It’s July, although the weather hasn’t been very much like summer this past week or so. There are three weeks left of this very challenging school year. Sometimes when things get really difficult I come away from my computer, my office, my Zoom meeting or my spreadsheet and take a walk around our school. The one constant that we’ve had in these turbulent times is how brilliant our children our. Their attitudes to learning, their support for one another, their manners and politeness and their resilience and determination to do well.  I am the proudest of headteachers.

In the remaining three weeks there is a growing risk that the numbers of COVID cases amongst children will rise. Nationally and locally this is happening. The new variant has some symptoms which are similar to hay fever. As a school we must do our best to reduce the risk of an outbreak here. Therefore, we will continue to send home children who display symptoms along with their siblings. We will ask that you get a PCR test (not lateral flow) and that you inform us of the result of that test before your children return to school. We have been really strict in our procedures and have not had to close a bubble since re-opening in March, this is a testament to the procedures in place and your support. Over 5% of children nationally are out of school at the moment and bubbles are closing in a number of local schools. Please, please help us reduce the risk by following our guidelines and getting a test for your child when we ask you to.  We will be doing our best to ensure children still have the opportunity to take part in end of term events. Where possible, we will video or photograph the events so that parents and carers can be involved. I know this cannot replace attending events in person, and I sincerely hope that next year we can once again come together as a community to celebrate all that’s great and “brilliant” about Kelvin Grove.