Attendance
Normal rules around school attendance apply. Therefore, we must remind you of your duty to secure that your son/daughter attends college regularly. The College have a responsibility to record attendance for all children and follow up absence. Please see our college attendance policy which is published on our website. Our ambition is that every student has an attendance rate of at least 96% this is vital if we want all students to achieve highly whilst at the College.
Maintaining a Safe College Environment
The College has put in place some preventative measures in order to minimise the spread of COVID-19. As per the advice from the government, the following actions for infection control remain in place:
- Displaying coronavirus infection control measures information posters around the College
- Encouraging good hygiene by promoting the importance of handwashing for at least 20 seconds with warm water and soap in the following circumstances:
– Before leaving home
– On arrival at College
– After using the toilet
– After breaks and sporting activities
– Before food preparation
– Before eating any food, including snacks
– Before leaving college
- Installing alcohol-based hand sanitiser dispensers that contain at least 60% alcohol throughout the College
- Ensuring students and staff understand that they must cover their mouth and nose with a tissue before they cough or sneeze, then throw the tissue away into the bins provided
- Ensuring frequently touched objects and surfaces are cleaned and disinfected more regularly than usual
- Isolating any unwell people in a separate room, and providing a separate bathroom, where possible, and advising them to go for a COVID-19 test
- Telling staff to isolate until they get a test, if they develop symptoms of coronavirus
- Arranging classrooms so that students are seated side by side facing forwards and removing unnecessary furniture and equipment.
As an important part of our college community, we ask that you continue to encourage good infection control practices, such as thorough handwashing, at home and keep your son/daughter informed about the things they can do to discourage the spread of infection.
Behaviour management and our policy of ensuring teachers have attention to best conduct at all times will remain. Mrs Wood has outlined the way we will continue to maintain the expectations on behaviour, attendance and uniform if students choose not to comply. We ask you to support us in this.
Symptoms of Coronavirus
As per the current NHS and government advice, you should keep your son/daughter at home for a period of 10 days if they test positive for COVID-19. If they develop symptoms, a PCR test must be booked regardless if they have had a recent negative lateral flow test (LFT) result. Symptoms include a high temperature, a new continuous cough, and a loss or change of their sense of taste/smell. Where symptoms continue after 7 days, or begin to worsen, you should call 111. If someone in your household has symptoms, your son/daughter must self-isolate for 10 days from the day the other person’s symptoms started. This is because it can take 10 days for symptoms to appear. If your son/daugher developts any symtoms in that 10 day period they must go for a PCR test and if it returns positive their 10 days isolation must reset. More information regarding symptoms and actions can be found on the NHS website: https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/coronavirus-covid-19
The College will insist that any student or member(s) of staff who show any symptoms that may be compatible with Coronavirus, book a test immediately. Information on booking a test will be provided by the college and the student / member of staff will not be permitted to return until the test result is confirmed and/or the period of isolation is complete.
If someone you or your child has been in close proximity to has tested positive for Coronavirus, you may be contacted by the NHS Test and Trace service. Information on the NHS Test and Trace service is available here: https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/coronavirus-covid-19/testing-and-tracing/nhs-testand-trace-if-youre-contacted-after-testing-positive-for-coronavirus/. If you think your son/daughter may have been exposed to or has coronavirus, please contact the college on 01429 261446 at the earliest opportunity.
Face Coverings
Face masks/coverings must be worn in all communal areas of the college by staff only. We want to ensure that we protect each other and stay open as a College, COVID-19 free. Safe storage and disposal of facemasks is essential in our college so we have bins with yellow bin bags around the buildings to ensure the safe disposal of all facemasks.
College Uniform
Students should attend college in their full college uniform as normal. In accordance with DfE guidance, uniforms do not need to be cleaned any more often than usual, nor do they need to be cleaned using methods which are different from normal. Our college uniform is vital in contributing to the ethos of the college and sets an appropriate tone for students to learn. Details of our college uniform policy is available on our website. We can no longer lend ties if they are misplaced, they will have to be purchased at a £5 cost.
From September 2021 the College uniform policy will return to be black shoes only. Shoes should be plain black throughout, without a visible logo and be able to be polished – trainers, or canvas shoes cannot be polished and are, therefore, not acceptable. Please support us with this important change as and when you purchase footwear for the 2021/22 academic year.
College Bags
As of Monday 7th June, lockers will be used before and after College, and when required students will be allowed to return to their lockers briefly to collect items outside of lesson time (break and lunch). Please ensure all students have appropriate locks for their locker – see image below. We would like to remind students and parents/carers that the minimum equipment all students should have is a pen, pencil, rubber, ruler, calculator, all contained in a pencil case. The pencil case should be contained in a bag with a College planner along with all their homework and books for the College day. When appropriate PE kit should also be in their bag. These bags will now need to be placed in their lockers, with their mobile phone.
Arrangements for the start and end of the College day
The beginning and end of the college day are the busiest times for students and adults congregating together in one place, so maintaining safe distances within normal arrangements can be a challenge.
Students in each year group have been allocated stairwells that are to be used by their year group only to acces their classrooms.
- Year 7 should should use the North stairwell
- Year 8 should use the East stairwell
- Year 9 should use the West stairwell
- Year 10 should use the central stairwell in The Heart
- Students who attend the Shine Centre or the ARC should go straight to the external doors for the areas
We encourage students to walk or cycle to college if possible and avoid public transport where possible and at peak times. College start time has not changed. A marked system has been set up in the college corridors to minimise face-to-face contact between students and make it easier to follow social distancing guidance.
Transport
If you and your son/daughter travel to college using public transport, we must remind you that it is a mandatory requirement to wear a face covering unless you are exempt for reasons of health, age or equality. Full guidance is available here: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/coronavirus-covid-19-safer-travel-guidance-for-passengers#face-coverings
Arrangements for break times and lunchtimes
We recognise the importance for all students to have a break from learning and to enjoy time outside during the college day. Reconnecting with friends will be an important aspect of students settling back into college life, so we have made some adjustments to break and lunch times to ensure they can do so safely.
Breaktimes
- Year 8 and 10 will have a break at 9.40 – 10.00 am
- Year 7, 9 and 11 will have a break from 10.40 – 11.00 am
Students will not be able to purchase food during break time in the first few weeks whilst we get used to the new arrangements so we encourage you to send them into college with a healthy snack.
Lunchtimes
- Year 8 and 10 will have lunch at 12.00 – 12.30 (Year 8 first, followed by Year 10)
- Year 7 will have Lunch at 12.30 – 1.00
- Year 9 and 11 will have Lunch from 1.00 – 1.30 (Year 9 first, followed by Year 11)
Students will be expected to go outside for their 15 minute “outdoor” time unless we are having inclement weather.
The College Day
From Monday 7th June we will now be adapting our arrangements allowing staff to move back into their classrooms. We are transitioning to students moving around the college again to spport their health and wellbeing as we get back to being a wider community. There are a number of measures we are outting in place to support these changes and keep students safe. The college would appreciate your support as parents/carers in reinforcing these:
Movement on the ground floor of the Main (South) building and all of the North building will be a two way system with students keeping to the left in the corridors.
Movement on the first and second floor of the Main (South) building will be a one-way system with students leaving their classrooms to the left and following the corridor round – see below images.
Home Testing
To help keep eachother safe, lateral flow tests (LFT) are to be carried out by staff and students twice a week – on a Sunday night or Monday morning AND Wednesday night or Thursday morning. All test results are to be logged on Test Register and the government website. If you are unsure of your child’s log in details for Test Register, please contact the college. It is important that all results are logged on the government website to help them to understand where there are outbreaks of COVID-19.
Visiting College
If you need to speak to the college at any time, please contact the college by phone on 01429 261446 or by email to the following contacts for each year group:
Year 7
Mrs A Dunlop adunlop@hightunstall.hartlepool.sch.uk
Mrs M Wake mwake@hightunstall.hartlepool.sch.uk
Year 8
Mr D Cook dcook@hightunstall.hartlepool.sch.uk
Mrs L Dixon ldixon@hightunstall.hartlepool.sch.uk
Year 9
Mrs R Harbron rjefferson@hightunstall.hartlepool.sch.uk
Mrs S Lester slester@hightunstall.hartlepool.sch.uk
Year 10
Mr L Blythe lblythe@hightunstall.hartlepool.sch.uk
Mrs M Tate mtate@hightunstall.hartlepool.sch.uk
Year 11
Mr J Turner jturner@hightunstall.hartlepool.sch.uk
Mrs L Harrison lharrison@hightunstall.hartlepool.sch.uk
All email contacts are on our website and are included in the parent handbook. We would like to politely request that parents/carers do not come on to college site unless it is absolutely necessary as you will not be able to speak to a member of staff face to face without making an appointment in advance. Appointments will only be made in exceptional circumstances so we can ensure that you and our staff are kept safe.
Support for Students and Families
We do not underestimate how difficult the recent weeks have been for us all and we all will have been touched in some way by the coronavirus pandemic. We recognise the need to focus on students’ emotional wellbeing as well as their return to learning. The following support is in place for students once they return to college:
A. Tutor to be first point of contact for any issues
B. Student Support Officer and Head of Year to support if cannot be resolved
C. Emotional Health and Well Being Officer available for students who are struggling
D. Special Educational Needs and Disability Coordinator to support those who need additional support
The College does have access to staff who are trained bereavement counsellors and if you would like support please contact the Head of Year as indicated above. Parents may wish to seek support for themselves from the following support agencies:
- Samaritans – call free 24 hours a day on 116 123
- National Domestic Abuse Helpline – call for free and confidential advice, 24 hours a day on 0808 2000 247
- Shelter provide free confidential information, support and legal advice on all housing and homelessness issues if you call 0330 0536 083 (please note, this is not a free phone number and your call will be charged), or their free webchat is available at https://england.shelter.org.uk/get_help/webchat
