Dear Parents and Carers 3 February 2021 Every week, at the moment, seems to bring a new challenge. This week, of course, it was the revelation that the new South African variant of the Covid virus had been detected in the area. I attach a letter I received from Sefton and would like to take this opportunity to reinforce the message.

There has been one confirmed case of the new variant in PR9, the Norwood Ward in Southport to be more precise. The government has instructed that 10,000 people over the age of 16 be tested in each identified area and Sefton hope that the new mobile testing centres and door to door tests will start from today. This is a fact finding operation to assess the extent of the possible spread and should not be viewed as a call for all residents in the area to self-isolate, but as a stark reminder that these new variants, if not necessarily more harmful, are far more easily transmissible and reinforce our obligation, as members of our community, to respect and enforce all the precautionary measures in place. The advice remains the same and the guidance hasn't changed regardless of whether you live or work in that postcode area. Stay at home if you can, go to work or school if you can't, and continue to follow the same precautions (hands, face, space) at all times. We should all ensure that we challenge ourselves and only make those journeys and interactions that are, genuinely, strictly necessary. If you live or work in the PR9 postcode, I would encourage you to get tested at one of the mobile test centres as this will provide valuable data on the spread of the infection as well as, hopefully, giving you some peace of mind.

School will remain open for children of critical workers and vulnerable students as we have throughout, and we will continue to deliver what we hope is a quality programme of remote education and live lessons to try and support our pupils and their families by giving them access to the best possible curriculum we can deliver in the circumstances. In school, we will continue to deliver Lateral Flow Testing, but will increase the tests frequency to twice a week for students, in line with the recommended procedure for staff. In school, we will enforce all the measures identified in our Risk Assessment and Lockdown plan to keep our staff and students safe.

We are currently awaiting the outcomes of the consultation on the arrangements for the 2021 GCSEs and we are holding this week a virtual parents' and carers' evening on Thursday for all our Year 11s. Although we do not have the details for the summer GCSEs yet, it is clear that the next few months are going to be crucial in ensuring that your son achieves the grades he aspires to and the evening will be the opportunity to discuss how you can best support him through this process.

We are also eagerly awaiting an announcement that will give all of us some indication of when we may be able to return to face to face teaching, which is what we all want for our children. In the meantime, our focus is fully, including for Year 11s, on delivering as much of the curriculum as we can in order to minimise the impact on your sons' current and future learning. Your support in delivering this ambition has been incredible from the very first day of the new term and I want to thank you again. We have delivered over 2,400 hours of live lessons since January and it wouldn't have been possible without our staff's dedication and hard work of course, but also your son's commitment and your support as parents and carers. Together, we are making the hashtag #alwayslearning an everyday reality. Keep safe.

REMOTE LEARNING As Mr Bourgade has mentioned earlier in the letter, we have now delivered thousands of live lessons and the participation of the boys has been fantastic! A few reminders:

 Some of you are still trying to join lessons from a personal email address or google account. It is very important that you sign into your birkdalehigh.co.uk account every morning. Teachers are not allowed to admit people without a account.

 If the teachers ask you to turn on your camera it's because they really like to see your faces and it helps them to gauge your understanding and level of involvement in a lesson. So, if you have a camera that works don't be afraid to use it with your background blurred.  Try to attend all of your lessons and be on time for the start of the lesson. All of your lessons are in your Google Calendar and can be accessed through that. We are keeping track of every lesson missed so that the teacher knows what you need to catch up. Remember you can email your teacher directly if you are having trouble accessing your lesson.  If you are ill or have an appointment during the school day that means you will miss lessons, please let the school office know, just as you would if it was a normal day in school.

Keep up the good work! Mr Banks LAUNCH OF LORIC IN YEAR 7 Friday marks the launch of the LORIC in year 7, whereby pupils can complete challenges in the categories (Leadership, Organisation, Resilience, Initiative and Communication) to win badges and certificates. Each form will have a session delivered live to explain how they can get their LORIC record up and running and how to make a start on completing challenges. The session will appear on their google calendar at the times stated below, in place of their normal timetabled lesson:

Friday 5th February Period 4 - 7JCS and 7PR Monday 8th February Period 3 - 7CFC, 7JD and 7RK Tuesday 9th February Period 2 - 7DAW and 7JQ

Once the sessions have been delivered support materials will be sent out so all families have the chance to get started over the half term! Mrs Cassidy

YEAR 11 PARENTS’/CARERS EVENING – THURSDAY 4 FEBRUARY 2021 Reminder that it is our Year 11 Parent/Carers Evening tomorrow – Thursday 4 February 2021. The system is live and will be open until 6.00pm tonight if you have not already made your appointments. Mrs Ellis SEFTON MUSIC SERVICE Please find attached a flyer from Sefton Music Service giving details of their online activities. Mr Banks

WE ARE WITH YOU SEFTON – FEBRUARY NEWSLETTER We Are With You Sefton Stars newsletter is attached, concentrating this month on Children’s Mental Health Week.

Yours faithfully

Mr G Bourgade Headteacher

THE WEEK IN TWEETS – To view all our Tweets, please visit Twitter at @BirkdaleHS

Tricia Davies Interim Head of Education Town Hall Oriel Road Bootle L20 7AE

Tel: 0151 934 3428 / 07813544809 [email protected]

Date: 3rd February 2021 Our ref: 02 03 02 21 HT Letter

Dear all

We do understand there is a lot of anxiety around the South African Variant. As you are aware one person in the PR9 area has been found to have tested positive for the South African variant of covid. There has been a great deal of publicity around this and we wanted to provide an update, so you are aware of what is happening within Sefton.

Additional testing for the new South African variant of Covid-19 will now be starting in specific areas of Southport. We will be setting up two dedicated test sites for the new variant and once they are in place, we would encourage everyone aged over 16 in the area targeted to get tested as soon as possible, even though they don’t have symptoms. This will help us find any cases of the new variant and help stamp it out.

Anyone who lives or works in the affected area will be offered a test. However, it does not mean that the whole of Southport will be tested, only a specific area where the case has been detected. This is mainly the Norwood Ward.

Details of where a Mobile Testing Unit, due to be open from Wednesday 3rd February, can be sited are being finalised and a team of people to knock on doors to provide and collect home testing kits for local residents is being mobilised. The supplies of test kits have been delivered today, 2nd February and we aim to start delivering them to people’s homes tomorrow, 3rd February.

Sefton Council is also working with the DHSC on a range of targeted local publicity and information including posters, local radio and social media. This will include details of exactly what they can expect when someone calls with a test as well as information and advice on self-isolation. At the moment, we have no evidence to suggest that this variant is any more severe than others. But in order to suppress any onward spread of the virus, we are going to be conducting extra testing for anyone living in the PR9 postcode area.

For schools and settings, including those in Southport, this means they will continue doing all the things they have been doing as identified in their risk assessments. Schools are still expected to remain open for vulnerable children and critical worker children and nursery setting for all children. Schools and settings should not close due to this new variant or expect parents to provide negative test results before coming to school. A letter has been sent to schools and settings to share with parents and carers.

www.sefton.gov.uk

We would expect that staff would still attend school and nursery as they are currently doing and travelling from PR9 to another part of the borough or from a PR9 area to another part of the Borough is acceptable.

There is an expectation that we continue following the current guidance. This means staying at home except for essential purposes such as shopping for essential supplies, going to work if we can’t do so from home and providing care. It also means maintaining at least 2-metres’ distancing, wearing a mask or face covering while out and about and washing our hands frequently. If you test positive by any method, you must isolate to stop the spread of the virus.

People outside of the area identified for the South African variant testing who develop coronavirus symptoms of a high temperature, persistent new cough or loss of their sense of taste or smell, should book a test by calling 119 or visiting www.nhs.uk/coronavirus .

Staff in schools should continue to follow the guidance and use the lateral flow tests in the usual way. For staff working in PVIs there are three test centres open from 8am to 8pm at Bootle Leisure Centre, Splash World in Southport and Racecourse, as well as one at Bootle Town Hall for key workers. No appointments are needed. The interactive map details when the test centres are quiet. https://sefton.maps.test-and-trace.nhs.uk/findatestcenter.html

It seems this new variant can still be combated through vaccination, although it could be more transmissible, which means it could spread more quickly. That’s why it is important we carry out this additional testing to try and identify it and to limit the number of us who might be exposed to it. We are asking as many people as possible in the target postcodes to get tested even though they don’t have symptoms, so we can find any cases of the new variant and to help supress it. The more cases of the variant we find, the better chance we have at suppressing it. Please help to keep your community safe by getting tested so we can find the variant and protect you and your loved ones. We will be working with our partners to provide advice and support online, and on the ground, so that we can work together and continue to make progress towards a return to a more normal life for all of us. Support and advice, including information on financial support, is available at www.sefton.gov.uk/self-isolation for anyone who is required to isolate because they have tested positive for COVID-19. Further information, and a range of FAQs can be found at https://www.sefton.gov.uk/covid-19-in-sefton/

Please do help us in supporting our school communities to follow the government guidance and remain safe.

Regards

TRICIA DAVIES Interim Head of Education

www.sefton.gov.uk 1 2 0 2 m r e T g n i r p ONLINES

Music Centre Online Groups & Ensembles ACTIVITIES Spring Term 2021 Music Centre Online Groups & Ensembles | Spring Term 2021 Join us on ZOOM for Music Centre Online. In the comfort of your own home you are welcome to join in any of the groups below. Timetable of our Online Activities (Term time only) MONDAY Strings The online ensemble Junior Strings 4.15pm – 4.50pm worked perfectly, and Sam Intermediate Strings 5.00pm – 5.40pm really enjoyed it. Thank you Senior Strings 5.50pm – 6.30pm for organising at such TUESDAY short notice! Percussion 4.00pm – 6.00pm FRIDAY Woodwind Junior Woodwind 4.30pm – 5.15pm Sam’s Mum Intermediate Woodwind 5.30pm – 6.30pm Senior Woodwind (Wind Orchestra Woodwind) 6.45pm – 8.00pm Brass Junior Brass 4.45pm – 5.30pm Intermediate Brass 6.16pm – 7.15pm Brass Ensemble 7.30pm – 8.30pm Membership will be free until further notice. For further information visit our website www.skymusichub.com or to register, please click on the link below, download and sign the consent form. http://www.skymusichub.com/want-to-play/play-in-sefton/letters-parents-carers-sefton/ The signed consent form should then be emailed to: [email protected]

Sefton Music Service Central Music Centre, Redgate, , Liverpool L37 4EW Tel: 0151 934 3933 www.skymusichub.com

Newsletter Feb 2021 ​

We Are With You Sefton provides free and confidential support to young people and parents/carers experiencing issues with drugs/alcohol. We work with people on their own goals, whether that’s to say safe and healthy, making a small change or stopping an unwanted habit.

For more information please contact us on 0151 318 2804 or [email protected] ​

Kooth Children's Mental Health Week is taking place on 1-7 #dontdoitalone February 2021. This year's theme is Express Yourself. Kooth is excited to unveil its “Don’t Do It Alone” Expressing yourself is about finding ways to share campaign, designed to encourage open feelings, thoughts, or ideas, through creativity. This conversations around mental health so children and could be through art, music, writing and poetry, young people know they are not alone with their dance and drama, photography and film, and doing struggles. activities that make you feel good. Kooth.com is a safe, free and anonymous online mental health platform paid for in your area by your For more information visit Clinical Commissioning Group and/or your Local https://www.childrensmentalhealthweek.org.uk/ Authority https://www.kooth.com

We have a range of resources and information on our social media sites. This week we have information about Children’s Mental Health Week There is lots of useful information about different substances with harm reduction advice for young people.

Please follow us on social media Facebook:- h​ ttps://www.facebook.com/WeAreWithYouSeftonStars Instagram:- wearewithyousefton Twitter :- @wseftonstars