News

Dear Families,

Welcome to the end of a very unusual term, but one which has had a happy ending with students back on-site and with a fair degree of normality feeling like it is making its way back into the life of the school. There are a number of things I want to update you on as we end this term, as well as giving an update on the changes that may be in place from when we return.

GCSE and A Level exams
Many congratulations to all of the Year 11 and 13 students on how they have conducted themselves over the last two weeks through their trial exams. Students have approached the exams with a great deal of energy and commitment, and their positive attitude towards their studies in recent weeks has been very impressive. You may well be aware that last Friday the Joint Council for Qualifications (JCQ) published its guidance for schools on the process for awarding GCSE, A Level and BTEC grades this year. For any parents / carers / students who may wish to read the guidance for themselves it is available using the link below, however, I have also attached to this email a summary document for parents and students which includes the key pieces of information for you. Further details will follow after the break.

https://www.jcq.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/JCQ-Guidance-on-the-Determination-of-Grades-for-A-AS-Levels-and-GCSEs-Summer-2021.pdf  

In short, the guidance is not particularly different to what we were expecting and we will continue to follow the  timeline which has been sent previously to students in years 11 and 13.

Update on Covid measures after the Easter break
The latest guidance from the DFE suggests that the vast majority of the Covid safety measures that we have in place already will continue to be in place after the holiday. We are expecting further guidance around the wearing of face masks in lessons to be released during the Easter break but for the time being we are assuming that they will continue to be a requirement so I would ask that you ensure that your son / daughter has an appropriate mask with them again after the holiday. Even if the rules around masks in lessons are relaxed they will almost certainly still be required in communal areas whilst moving around the school. Start and finish times will continue to be staggered, as will lunch times, and the one way systems and emphasis on handwashing will remain in place. Students will continue to do their lessons and after school activities in their year group bubbles which we are still not able to mix.
On the positive side, I am pleased to say that our programme of sports fixtures can resume after the holiday as we begin the cricket season, although there will still be measures in place there to minimise the Covid risk as we begin to play against other schools in line with the national re-starting of grass roots sport. Although national restrictions have now begun to ease I would ask you all please to remind your sons / daughters to adhere to the social distancing and other protection measures that remain in place throughout the Easter break in the hope that everyone returns to us safe and well in April.

Self-testing and reporting Covid cases during the Easter holiday
It is reassuring to know that we have had very few Covid cases this term, and none which have required groups of students to isolate. Nonetheless it is essential that we remain vigilant throughout the holiday. All students have by now been issued with enough home test kits to be able continue with the twice weekly self-testing throughout the Easter holiday and I would ask you please to ensure that your sons / daughters continue to do this. All Lateral Flow test results must be reported both to the school using your child’s Microsoft Teams account, and also to Test and Trace using the link below.

https://www.gov.uk/report-covid19-result 

Please continue to do the tests and keep reporting the results to help us maintain a clear picture of Covid in our school community.
If your son / daughter, or any member of your family tests positive for Covid 19 over the holiday then you must notify us using our dedicated email address: covidenquiries@lpsb.org.uk. As was the case at Christmas, the school is obliged to report cases to the DFE for the first part of the Easter holiday up to and including Tuesday 6th April so it is vital we know about them. You only need to report the incident if your child developed symptoms of Covid 19 within 2 days of being in school.
If your son / daughter tests positive with a lateral flow test at home they must isolate, but also book a PCR test to confirm the outcome of the LFT. The PCR test now trumps the LFT test so if the PCR is negative the period of isolation can end. Other members of the household must also isolate pending the PCR test result.
Needless to say if your child has any of the common Covid symptoms when we are due to return to school you must not send them in, but instead take them to get tested and notify us of their absence using the usual systems.
The updated guide for parents around testing and isolation can be found using the link below.

https://langleypark.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/document/LPLT-Covid-Isolation-Quick-Guide-8-MARCH-2021.pdf?t=1615295171?ts=1617115709 

Violence against women
Since the murder of Sarah Everard the school has been doing some work to address some of the issues raised by her murder around attitudes towards women, and violence towards women. All students have had the chance to discuss Sarah’s murder and the wider issues it brought to the fore in Form time, and we have also run some discussion groups for our 6th Form Girls to hear their views on what we can do as a school to tackle this issue. Our work around this topic so far culminated in the 6th Form’s fantastic Wear Red Wednesday on 31st March when students wore an item of red clothing in exchange for making a donation to the Survivors Trust Charity which supports women who have been the victims of violence. Further work is planned in this area after Easter in collaboration with Langley Park School for Girls as mentioned in my newsletter last week. If you would like to donate to the school fundraiser in aid of the Survivors Trust, please visit www.justgiving.com/lpsbsurvivorstrust 

Dance Performance
The Dance Department, on the week we returned to LPSB, let the students create their own choreography, focusing on how they felt in lockdown and about returning to school. This video includes all key stages across school. Sadly due to copyright reasons, we could not use the Coldplay original track, which was amended last minute. We hope you enjoy!https://youtu.be/VlphD0Vgu2M 

Sixth Form Concert
Yesterday evening, a selection of sixth form students performed a short concert to a small audience of students and staff. The concert is available to view on YouTube from 7pm this evening by clicking on https://youtu.be/_WBXClvYm_E. There were some great performances so do tune in!

INSET Day - Friday 28th May
Please note that in order to allow staff time to mark and moderate the second set of assessments in May and to prepare for the inputting of the Teacher Assessed Grades we are having an additional inset day on Friday 28th May. On this day, students will be provided with work through Microsoft Teams, but there will be no students on site and no live teaching.

The Friends of Langley Park School for Boys Raffle
Congratulations to our Easter Draw winner Carole Dray who bought the winning seat - A12. 
Thank you to all of you who bought tickets and Happy Easter to all of you from the Friends. 

Thank you to all of the staff, students and families who have worked so hard together to make the return to school a smooth one, and we look forward to further steps towards normality after the Easter break. I hope you all have a fantastic break, and I look forward to welcoming you all back with your post lockdown haircuts on 19th April!

Have a good break.

Best wishes

Mr S. Parsons

Headteacher

Langley Park School for Boys