Dear Parents and Carers,
On Wednesday afternoon we received updated information from the Department for Education (DfE) on how they would like schools to operate during this period of national lockdown. Yesterday further information was released from SAGE around some of the scientific facts around children in school and coronavirus: we have reviewed this information to ensure that we are doing everything that we can to keep the College as safe as possible and to ensure that no further measures are needed in addition to those already planned for this term. To maintain the safety and wellbeing of our students we review the College risk assessment daily and this is also approved by Plymouth City Council. As the local or national picture develops we may need to make further changes to our procedures but I wanted to write to you today to answer many of the questions that we have been asked this week.
The start of the day
The College day begins with Roll Call at 08.30 and students should ensure that they are punctual, ready to be in Roll Call for this time. Although the gates to our shared campus are open from 7.00 AM the College buildings are not open to students until 8.25. If students arrive before this time then parents and carers should be satisfied that their child’s welfare needs will be met. Although students are able to gather and socialise in year group bubbles within College, current national guidance states that your son or daughter should only meet with one other person from another household whilst not on the College site. You may wish to consider this in respect of your child’s current arrangements before and after school. If your child uses a face covering to travel to College on public transport then they should place this in a sealed bag upon arrival to College (or dispose of it) and use a clean face covering during the College day.
Face coverings
Fortunately, as we introduced the wearing of face coverings earlier in the week we do not need to implement any further measures, at this point, to meet the new expectations placed upon schools by DfE. We have been extremely pleased with the level of maturity of all students in quickly adapting to this new routine. To reaffirm the expectation: It is compulsory for students to bring a face covering to College and to wear it in indoor communal areas. This means that students must wear face coverings:
- On entry to the building
- In corridors
- In indoor spaces at break and lunch (except when students are eating/drinking)
- In the Sixth Form Block
- When in the PE changing facilities
Students and staff may wear face coverings in classrooms if they choose to do so, it is not compulsory. Please note that we will allow plain, disposable or reusable face coverings (reusable face coverings will need to washed daily) that cover the mouth and nose and are secured to the head with ties or ear loops: Scarves, bandanas, handkerchiefs or other improvised coverings, or face coverings with prominent art work are not permitted. It will remain the responsibility of parents and carers to ensure that all students follow the Government’s guidance on the safe wearing, storage, and disposal of face coverings. If students wish to discard disposable face coverings within College they should place them in the silver covered bins in classrooms and not with normal classroom rubbish. Students who do not wear face coverings and/or who do not observe this guidance will be considered as failing to comply with our health, safety, and hygiene arrangements. Students who are exempt from wearing face coverings due to medical conditions will not be expected to wear them but they must provide their reasons for their exemption to their Pastoral Leader, or provide their exemption card.
Break and lunch times
With the creation of our year group bubbles at break and lunch times, since September we have considerably more indoor space available to students than we had this time last year. Regrettably, with the introduction of the necessity to wear a face covering in communal areas the act of eating has become more problematic and we accept that students will need to remove their face covering inside while eating. To reduce the risk of transmission of infection while eating, to keep the students as safe as possible, we decided to reduce the number of students who can eat in the various indoor spaces at any given time. As this was new measure on Monday I understand that some students were confused about where they could (or couldn’t) eat their lunch. Although during recreational times we would encourage students to be outside, we have no intention that students should have to eat outside in the rain. We have in place a plan to use additional classrooms for lunchtimes when it is wet but have not yet needed to implement this as there has
not been a wet lunchtime this week. As a result of the College closure to two year groups next week we will have enough indoor space for all students who wish to be inside during their breaks without having to utilise classrooms. Next week (Monday 9th November – Friday 13th November) all year 7 students will have access to the entire sports hall for break and lunch time; year 9 will have access to the gym and the performance hall and year 11 will have access to the canteen area. All free school meals will be distributed from the normal places. When the College re-opens to all year groups then they will be informed of the wet weather classrooms available to them. Any student who is inside during their breaks should be calm and relatively quiet: students who wish to run-around must be in their designated year group area outside. In line with our existing procedures no ball games are permitted during student break times. As part of our one way system and to maximise social distancing, students will be required to be outside at times. Please be aware that as we move in to the winter months the weather is likely to be colder and wetter so please ensure that your child comes to College with suitable clothing to remain warm and dry.
PE lessons:
For the foreseeable future, our practical PE lessons will continue to be taught outside. Please see the recent letter to Parents and Carers with regard to PE lessons:
PE lessons letter Please ensure that on days when your child has PE, that they come in to school with adequate kit to remain warm and dry, and that they have their uniform and other spare clothing to change in to following their PE lesson.
Classrooms and ventilation
Since re-opening the College in September our policy and practice has reflected our risk assessment based on national guidance to ensure that the College is fully ventilated with windows open. We are aware that this does significantly reduce the temperature within the building. During the warm weather at the start of the academic year this was very pleasant but as temperatures have dropped we have added additional heating to classrooms and allowed students to wear additional layers under their College uniform. With average temperatures set to fall further we were implementing our winter heating and ventilation plan. However, yesterday an update was released by SAGE stating that ventilation measures across many settings, including schools, could be safely reduced. We have tried to avoid allowing students to wear coats inside classrooms and hope that the new ventilation measures as well as additional heating measures that we will now be able to implement from Monday, will alleviate the need for any coats to be worn in classrooms. We will however review this daily from Monday in line with our current coronavirus processes.
After School Clubs and Activities
In light of updated DfE guidance, published on Wednesday 4th November, we are unable to run any after school clubs or activities. This means that KS3 Learning Club, the Learning Café and Champions’ Hour will not run from Monday 9th November onwards until we receive confirmation that we are able to re-open them. Period 7, for year 11 students, will continue to run as normal as it is part of the timetabled college day.
Unauthorised absence and Elective Home Education
We have received a number of E-mails from parents who are naturally concerned about the welfare of their children in relation to the current pandemic and also with fears surrounding their child carrying the virus into the home environment. The Government has made it very clear that all children who are well enough to attend College, are not showing any symptoms of coronavirus or are not self-isolating due to contact with a confirmed case of coronavirus, should be attending College. DfE are clear that students who remain at home due to fear of exposure to coronavirus must have their absence coded as unauthorised and we must follow those guidelines. If you or your child falls into this category please do let your child’s Pastoral Leader know. Although DfE have said that schools are not obliged to provide work for students within this situation we can be sympathetic and potentially support with students accessing work at home. Many parents have suggested that they will need to elect to home educate their child to keep them safe at home. Although we always try to support parental choice we would prefer that students are not removed from our roll for this reason. In your conversations with your child’s Pastoral Leader we can discuss more appropriate ways to ensure that your child is able to access education. We will also link you to our Education Welfare Officer (EWO) who will be able to help you through any anxieties and ensure that your child can continue to engage in learning.
Free School Meals
We are aware that with changes to families individual finances there may be more students who are now eligible for free school meals. Although central Government were unable to provide free meals to eligible students over the recent holiday, Plymouth City Council were able to step in to fill that gap and we understand that their intention would be to do the same over Christmas if necessary. If your child is not currently in receipt of free school meals, but you think that they may be eligible then please check our webpage here
Free School Meals
Community help and support
You may recall that during the first period of national lockdown we were privileged to offer you support from Arterne. We are delighted that they have told us that they are able to offer this again for the next month providing a range of help from basics such as food, soap and other items as well as being able to sign post you to other support services. Arterne can be contacted at
enquiries@arterne.com or on 07554 665 461. Similarly we frequently highlight the fantastic family support phone number run by the NSPCC offering advice and guidance for parents across the city: This service can be contacted on 0808 800 5000. The safeguarding page on our College website also contains other numbers which may be of use to you should you require support
sjhcsc.co.uk/safeguarding
I am aware that there has been a degree of anxiety from parents caused by some miscommunication across social media platforms outside of our control. I sincerely hope that this letter has helped to clarify some of the confusion that may have arisen since the national lockdown was announced last weekend. If you do have any specific concerns then please direct these by Email to your child’s Pastoral Leader and we will either respond on an individual basis or ensure that common concerns are addressed within our communications to all parents and carers. Pastoral Leaders E-mail addresses are:
If you wish to contact another member of staff, all staff emails can be found on our College Website
www.sjhcsc.co.uk. Unfortunately during the lockdown period we are unable to facilitate our normal approach of parents dropping in to our receptions without an appointment. If you need to attend the College please contact us first on 01752 201020.
It is without doubt that the guidance will change upon further Government announcements and we will endeavour to work quickly to inform you of any further changes that we need to implement within Sir John Hunt. To support our communication with you please ensure that we have an accurate record of your contact details including your email address and mobile phone number. Many of our communications to parents are also posted on our students’ Pastoral Google Classroom pages so please do encourage your child to access these frequently. If you hear that we have sent a communication to parents and are unable to locate it within your inbox please look at our letters page on
www.sjhcsc.co.uk, under the ‘Parents’ section. While most parents and carers have already downloaded and signed up to the SIMs Parent App to access timetables, key dates, attendance, behaviour, achievement as well as student reports, please follow this link
sims-parent-app for further guidance on how to download it.
A further reminder that if your child comes into contact with someone who has tested positive outside of College they must isolate for 14 days. A negative test result during this time does not remove the need to isolate until the end of the 14 day period.
In these times of uncertainty I send you all my warmest wishes and thank you for all the words of support that you have sent to our staff team. We all thoroughly enjoy being a part of this community and your support in these challenging times is very much appreciated.
Yours faithfully
Oliver Marner
Assistant Principal
