January Announcement

Dear Parents,

You will, I am sure, have heard the Prime Minister’s address this evening instructing the nation to stay at home and that schools, for both Primary and Secondary pupils, are to revert to remote schooling. I am deeply saddened by this news and, for the second time in less than 12 months, I am very sorry to be writing to you in this way, especially having spent the day in school with colleagues making sure that we were set and ready for the beginning of term.

We have done everything and more asked of us to put in place the testing regime, to accommodate the necessary measures to be COVID secure and to make sure that the whole of our school community can be, and remain, as safe as possible at St. Hugh’s. However, it is clear that, along with every school across the country, we are being asked to do more and I am doubly regretful that this will have such a significant effect on all of you, our parents, who have been so supportive throughout these challenging times. Clearly our aim is to resume normal service as soon as possible and I am hopeful that we will do so, but we are in the hands, as ever, of Central Government and the decision makers in Whitehall.

So, to inform you of the next steps, we will be moving swiftly to our established learning platform through Google Classroom. You should all have the access details for this and your children are well used now to accessing the resources and lessons that will be available online. If, for any reason, you do not have this access, please contact the school at office@st-hughs.lincs.sch.uk and we will ensure that you have the necessary information. For those of you who are either new to the school or who have not used Google Classroom, please be assured that we will support you with this and give you all of the necessary information to help explain it all.

Vulnerable children and the children of Critical Workers are able to return to school. However those of you who were in this group previously will recall the stringent criteria and limited numbers who were able to attend. At this stage, we do not have this information so I ask you to bear with us whilst we collectively process this news in school. If you are able to look after your children at home whilst we make the arrangements which will see us into Wednesday and beyond, I will be very grateful. Of course, if this is not the case, then your children may arrive at school as usual and we will accommodate them. 

Similarly, a few short hours ago, my colleagues were preparing to welcome the majority of children to school tomorrow for lessons. Please understand that simply flipping to remote learning with less than 12 hours notice is no small undertaking and teachers will be working hard to make sure that the teaching and learning that they deliver is of the same high standard that we are so proud of. 

For tomorrow, the minibuses will be running to collect children of critical workers. Please contact the relevant driver directly if your child / children will not be requiring the bus. Longer term, as before, arrangements for minibuses and school transport are entirely dependent on government guidelines which will become available in the coming days. 

I will be in contact tomorrow in more detail. For now, if you have any queries please do not hesitate to contact me directly. 

Yours sincerely

Jeremy