This update applies to all students returning to The Westminster School in September.

 

Dear Parent/Carer/Guardians                                                                                                                                                              19 July 2021

Arrangements for Academic Year 2021/22

We are looking forward to welcoming all pupils back to school on Tuesday 7 September 2021.

This has been a turbulent year and COVID has dominated school life.  We need to return to some normality in the new year however we still need to be cautious.  If your child does develop symptoms throughout the year please keep them off school and, if possible, book a PCR test.

We will continue to implement our robust measures to make the school as COVID secure as we possibly can.  Further information about the school’s COVID-19 risk assessment and how we will continue to mitigate risk in September can be found on the schools website.  It is likely there will be further government guidance for the opening of schools throughout the summer.  As this progresses, we will contact you accordingly and update our risk assessment procedures.

 

SMILE Events

We will be running back we will be running our SMILE events when we return in September where we focus on pupil wellbeing where they will spend time getting to know pupils and staff in their class groups whilst taking part in fun activities.   This will support their transition back into school after the summer break.

Transport and Drop-off

We will continue to implement many of the principles of social distancing to keep everyone safe.  Pick-up and drop-off locations are the same as this academic year.  If you are new to the school, staff will be on hand to support and direct you accordingly.

  Start day drop off window End day pick up window
All Students 8.50 – 9.20 3.10 – 3.20

 

Classroom Resources

All pupils will be provided with their own equipment and stationery when they start back at school in September and this will include basic provisions in their own zip-lock folder and prevents the sharing of equipment.  Due to the risk of cross contamination, we would ask parents NOT to send pupils’ own pencil cases, pens etc into School.  There will be times where they have to use IT equipment or more specialist tools in Food Technology or DT and where this is the case we have robust cleaning regimes in place to limit the spread of infection and to sanitise the equipment throughout the day.

 

Uniform and PE Kit

I would just like to reiterate the importance of all pupils coming into school with clean school uniform each day.  This is an important preventative measure in relation to the virus. To support this, we have slightly amended the school uniform requirements for next academic year as detailed in previous letters to make it more affordable for all families to purchase uniform from larger suppliers such as Tesco and ASDA.

We ask that pupils come to School in clean, freshly laundered uniform every day. The best way to remove any germs, viruses etc is by washing; uniform must be washed after every time a pupil wears it in School before they can return to School wearing it again.

The easiest way to ensure clean uniform is available each day is to buy 5 sets of uniform (e.g. 5 polo shirts, 5 cardigans/jumpers, 5 pairs of trousers etc) so that pupils have a set of clothes for each day of the week. To facilitate this, our uniform for Year 3-11 will be:

  • Plain white polo shirt
  • Plain royal blue cardigan/jumper
  • Plain black trousers
  • Plain black shoes (no trainers)

which can be purchased from Asda/Tesco/Sainsbury’s etc.

Pupils will not be required to wear uniform with the School logo this year, although current pupils can continue to wear shirts and cardigans/jumpers with our logo, but these must be freshly laundered every time pupils wear them to School. Pupils will not be able to wear blazers next year.

Post 16 students must also wear clean, freshly laundered uniform or smart business dress every day.  Post 16 uniform is plain black polo shirt, plain black sweatshirt and plain black trousers which can also be purchased from Asda/Tesco/Sainsbury’s etc.  Post 16 students are no longer able to come into school wearing jeans, clothing with logos or casual clothes (e.g. t-shirts).

If you would still like to purchase embroidered uniform you can purchase this from our approved seller Ace Embroidery online at https://wms.ace–online.co.uk/catalogue although as mentioned above it is not mandatory this academic year to purchase embroidered uniform.

 

PE Kit

Our PE Kit is:

  • Plain white polo/t-shirt
  • Plain black shorts
  • Plain black joggers
  • Trainers
  • A PE Bag clearly marked with pupil’s name on the outside.

 

Learning Outside the Classroom Uniform

All pupils take part in regular learning outside the classroom as it is an integral part of life at Westminster.  We will let parents know in September when their children will be involved in offsite trips/visits and on these days, pupils should come to school in:

  • Plain white polo shirt
  • Royal blue jumper/cardigan
  • Plain black joggers

It is also advisable to send in a second pair of joggers on the day for your child just in case they get muddy/wet so that they can change into these.

On the days where pupils are timetabled PE please send your young person into school already wearing their kit.  They will remain in their PE kit throughout the day as this limits the amount of time required to spend in the PE changing facilities and reduces contact for those pupils who need physical support to get changed. As PE will be conducted outside we request that pupils bring in a suitable coat for all PE lessons (eg fleece) in the event of chilly weather.  If pupils require a shower after PE this may be possible so please send it a spare t-shirt for them to wear.

 

Lateral Flow Testing

We would ask that all pupils undertake a lateral flow test on Monday 6 September if at all possible.  These can be obtained from https://www.gov.uk/order-coronavirus-rapid-lateral-flow-tests.  If your child tests positive, please ring the School on 0121 561 6884.

I hope you all have a wonderful summer break and we look forward to seeing you all back in September.

 

Yours faithfully

 

 

O M Flowers

Head Teacher