31^st December 2020

Dear Parents/Carers

 

I hope you are well and have managed to enjoy the Christmas break in these strange times.

As you will have heard on the news yesterday, the Government have delayed the start of the Spring Term for secondary school students due to the significant increase in the rate of Covid infections and in order to set up testing facilities. For special schools and colleges the guidance states that individual special schools have flexibility on face to face attendance of students in the first week of term.

 

Our lateral flow tests will be delivered on Monday and staff will undertake training and testing during Monday 4^th and Tuesday 5^th January 2021. On Wednesday 6^th January our most vulnerable students, and the sons/daughters of key workers will return to school and college and on Thursday 7^th January all students can return. We will obtain consent for student testing at the start of next week, and commence testing as they return to school/college.

I understand that this will cause some disruption, but hope you can appreciate the importance of setting up testing in order to keep all staff and students safe. In addition, we may have a number of staff who are asymptomatic, but test positive and this could affect our capacity to remain open to all students. As you know, we will do all we can to ensure continuity in your child's education but please bear with us in these difficult times.

I will send further details about testing next week. However, just to outline the procedure -staff will be tested on a weekly basis. Students will undertake two tests at the start of term which will be between 3-5 days apart, they will then be tested weekly. Should a student or member of staff test positive, they will be asked to self- isolate and undertake a PCR test either provided by school or at a testing centre. The results of this test are more accurate and will determine the procedure to follow. Students who come into contact with a positive case will no longer be asked to self-isolate, but will be tested every day for seven days and if the tests remain negative they will be able to stay in school/college. If your son/daughter tests positive at any point they will be asked to self-isolate.

 

It is recognised that testing may prove traumatic for some of our students. We would like to work with you to attempt to test everyone, but where this causes too much upset we will consider the benefits of following this procedure. Our aim will be to test as many students as possible.

 

Given the current situation with Covid cases and hospital admissions, I can appreciate how anxious some of you will be feeling. If you have any concerns regarding your son/daughter returning to school/college please do not hesitate to contact me and we will discuss the options available.

 

Outline of return to Brentwood School and College:

 

If you would like to discuss any of this with me, please message me on dojo or send me an email to: jlomas@brentwood.trafford.sch.uk

Wishing you all a Happy New Year

Best wishes

Jude

Brentwood Harvest Festival

Dear Parents and Carers

 

We would like to hold a Harvest Festival collection at Brentwood School and College.

Given the current situation, we are aware that many of our families are struggling financially, or due to self-isolation are unable to access the shops. We would like to use the Harvest Festival donations to create our own Brentwood Foodbank so that we can distribute bags of groceries during times of need. This will be done discretely though I current knowledge of family situations. We would also be happy to make food donations on request where need may suddenly arise.

 

We are asking that parents and carers donate non-perishable foods. These could include:

• Pasta
• Rice
• Tinned foods
• Biscuits
• Cereal
• Treats – e.g. crisps and chocolate
• Pasta sauce
•  

If you would like to make a donation, please send items into school/ college with your son/daughter by Friday November 13^th.  We will then distribute the goods as need arises.

Hi Everyone
I hope you have all had a good half term.

We now have four confirmed cases of Covid at Brentwood. One is in sixth form, and the other three are in lower school, all within one class. We have traced all contacts and consequently have a significant number of students and staff who are self-isolating. The relevant rooms have been deep cleaned and we have assessed the staffing situation. At this stage we are able to open school to all students who have not been asked to self-isolate. As you will be aware, given the current situation, this position may change very quickly and I will keep you posted as and when this happens.

If you have any concerns about school and college provision at this time, please do not hesitate to contact me either through dojo, or my email: jlomas@brentwood.trafford.sch.uk and I will get back to you as soon as possible.
Just a reminder that if your son/daughter or a member of your household is ill, showing symptoms of Covid, please do not send them into school and please get them tested. If you're son/daughter becomes ill in school we will contact you to collect them. I appreciate that not all coughs and colds are Covid related but we need to be extremely vigilant in ensuring that we keep school and college safe.

Enjoy the last day of the holidays and stay well
Jude

26^th October 2020

Dear Parent or Carer,

A confirmed case of Covid-19 in our School

A member of Brentwood has tested positive for Covid-19. We are working closely with Trafford’s Public Health Team to reduce the risk of infection for your son/daughter and our staff.

If your son/daughter is a contact of the case we will contact you by telephone to discuss the next steps. Any contact must self-isolate for 14 days. Only the contact needs to self-isolate, other members of the contact’s household do not need to self-isolate. For schools and colleges, a contact is any student or adult identified through setting based contact tracing.

If your son/daughter has not been identified as a contact they do not need to self-isolate.

It is important that we are all aware of the symptoms of Covid19 and only well students attend school and college.

The main symptoms of coronavirus are:
· high temperature – this means you feel hot to touch on your chest or back (you do not need to measure your temperature)
· new, continuous cough – this means coughing a lot for more than an hour, or 3 or more coughing episodes in 24 hours (if you usually have a cough, it may be worse than usual)
· loss or change to your sense of smell or taste – this means you've noticed you cannot smell or taste anything, or things smell or taste different to normal

Most people with coronavirus have at least one of these symptoms. Information about Covid19 symptoms and management of the virus can be found here, www.nhs.uk/conditions/coronaviruscovid-19/

We will be taking the appropriate action to clean the affected areas across the school and college.

If your son/daughter is identified as a contact please try not to worry. For most people Covid19 is a mild illness, if you or your son/daughter develops any of the above symptoms or become unwell please contact NHS111 or your GP. Although Covid19 is circulating in the community, usual childhood and seasonal illnesses are too and it is important that these are not missed.

If you have any questions or concerns please refer to the government website, www.gov.uk/coronavirus or you can contact me by calling 0161905 2371 email:admin@brentwood.trafford.sch.uk

Best wishes

Jude Lomas

Headteacher

CC: Eleanor Roaf, Director of Public Health, Trafford Council

Dear Parents and Carers,

If your child usually receives a free school meal in a Trafford school, find out how to claim your October half term free school meal voucher here:

https://www.trafford.gov.uk/residents/schools/trafford-catering/free-school-meals.aspx

If there are any problems with the link or claiming the voucher, please contact Cllr Karina Carter, Trafford's Lead Member for Education directly:

Karina.carter@trafford.gov.uk
 

23^rd October 2020

 

Dear Parents and Carers,

 

I would like to take this opportunity to thank you all for your support during this half term. Working together we have succeeded in keeping school and college open to students without the need to suspend any of our bubbles. Whilst some students and staff have had contact with positive Covid cases, so far we have been lucky in avoiding any positive cases in school. With the rise in local cases it is highly likely this position will change, but we are well prepared and supported by Trafford Public Health when the time comes.

 

We have followed government guidance throughout this time, and in doing so have had to ask a number of parents and carers to take their son/daughter for a test, and to self isolate whilst awaiting results. Whilst we appreciate the inconvenience this causes, we value your co-operation in supporting us to keep the school and college safe.

We are doing our utmost to deliver a full curriculum in school and college, with some modifications to community participation and access to our hydrotherapy pool and soft play. Looking forward to next term we would like to ensure our students get lots of opportunities to celebrate Christmas and other key festivals and events. We are working with department co-ordinators to ensure that alongside our curriculum students don’t miss out on some of the key events that are so important to them for socialising and fun. Indeed today we were able to celebrate Hallowe’en and some of our students even managed to do trick or treating in corridors within their bubbles.

 

I would like to wish you all a healthy and enjoyable half term break.

Kind regards

Jude

8^th September 2020

 

Dear Parents and Carers

 

We are so pleased to see so many of our students back in school. We want to reassure you that Brentwood School is committed to keeping both children and staff members safe now they have returned to school. We would like to inform you about what schools will be doing and what we ask of you as parents or carers if your child shows symptoms of coronavirus (CoVid-19).

The most common symptoms of coronavirus (CoVid-19) are a recent start of any of the following

 A new continuous cough

 A high temperature (feel hot to touch on the chest or back)

 A loss or change in your normal sense of taste or smell

 

Please don’t send your child into school if:

 They are unwell in any way

 Anyone in the household is unwell, awaiting testing or their result or has been tested positive.

What happens if a child/young person or member of staff becomes unwell at school?

As soon as the school is made aware, the child, young person or staff member will be sent home and advised to isolate until the result of the CoVid-19 test is known. The school will arrange any necessary cleaning.

How do I get a test for my child?

If your child is displaying symptoms of coronavirus, your school will give you details of how to book a test at the local testing site. When you have the result, please tell the school whether it is positive or negative.

What happens if a child, young person or staff member tests positive:

 The person should isolate for 10 days minimum. The person needs to be 48 hours symptom-free prior to return the school setting.

 Members of their household should self-isolate for 14 days. The 14 days is the time it takes for symptoms to show if you have been infected.

 Those identified as contacts within their school (children and adults) will be sent home and advised to self-isolate for 14 days (and offered testing if symptoms develop).

 The other household members who live with the person in the class/group do not need to self-isolate unless the child, young person or staff member they live with in that group subsequently develops symptoms

 The school will send a Trafford Council ‘Warn and Inform’ letter to all parents just to let you know there is a case in the school and to remind them to watch out for symptoms.

If my child tests positive, do I need to tell people they have been in contact with?

Yes. You need to log onto the NHS Test and Trace portal https://contact-tracing.phe.gov.uk/ and share details of all their close contacts.

All close contacts (household, school related or any other close contacts) will receive a letter or text to advise them to self-isolate.

What happens if my child tests negative?

Your child can return to school when they feel better. If they have had a fever or gastric symptoms, (stomach upset) they should not return until they are 48 hours symptom-free. Household members can end their isolation straight away following the negative test, unless someone else in the household is waiting for the result of their test.

What do I need to do if either myself or my child has been in ‘contact’ with somebody who has tested positive

A ‘contact’ is a person who has been close to someone who has tested positive for coronavirus (CoVid-19) anytime from 2 days before the person was symptomatic up to 10 days from onset of symptoms (this is when they are infectious to others).

For example, a contact can be:

 People who spend significant time in the same household as a person who has tested positive for coronavirus (COVID-19)

 Close personal relationships/partners

 A person who has had face-to-face contact with someone who has tested positive for coronavirus (COVID-19), including: being coughed on, having a face-to-face conversation within one metre, or having skin-to-skin physical contact, or any contact within one metre for one minute or longer

 A person who has been within 2 metres of someone who has tested positive for coronavirus (COVID-19) for more than 15 minutes

 A person who has travelled in a small vehicle with someone who has tested positive for coronavirus (COVID-19) or in a large vehicle or plane near someone who has tested positive for coronavirus (COVID-19)

In a schools/setting context, if you or your child is deemed to fall into one of the ‘contact’ categorises above you/they must self-isolate at home because you are at risk of developing symptoms in the next 14 days and could spread the virus to others before the symptoms begin. If you have concerns for your health, contact your GP or NHS 111 online. In an emergency, contact 999.

What happens if somebody in wider school community tests positive?

If a member of our wider school community (e.g. a parent/carer, a member of our cleaning staff, a governor) tests positive. They need to let the school know immediately so they can identify if the positive person has had contact with anyone who attended the school in the previous 48 hours before the onset of symptoms or date of the test. Contact tracing will take place to understand the types of contact the individual has had both in school and out of school.

We would like reiterate ways to reduce the spread of coronavirus disease and the risk of you and anyone you live with getting ill with COVID-19:

 Maintain physical distancing and to stay at least 2 metres from other.

 Stay out of crowded places and avoid mass gathering

 Wash your hands with soap and water often – do this for at least 20 seconds

 use hand sanitiser gel if soap and water are not available

 wash your hands as soon as you get home

 cover your mouth and nose with a tissue or your sleeve (not your hands) when you cough or sneeze

 put used tissues in the bin immediately and wash your hands afterwards

 keep your hands away from your face (eyes, nose and mouth)

 

Please keep this letter for future reference. We would like to reassure you that we are doing all we can to keep your children safe and we thank you in advance for following this advice and guidance.

 

Yours sincerely,

 

Jude Lomas

Headteacher

Dear Parents and Carers

I hope you are all well and have had a good summer break. We are very much looking forward to welcoming our students back to Brentwood, although we do appreciate that this is an anxious time for many of you.

Today has been our first INSET day this year, and staff have been working hard to unpick the latest Government Guidance and how best we can interpret it for the students at Brentwood on a whole school, class and individual basis. This builds on the work we carried out prior to the summer holidays when the school and college were partly opened.

We are very lucky at Brentwood in that we have a fabulous modern building with wide corridors and lots of ventilation, with access to outside space from all our classrooms. This, combined with the smaller class sizes in a special school, means that we can implement strategies to ensure students are kept as safe as possible.

We will be operating a bubble system in school and we will have 5 bubbles. These will be:

• The PMLD Bubble
• Lower School Bubble
• ASC Bubble
• 6^th Form Bubble
• College Bubble

Students will remain with their classes for most lessons, but will interact with other students in their bubbles for some lessons and social times. Generally staff will remain working in one bubble, although inevitably there will be some overlap (as detailed in the Risk Assessment) This will hopefully limit contact throughout the school day thus reducing transmission of Covid should it be present in the school.

We will continue to reinforce the need for regular and effective handwashing, alongside wiping down equipment between use. Social distancing will be encouraged at all times and staff will wear appropriate PPE when they carry out tasks requiring them to work in close proximity to students e.g. personal care, feeding and administering medication. Following government guidance on face coverings, we will discourage use of masks in classrooms and allow optional use of masks in corridors and public areas. Students will be taught to use masks where appropriate on community visits.

We will continue to follow the same protocol regarding COVID. If a student displays symptoms, we ask you to keep them at home and seek a test. The student should remain at home until the test results come back. If a student presents at school with symptoms, they will be removed from their class and supported in school until you collect them. We can support you to obtain a test, and do have a small number of home tests available in school should they be needed. If a student tests positive for Covid, we will follow advice from public health regarding procedure for isolation of those who have been in contact.

 

We have been working with transport to establish safe routines for students entering and leaving the premises. We now have an additional entrance for college students. All students will be asked to remain in vehicles (both school transport and parent/carer transport) until they are asked to come into the building. This should serve to limit the crowding of people around entrances. By doing this we are hoping to limit the extent we have to stagger the length of the school day, although some students will arrive/ leave a little later or slightly earlier. We have planned this but hope you will to bear with us initially as this will be a new system and we would appreciate your patience whilst we establish a clear routine.

Breaks and lunchtimes will be staggered to ensure large groups of students do not congregate in any one area. Some students will eat in their classrooms and some will eat in the hall or dining room. Student will have their break and lunchtimes in their bubbles.

Due to hygiene controls, specialist classrooms will be allocated to specific bubbles and this will be reviewed every half term. This will allow those bubbles to freely use parts of the school without concerns for cross contamination. Our soft play room will remain closed as it is exceptionally difficult to disinfect after use. Furthermore the hydrotherapy pool will be in use for general swimming and splash sessions, but unfortunately we will be unable to offer hydrotherapy sessions to students who require physical support in the water. Physio are working to provide land-based therapy to support those students who will be unable to access the pool. The pool will be available to small groups of students and will be cleaned between use.

Following government guidance we will be aiming to offer some community visits as we feel these are a key aspect of our students developing their skills for adulthood. Each activity will be fully risk assessed, and we will be avoiding crowded public areas. We will also be looking at ways to develop the curriculum given the ‘new normal’ that we live in.

Students will still have access to a broad and balanced curriculum. Alongside core subjects students will continue to access PE and Music and we will follow government guidance on the safe delivery of these lessons.

We appreciate that many students will have suffered anxiety throughout lockdown. They will have missed their friends and their routine, structure and independent time in school as well as the many opportunities school and college offer. We also know that some students may not be too keen to return to school or college. We are really looking forward to students returning to school and want to make the experience positive. We aim to get our students back into a routine as soon as possible so that we can provide them with the learning opportunities they have been missing. However we are also mindful that this will be harder for some students than others and will implement appropriate strategies where necessary to support young people with their mental health and wellbeing.

Unfortunately there are a few students who are unable to return to school and college at this stage due to medical and health issues. We will continue to support these students and their families until we are able to welcome them back into Brentwood in the near future.

We are keen to work with you to ensure that your son/daughter has the best possible return to school/college. If you have any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to contact us and we will do our best to work with you to find the best solution.

Wishing you all good health

Jude

 

Please use this link to access the risk assessment in place:

https://www.brentwoodschoolandcollege.co.uk/local-community-events-and-information/