We look forward to welcoming all our students back to school this week and extend a warm welcome to our new Year 7 and Year 12 students.
This post covers some of the key information to support your child’s return. In addition, students will have an extended form period on return to school.
Lateral flow tests and contact tracing
As per our previous letter, Lateral Flow Testing will be available following the schedule below, with a drop in session run from 8am to 6pm each day. Students who have had a positive PCR test in the last 90 days do not need to attend for testing.
| Year Groups | First LFT (drop-in 8am-6pm) | *Return to School (8:55am - 3:15pm) | Second LFT (in school) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 7 & 12 | Tuesday 7 September | Wednesday 8 September (Year 12 will start at 10am) | Friday 10 September |
| 10,11 & 13 | Wednesday 8 September | Thursday 9 September | Monday 13 September |
| 8 & 9 | Thursday 9 September | Friday 10 September | Tuesday 14 September |
Please find below a guide from the Department of Education which has more information regarding the changes to self isolation and close contact tracing.
This document provides an overview of the changes to the identification of close contacts following a positive PCR test for education and childcare settings from 19 July 2021.
The school day
School will be open each day from 8am and finish at 3:15pm. The canteen and library will be available to any students from 8am each day and the library will also be available after school until 4:00pm (3:30pm on a Friday).
All buses will run as normal from Wednesday. Face coverings are strongly recommended on all buses.
We remind all parents arriving by car to park on the road, with only disabled access and agreed drop-off/pick-up to use the school driveway and car park. Please be mindful of our neighbours and avoid blocking driveways. St Peter’s Avenue can get congested, and if you can drop your child a little further from school to walk in, please do so. All students should enter via the student services entrance at the side of the school, however if your child is late (ie. after 8:55am) they should now sign in at our main reception area at the front of the school. Students should attend in full school uniform each day.
Form classes have returned to their original format (for example 9.1, 9.2 etc), however form groups will now register on form corridors as follows:
| Year Group | Form Location | Head of Year | Email Address |
|---|---|---|---|
| 7 | Mathematics | Miss H Smith | h.smith@rvhschool.co.uk |
| 8 | Science | Mrs G O’Leary | g.o’leary@rvhschool.co.uk |
| 9 | Humanities | Miss R Downes | r.downes@rvhschool.co.uk |
| 10 | English | Mr V Wagstaff | v.wagstaff@rvhschool.co.uk |
| 11 | ICT/MFL | Mr M Balmforth | m.balmforth@rvhschool.co.uk |
| 12&13 | Details at Sixth Form Entrance | Mrs R Brenchley | r.brenchley@rvhschool.co.uk |
If you have any general questions regarding the return to school then please contact your child’s Head of Year using the above links.
At the end of the day we will have a staggered end, due to the increasing number of students. This will be rotated on a weekly basis.
Lunch will be split into two sessions and break into three, more details will be provided to students on return. A full lunch service will be available in our canteen and the library will also be open during both lunch sessions.
The school operates on a cashless system so no money for lunch should be brought into school. All lunch money should be transferred using the school ParentPay system (www.parentpay.com). If your child is new to the school you should now have received an email from our finance department detailing how to register on the system. If you have not received this, or have any other issues, please contact our Finance Team.
Health and safety measures
The school will continue the safety measures introduced to encourage good hygiene including hand sanitising, increasing cleaning of high touch areas and maximising air flow in classrooms. The Department for Education is currently looking at options for supporting ventilation in schools and we will continue to follow their guidelines. Our updated Covid Risk Assessment and Outbreak Management Plan are also available on our website.
Please continue to follow all the advice regarding Covid-19 testing if your child has symptoms of Covid-19 please ensure they take a PCR test and self-isolate until the outcome is known. Where there is a positive result in your household, please ensure you make school aware as soon as possible.
Face Covering
Face coverings are no longer advised in schools, however any student or member of staff who wishes to use one may continue to do so.
We will continue to work closely with Calderdale Public Health over the next term and monitor cases both within school and the local community. Any additional measures will always be taken under the advice of Public Health.
Uniform and Equipment
It is vital that students adhere to our school uniform instructions precisely. Please ensure you have checked our school uniform guide on the link below and if you have any specific questions regarding uniform please contact Mrs A Mitchell at a.mitchell@rvhschool.co.uk.
All students should come to school fully equipped with their basic equipment including a scientific calculator. This will also reduce the need to share equipment which is non-specialist.
May we wish you all a very warm welcome back to Ryburn!