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 Southport 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 Birkdale 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 Sefton Council Bootle 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.