Dear parent,

Welcome to the first school newsletter of the year. It is very thought-provoking to reflect that just on these first few days we have had several changes, so fluid is the situation. We have gone from preparation for on-line teaching and then shifted quickly to face-to-face when the Ministry allowed us to come back and then back again to online teaching for the majority of the school population, all in the space of five working days. In that time, the teachers have worked very hard to be ready to adapt to whichever system is necessary. Through walking around the school and dropping into Zoom lessons, I can attest that the children are enjoying the lessons and that the quality of teaching is good. This week in my rounds I have seen the entry point for Year 1s (Being Superhuman), Year 6 hybrid learning, and maths lessons for Year 3. In Secondary I have seen quite a few lessons and met up with students. The tone of the school at the start of the year has been very positive, despite the continuing pandemic.

On a separate note towards the end of last week, there were a lot of rumours about the pandemic and my team and I have met up to create guidelines for you that will help you know how to react when there is a concern. These guidelines will be sent to you shortly. These rumours mustn't be spread because in most cases they are based on false information and this creates unnecessary panic. A point in case is when it was told that several members of our community had tested positive, when in fact this has not been the case. So far, we have been very fortunate indeed, as none of our students and staff have tested positive.

As you can see, the school has been very proactive and ready to adapt. I urge you to read the Primary and Secondary sections of this newsletter as there is a lot of great stuff here. We have had a good start to the year, reaffirming our belief in ourselves as a strong and supportive community. Thank you again for your ongoing support

All the best.