Dear Parent Carers,
I hope you have all had an enjoyable summer break and are looking forward to our young people’s return to school and full-time face education. I am delighted to welcome all our students and parents back to the new year as part of our Rainford High community. the whole team are looking forward to working with you to make your 7-year journey with us as successful as possible. As you know we will be working with you to help deliver our ethos of Everyone Matters, Everyone Helps and Everyone Succeeds.
We will be operating in a normal fashion overall, but we are making several adjustments due to the recent pandemic and its impact:
- Assemblies will remain in half year groups supported by the change in the school day to have a longer form period to enhance the personal development curriculum and whole school reading strategy.
- Split lunch times was one of the successes of the pandemic allowing for a more pleasant dining and lunchtime experience for all students and staff and this will remain in place for all students.
- We are also going to recommend that students wear face masks in corridors and in crowded internal areas to support trying to reduce the spread of respiratory and airborne diseases such as flu, Covid 19 and other coughs and colds which were significantly reduced due to the pandemic and measures that were in place. If for any reason you do not want your child to wear a mask can you please contact the school so we can discuss the issue and concern further.
- We will also continue to ask that children wash their hands and sanitise regularly to try and reduce other infections such as norovirus that have started to increase with larger numbers of people mixing together.
- I appreciate a number of parents will feel this is an overly cautious approach but the schools strongly feels that this small actions of hygiene and consideration will reduce the spread and impact of disease.
- Students will also need to wear masks if travelling on school or public transport.
As a school we will continue to provide remote learning for all absent students to reduce the loss of learning that illness and self isolation could cause. We will also be continuing our whole school reading strategy of a literary canon being read by all staff and students during form time and appreciate parental support with supporting students reading both in school and at home.
As always we will expect all of our students to meet our school ethos as part of our community:
Everyone Matters – Be polite and respectful
Everyone Helps- Make sensible choices
Everyone Succeeds – Work hard
We have a significant number of systems that praise students for achieving our expectations alongside our behaviour support systems these are explained in more detail in the attached letter and we are happy to answer any questions that come from this moving forward.
As you will be aware we are being asked to test all returning students for Covid 19 in the first two weeks of their return to school if you have not given permission and wish to please let us know. If you have given permission already you don’t need to do anything but if you wish to withdraw permission, could you, please let the school know as soon as possible.
As a parents= you will be invited into school for a welcome event in September between 5.00pm and 7.00pm at this event we will lay out the year ahead and provide you with useful information and resources to support your child in their first year at Rainford High.
Welcome Events:
Year 7 – 9th September 5.00-6.00pm and 6.00pm- 7.00pm
Year 8- 16th September 5.00-6.00pm and 6.00pm- 7.00pm
Year 9- 15th September 5.00-6.00pm and 6.00pm- 7.00pm
Year 10- 14th September 5.00-6.00pm and 6.00pm- 7.00pm
Year 11- 13th September 5.00-6.00pm and 6.00pm- 7.00pm
Year 12 and 13 – 20th September 5.00-6.00pm and 6.00pm-7.00pm
As we begin a new academic year I would like to draw your attention to a quote from Oprah Winfrey that may serve us well during the next school year.
“The key to realizing a dream is to focus not on success but significance – and then even the small steps and little victories along your path will take on greater meaning.”
We look forward to welcoming you all back as part of the Rainford High community and wish all our students and parents a happy and successful school year.
Kind regards
Ian Young