Welcome back to Ryburn! We’re so excited to see our students again next week.
2020 has certainly been strange so far. This new phase at school will be rather different from back in March, but I know we will all do our best to support each other as we continue in your child’s education.
Thank you for your patience while we have been finalising plans for the opening of the school, we have been working hard to follow the recommended government guidance and our independently approved Risk Assessment. We have implemented a number of significant changes to our school classrooms as well as our usual timetable and we are feeling confident of our plans.
Please take the time to carefully read the information in this letter, and the Back to School Guide on our website and ensure that your child is fully aware of what to expect, and what is expected of them.
The key elements of our plan are:
Minimise contact between different year groups (or “bubbles” of students)
Continue to offer a curriculum which remains broad and ambitious
Promote good hygiene through cleaning hands more thoroughly and promoting “catch it, kill it, bill in” approach
·Engage with NHS Test and Trace process
As such we have created 6 different “bubbles” within the school. Year 7 to 11 will be distinct “bubbles” and Years 12 and 13 have been combined to create a separate one. Each “bubble” has been allocated one area of school in which the majority of their lessons will take place. Teachers will move amongst these groups and student movement will be minimised where possible. There will be some passing on the corridor but this will be significantly reduced.
All students in Year 7 to 10 will be given a new tie by their form tutor, with each in a different colour. This will enable students to quickly those in their own year group and keep their distance from those in other years.
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 Mitchell.
All students should come to school fully equipped with their basic equipment including a scientific calculator. This will reduce the need to share equipment which is non-specialist.
Face coverings
All students, except those who are exempt, should arrive at school wearing a suitable face covering, as all students will enter school via a communal drive. It is important that students wear a face covering until they arrive at the classrooms. Face coverings will be removed in lessons when students are working in their “bubbles” but will need to be worn in all other areas inside the school building (except when eating lunch). If your child wishes to wear a face covering in the classroom then this will be allowed.
If your child is exempt from wearing a face covering, please can you email their Head of Year so we can record this information.
Teachers will be moving between different “bubbles” throughout the day and will aim to keep a minimum of 2m between themselves and students where possible. All staff will be provided with a visor to use if they are required to move into closer contact with a student (eg. supporting a student briefly in lesson) and outside the classroom in corridors and communal areas.
Coming to school
Monday 7 September will be a Transition Day for Year 7 (starting at 8:55am) and Year 12 (starting at 10:00am) ONLY. The rest of the year groups will return on Tuesday 8 September.
The official start time of the school will remain at 8.55am and school will finish at 3.15pm. There will no longer be an earlier finish on the B week Wednesday.
Each year group must use a separate entrance to the school, and a specified driveway access to the site. School will be open for access to students from 08:30 only and students should go straight to form rooms on arrival. Due to the volume of school buses used by students, a full staggered start is not viable, but with your cooperation, we have measures in place to avoid congestion. Please read the Back to School Guide for details.
Year Group |
Suggested Arrival Time |
|---|---|
| 7 | 8:55 |
| 8 | 8:50 |
| 9 | 8:45 |
| 10 | 8:40 |
| 11 | 8:35 |
| 12/13 | 8:30 |
Finish time
All students will return to their form room at the 3:10pm (except Y12/13). Students will be released at approximately 2 minute intervals from 15:15: Starting with Year 12/13 and going down to Year 7.
All students will be required to sanitise their hands when entering school and when moving in and out of classrooms.
Each year group has a different specific entrance to the school and the site.
Breaks and Lunches
Government guidance states that, where possible, students should have staggered breaks and lunches and we should try to avoid the need for students to sit directly face-to-face. As such we have reviewed our canteen facilities to support this recommendation. We intend to operate separate lunch and breaks for all year groups. You can view the timetable here.
Cashless payment - The biometric scanning facilities ('fingerprint' machines) will not be in use at this time, and cash cannot be loaded onto a student's account. Therefore we ask that all parents use the online ParentPay system to ensure that students have access to dinner money. If you have forgotten your details or need help logging in, then please emailAll our biometric scanning facilities will be unavailable so we ask that parents ensure that students have access to school dinner money via the ParentPay system. If you have forgotten your details or need help logging in, then please email our finance team.
School Buses
As well as following our arrangements in school, it is important that students also behave responsibly and observe social distancing when travelling on school buses.
Students should sit within their year group “bubbles” on school buses and follow the guidance provided by the local authority bus providers. A face covering is compulsory on both school and public buses for the majority of students, unless they are exempt, and students should continue to wear these until they reach their classroom.
A number of extra services are running to help with this:
S2 – Two buses will be provided
S7 – A further bus will be added to this route and will be called the S10
579 - Additional buses are running on this route during school times
When buses arrive at school there will be a member of staff present to ensure the students alight in a staged manner to ensure social distancing is adhered to at all times.
If your child catches a school bus they should now have received their pass for September. If this is not the case then please contact West Yorkshire Metro on 0113 3481122.
You will receive an email shortly from your child’s Head of Year with details regarding their first day back and their allocated form room.
Thank you all for your support over the past few months, it has been a very difficult time and we have worked hard to ensure the school has followed the Department for Education’s guidelines, as closely as possible. The link below provides more details on the information provided above, so please could I ask you to read this carefully with your child. Form tutors will go through this information in full detail on their first day back in school.
If you do have any additional questions that are not answered via the school guide then please email either your child’s Head of Year or our Deputy Head of School, Carol Evans in the first instance.
May we wish you a very warm welcome back to Ryburn!