Dear Parents
Further to my email on Monday, I thought it would be helpful to update you on our actions so far this week to try to mitigate the high temperatures.
From the Headteacher - 1.30pm finish - Thursday 25 June
Dear Parents
Further to my email on Monday, I thought it would be helpful to update you on our actions so far this week to try to mitigate the high temperatures. Whilst the weather is often a topic of conversation in any week, our monitoring of the situation has been continuing on an almost hourly basis to ensure that we follow DfE guidance as closely as we can to keep the School open for as long as possible. In doing so, I would like to assure you that the health and well-being of pupils and staff have been our highest priority.
Alongside inviting pupils to wear their PE Kit and appropriate summer clothing in the Sixth Form, we have been actively reallocating classrooms that can become particularly hot at certain times in the day. I am also grateful to our site team for opening doors and windows around the School before 7.00am and to our PE department for adapting PE lessons accordingly. It is regrettable that the planned Cricket fixtures had to be cancelled this week, but it was clearly a necessary step. I am also particularly proud of our Year 9 pupils who have continued to give their best in their end-of-year examinations; the Hall remains one of our most well-ventilated areas, and colleagues have been frequently reminding pupils about regular hydration, with all examinations taking place before lunchtime.
In addition to the above, colleagues and I have been visiting classrooms and areas of the School throughout the day to ensure that pupils and staff are coping as best as possible with the temperatures, and acting on further mitigations as required. As ever, I am enormously grateful for the hard work and determination of all my colleagues to continue providing an education to our pupils when classrooms, offices and workspaces are more uncomfortable than they would ordinarily be.
Thursday 25 June – 1.30pm Finish
With temperatures today set to be similar to yesterday, those for tomorrow are forecast to be slightly higher by mid-afternoon. With the ambient temperature rising and remaining high within the School buildings during the day, it feels sensible for us to finish at 1.30pm tomorrow to allow pupils to make their way home before temperatures peak in the afternoon. This is not a decision that is taken lightly and, without wishing to diminish the notice time for parents, has been carefully discussed to ensure that it is the right thing for the School community.
A schedule of bus departure times will be sent later today, and as with a normal early finish, pupils are reminded that the canteen will serve food at breaktime only. Our air-conditioned computer rooms and private study rooms will remain available and supervised for those who need to stay through to our normal finish time.
If you would like your son or daughter to remain in school until the normal time of 3.20pm tomorrow, please complete the link in the email version of this message to ensure we can supervise pupils.
Your support in ensuring pupils attend as normal tomorrow is greatly appreciated, before pupils can hopefully enjoy a slightly cooler 3-day weekend due to our Friday INSET day. Please do remind your son or daughter to keep themselves safe over the weekend and to strictly avoid the temptation of trying to cool off in unmanned or open areas of water.
Thank you also for your continued support as we manage this week as best as we can. With ‘heat waves’ predicted to perhaps become a more common occurrence, I do believe it is important that we strive, within reason, to be as resilient as we can, but also to continue to find more medium-term and long-term mitigations to ensure our pupils’ education can continue in the safest and most comfortable way possible.
Best wishes
Matthew Lynch HEADTEACHER
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