and more details on this will be provided in due course. One of the key ways will be to focus on the basic elements of school life: attendance/ punctuality/ uniform/ behaviour/ effort and engagement
- As outlined in the parent forum presentation, there are no further Inset Days (after the start of term Inset Days on the 27 and 28 August) planned for the first half term and we will not be closing early for Open Days as in previous years. However, we do plan to close the school at lunchtime one day per week in the first half term and to teach that period 5 remotely in order to:
- develop and maintain our remote learning provision (we have to be ready to implement this in very short notice in the event of a lockdown);
- implement a deeper clean one day per week;
- allow time to review and adapt our planning; support teachers to develop their subject offer (due to the staggered nature of the timetable this will become more difficult in September).
These are just some of the main points from yesterday’s presentation. Once again, I would urge you to watch the recording in order to gain a fuller understanding and in particularly to see what a typical school day may look like. However, one of the things we have all learned is that things can change very quickly, so clearly the plans that we have put in place and that we have outlined here are provisional at present, and we will confirm final arrangements in August.
In terms of other end of term messages:
- Ms Chalcraft asked me to pass on the results of the Virtual Sports Day and these are in the PDF below. Well done to the overall winners, who are Seacole House.
- Ms Mellis also asked me to alert you to the Libraries Summer Offer and this is also available to download below. Reading is both valuable and enjoyable so we would urge all students to continue reading over the summer holidays.
- Southwark have asked us to share their Safeguarding survey and asked us to encourage parents to complete it. It can be accessed here.
Finally, and in conclusion, this has been clearly been a remarkable time for all of us. I shared a quotation yesterday that stated that “We are all in the same storm, but not all in the same boat.” We have all been affected by the pandemic, but not equally. Some of you will have been affected more than others. Some of you will have suffered bereavements, some of you will have experienced financial hardship, some of you will have suffered in ways that I cannot imagine. We have tried our best to support you through the storm and to support your children with the education that we know can change their lives and help them to change the world for the better.
We look forward to welcoming your children back into the school again in September, and I hope that, despite the setbacks and the sadness, that we can return with hope and optimism for a great year. As Nelson Mandela wrote, “There is nothing like returning to a place that remains unchanged to find the ways in which you yourself have altered.”
Take care, have a good summer, and see you on the other side.
Kind Regards
Christian Hicks
Headteacher, The Charter School North Dulwich
Uniform – which should be worn to and from school every day and to Achievement Evenings
- The school navy blue V-neck sweater with the Charter logo which must be worn (unless directed otherwise)
- A white polo shirt with our logo
- No long sleeve tops are to be worn under the polo shirt.
- Navy blue or black formal trousers worn around the waist – no chinos or jeans
- A formal navy blue or black skirt worn at a length that is appropriate for school – no tight-fitting skirts
- Plain black hard leather shoes are to be worn. No canvas or suede shoes, boots, trainers, ‘Vans’, ‘Converse’ of any description, or any other soft trainer-style footwear are to be worn. Plain black hard leather Kicker shoes are acceptable
- Tracksuit tops and hooded tops are not allowed in school
- Plain navy blue, black or white knee or ankle height socks, or plain black or navy blue tights. No leggings
- Plain black coat only – no logos, no denim or leather jackets
- No jewellery allowed except one small pair of ear studs that must be worn in the lobe of the ear. No other piercings are allowed
- Make up may not be worn in Years 7–11
- No false eye lashes or nail extensions are to be worn.
- Hair must be of a natural colour
- No tattoos of any description
- No Headwear allowed except a plain navy blue or black head bands may be worn. Head scarves (including ‘do-rags’) are not to be worn except for religious or medical reasons
- Any neck scarves worn must be plain navy or black.
PE Kit* – which needs to be brought to each practical lesson, even if a student is unwell or injured
- Plain navy blue or black sport shorts or skirt and/or leggings for girls
- Navy or black jogging/tracksuit bottoms
- Light blue Charter PE T-shirt
- Navy Charter PE Sweatshirt
- Non-marking trainers
- Football boots for lessons on the field
- Plain navy or white socks
(*Due to very limited changing facilities for the first Autumn half-term, pupils will only need school PE shorts, trainers and, if they want, a school PE sweatshirt.)
Equipment – Ready to Learn
Every student must bring a school bag big enough to carry A4 folders and books every day. The following basic items need to be in the bag:
Pencil case containing:
- Two black or blue biros
- Green biro
- Pencil and eraser
- Coloured pencils
- Pencil sharpener
- Pair of compasses
- Ruler 30 cm and protractor
- Calculator
In addition, students also bring to school:
- Glue
- Round end Scissors
- Hand sanitiser
The school bag should also contain:
- The Planner
- Exercise books
- Reading book
- PE kit if needed for PE on that day (*see note above)
- Other practical equipment needed
General advice during regarding coronavirus can be found by following the links below.
Full advice on what to do if you are worried about you or a member of your family becoming ill from Coronavirus can be found on the NHS website www.nhs.uk/conditions/coronavirus-covid-19/.
General advice, guidance and latest updates on Coronavirus can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/coronavirus
Guidance for educational settings can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/guidance-to-educational-settings-about-covid-19.
The Department for Education has a helpline to answer questions about Coronavirus related to education. Staff, parents and young people can contact the helpline as follows:
End of Term update Friday 17 July 2020