Update from Mr. Wilding - 12th May 2022
Posted 12th May 2022
Mr Wilding has sent an update to parents and carers regarding face masks, exams and revision information, and social media.
To all parents and carers,
Good morning, from LCS.
There are a few brief items I would like to update all parents and carers on today.
Face masks
As you know, national guidance on face masks changed some time ago, and wearing of face masks in schools is no longer recommended. We have continued to allow students to wear a face mask if they wished to, however, due to the genuine concern some students continue to have around Covid-19.
As cases of Covid-19 in school are currently low and have not increased since the most recent changes to national guidance on 1st April, we feel it is now time to change our rules on face masks.
From Monday 23rd May, students will only be able to wear a face mask in school if they have an Exemption Card, allowing them to do so. Previously issued Exemption Cards will still be valid and any parent/carer requesting an Exemption Card for their child(ren), with valid reason, can do so by contacting our Medical Officer, through our main school email address. From Monday 23rd May, students will be asked to remove face masks, unless they can show staff an Exemption Card. Students with Exemption Cards can continue to wear a face mask until the end of this term; this must be the style of mask which covers the face and mouth and attaches behind the ear. No other style of face mask is acceptable.
Exams
From next week, our Year 11 and Year 13 students will begin their main exam period, which will go right through to the end of June. Our Year 11 students will finish regular lessons tomorrow and Year 13 on Friday 20th May.
There is an extensive programme of revision sessions being run by staff throughout the exam period, details of which, as well as other important information about exams, can be found on our website at: https://www.littleover.derby.sch.uk/exams.php#before_exams
We would encourage students to attend as many of the revision sessions as possible, to help their exam preparation.
I would like to wish good luck to all our students beginning their exams over the next two weeks and to thank them all for the way they have worked with us over the last few years, particularly during the Covid-19 pandemic. The resilience our students have shown over the last two years of the Covid-19 pandemic has been remarkable, as has their support of each other through these challenging times. They deserve great credit and I hope they will be rewarded with the exam grades they are hoping for and require, to move on to their chosen post-16 options.
I would also like to take this opportunity to again thank all our parents and carers for your support of our students and the school in general. Your children have been an absolute credit to you.
Social Media
I apologise for once again needing to mention the issue of social media, but we have been dealing with further problems again in school this week. I would politely reiterate the request I made in my previous email update, that parents and carers monitor their child’s use of social media and that the age appropriate guidance for these sites is followed.
As well as the issues I mentioned previously with students’ use of TikTok, we have had further problems brought into school through students’ use of Whatsapp this week and concerns have been expressed to us of the growing number of students accessing Omegle; if you are not aware of this site, please look into it before allowing your child(ren) to use it.
Younger students in Y7 and Y8 continue to be our biggest concern with use of social media and most of these students remain below the age limit for use of these apps and sites. This is where we need your continued help and support as parents and carers, to keep our young people safe.
Detailed information about these social media sites, as well as other issues around on-line safety, can be found at our website, at the link below:
https://www.littleover.derby.sch.uk/information.php#esafety
Thank you for your continued support.
Keep safe.
J Wilding
Headteacher