September 2021

Dear Parent/Carer,

We hope you and your children have enjoyed the holiday and had the chance to relax.  We look forward to welcoming you back to school and hope that you will find the following information useful.

Arrangements for beginning of term

Thursday 2^nd September – INSET day for staff

Friday 3^rd September – Year 7 return to school and Year 12 enrolment

Monday 6^th September – Years 7-11 and Year 13 return to school

Tuesday 7^th September – Year 12 return to school

School Uniform

A reminder of school uniform can be found here – http://www.gowerton.com/uniform/

As the PE changing rooms are now available, we expect pupils to wear school uniform every day and bring their PE kit in their bags.

Canteen Arrangements

From September pupils will be able to add money to their canteen accounts using the top-up cash machines in school. This can also be done using Squid accounts.

Year 7 pupils will receive Squid account details within the first week of term and should bring cash to top up their accounts until then. Pupils who are entitled to free school meals will have their account credited automatically.

A reminder that the canteen does not sell drinks and pupils should bring a water bottle to fill up from the water fountains. Year 7 pupils will be given a school water bottle on Friday.

School Photographs

School photographs will take place on Friday 10^th September for pupils in Years 7, 10 & 12.

Covid-19

A reminder that pupils should NOT ATTEND SCHOOL and should book a PCR test, if they have any of the following symptoms –

• a high temperature: this means you feel hot to touch on your chest or back (you do not need to measure your temperature)
• a new, continuous cough: this means coughing a lot for more than an hour, or 3 or more coughing episodes in 24 hours (if you usually have a cough, it may be worse than usual)
• a loss or change to your sense of smell or taste: this means you’ve noticed you cannot smell or taste anything, or things smell or taste different to normal

Safety measures

The following safety measures will be in place from September.  These measures will be regularly reviewed in line with Welsh Government guidance –

• Masks – these are no longer mandatory on the school site but MUST be worn on all school transport. Pupils can continue to wear masks if they wish to.
• Physical distancing between staff and pupils will continue.
• Frequent handwashing and use of hand sanitisers
• Additional cleaning throughout the school day
• Ventilation of school areas
• Front facing tables in all classrooms
• Pupils who exhibit symptoms whilst in school, will be kept in the ‘isolation room’ until they can be collected from school.

**Please note that in line with Welsh Government guidance, whole year groups will no longer be required to isolate if there is a positive case in school.** 

Lateral Flow Testing

We would encourage pupils to continue to test twice weekly – Monday and Thursday mornings.  Any pupil testing positive, should NOT attend school and book a PCR test.  Testing kits are available from school.

If you have not already completed the consent for testing, please do this here – consent form

Structure of the school day

From September, the internal structure of the school day will change to include a morning break and form time.

INSET days 2021/22

• Thursday 2/9/21
• Friday 3/9/21 (Year 7 in school)
• Friday 22/10/21
• Tuesday 4/1/22
• Friday 8/4/22
• Friday 22/7/22

School Holidays 2021/22

Bank holidays

Good Friday – Friday 15 April 2022

Easter Monday – Monday 18 April 2022

Additional Bank Holiday for schools – Friday 29 April 2022

May Bank Holiday – Monday 2 May 2022

Spring Bank Holiday – Monday 30 May 2022

Thank you for your continued support of the school and we look forward to working with you during the academic year 2021/22.