Message from the Principal

There are a number of very important pieces of information in this week’s newsletter and I would encourage you to read the content carefully.

Everyone’s Invited

You will likely have seen reports in the media about a new online platform, Everyone’s Invited, where young people have posted anonymous testimonials about their experiences of sexual abuse and harassment. These testimonies are shocking and no young person should have to endure the abuse that is recounted on this website.

While we have found no specific reference to Manor School on the website and we believe that our students are respectful individuals, we take our educational responsibility very seriously. Therefore, with the support of the Local Advisory Board, I felt that I should write to reassure students and their parents/carers of the provision in place to support and educate our young people in this incredibly important area. The full letter to parents/carers can be found here.

Centre Assessed Grades

As I am sure you are aware (regardless of which year group your child(ren) are in), the summer series of external examinations have been cancelled this year, with the responsibility put on schools to produce, deliver and mark the assessments that will then be used to evidence the Centre Assessed Grade. You can find all of the information you need about our processes via the link later in ‘Our Manor’. This includes an important slip that must be returned to school before half term.

I have been amazed by the ability of our staff to deliver the dual roles of teacher and examiner for our Year 11 and 13 students, whilst continuing to provide excellent provision for all other year groups and abide by the continuing COVID restrictions and guidance.

COVID guidance

The Department for Education have updated their guidance for schools which comes into effect on Monday 17 May. The changes for schools are largely based around face coverings as follows:

• Face coverings will no longer be recommended for students in classrooms or communal areas in all schools.
• Face coverings will also no longer be recommended for staff in classrooms.
• In all schools we continue to recommend that face coverings should be worn by staff and visitors in situations outside of classrooms where social distancing is not possible (for example, when moving around in corridors and communal areas).
• The reintroduction of face coverings for students or staff may be advised for a temporary period in response to particular localised outbreaks, including variants of concern.
• Students aged 11 and over must still wear a face covering on public transport.
• In accordance with advice from PHE, they must also wear a face covering when travelling on dedicated transport to secondary school.
• This does not apply to children and young people who are exempt from wearing face coverings.

At Manor School, students and staff will continue to have the option to wear face coverings if they feel more comfortable in doing so, as this benefits reduced anxiety and therefore attendance at school.

All of the other in-school measures identified in the risk assessment remain the same. This includes the twice weekly testing and the reporting procedures for any positive cases.

I am acutely aware that the restrictions are loosening outside of the school gates from Monday as per the roadmap but this is not the case for schools. At present we are delighted with the relatively few numbers that we have experienced in recent months, however, we want to keep it this way in order to minimise disruption. We are also keeping a watchful eye on the numbers of cases locally and nationally in case we have to revert back to some local provision.

Thank you to Madame Mayor of Raunds, Cllr Sylvia Hughes, and Raunds Town Council

Last night I was delighted and humbled to receive a Certificate of Appreciation from Raunds Town Council for the work completed at Manor School during the pandemic. Of course, I accepted this award on behalf of all who are associated with our school. It really has been a huge team effort and we should all be proud of what we have been able to achieve together.

I was also delighted to see that Tom Hatton was similarly recognised. Tom was instrumental in setting up and running the COVID testing centre at the school and continues to play a key role in our COVID impact reduction processes.

Thank you for your continued support.

Jay Davenport, Principal