COVID 19

Please see the documents below that outline the school's response to COVID 19.

The Goverment has recommended that all secondary aged students continue to complete regular asymptomatic COVID-19 testing at home. All secondary aged students will be offered tests to take at home twice a week, so that we can reduce the spread of the virus. 

Testing pupils/students at home

Test kits will be given to your child and are free of charge. They will receive a pack of 7 tests in a box with a leaflet on how to take the test and report the results. They should be given these by their tutor by the end of this week. They are a different type of test kit called and Acon Flow-Flex test so please do read the instructions carefully.

The result of each test needs to be reported using the NHS Test & Trace self-report website: https://www.gov.uk/report-covid19-result.  You will also need to tell the school the result of each test via the link https://forms.office.com/Pages/ResponsePage.aspx?id=UAgrq67UfUWiY1gTeHDMk8BMNtPJczxBjscCONYlIkZUNTBWMjVCOFMyM09CNUJUVFpFUUpPTDlXRy4u

If your child receives a positive LFD result you should book a confirmatory PCR test. We would advise visiting a local walk in or drive through test site as this is the quickest way to get tested, or you can order a home test kit. It is important that they self-isolate until the result of their PCR test. Please keep the school informed. If the result of the test is unclear (void) they will need to do another one. Pupils have the option to take the test the evening before school, but no earlier.

Taking part

Taking part in testing is voluntary and all pupils will be able to attend school whether they take part in testing or not.

I am strongly encouraging all to take part in the national testing programme. 

Please contact Becky Atkin, our COVID Coordinator, if you have any questions or concerns about home testing, via admin@balcarras.gloucs.sch.uk 

Thank you for your support.

 

Dominic Burke

Headteacher

 

Update on Remote Learning

As we move into the new school year there are no longer national or local restrictions in place and so our hope is that we have very few pupils unable to attend school for COVID related reasons.

Due to the small number of pupils needing access to remote learning the model we will use has changed slightly.

If a pupil has COVID and is well enough to work from home their teachers will provide work for them to be able to keep up with the curriculum. The teacher will select the most appropriate way to do this.

Work could be:

A task set on the schools VLE

Joining a live lesson remotely via Teams

Emailed work

Teachers will contact pupils via their school email to let them know how to access their work.

For practical subjects such as PE work will not be set.

For pupils new into Year 7 that have not been able to attend the start of term teachers will contact parents via email.