As parents will be aware, there is ongoing speculation in the mainstream media regarding schools’ reopening in January. We were expecting an announcement from government early this week however, this does not appear to be forthcoming. We have grown accustomed to last minute announcements from the Department for Education, so we do anticipate that there may be changes to the information released prior to Christmas. However, as things stand the expectation is that Year 11 will be in school for normal lessons from the 5th January. Year 13 will be in school for exams only from 5th January with a return to normal lessons on 11th January. Years 7-10 and Year 12 will be expected to work at home from 5th January following their normal timetables via remote learning, their normal face-to-face lessons will resume in school from Monday 11th January.
The only exception to this is students whose parents are critical workers or students who are classed as vulnerable. If your child was identified as being part of this group during the first lockdown period then they will be able to return to school on 5th January for some face-to-face contact. If you believe they are part of this group but did not attend school during the first lockdown then please email enquiry@plantsbrookschool.co.uk
If parents of Year 7 students believe their child fits into this group then please use this email address to notify us.
Additionally, vocational exams scheduled for the week of 5 January will also go ahead as planned.
In due course we will also send out further details of free school meals provision for students who are remote learning.
Furthermore, you may have heard about the mass testing plans for schools in January. We are awaiting further guidance to be published on this but will keep parents informed once we have some clarity on what this will look like.
If there is a further update from government, we will of course let you know our response as soon as we can. We wish you a restful, safe and as enjoyable New Year as you can have at this time.
The application window for a place at Plantsbrook Sixth Form 2022 will open after the half term holiday. Information on how to apply will be shared with students after the holiday.
