Dear Parent/Carer
We have come to end of a very hard year and my first term at North Gosforth Academy. The disruption caused by the pandemic this year has been unprecedented and I would just like to praise staff and students for all of their hard work and resilience. Because of this, the school has continued on its improvement journey and we are looking forward to continuing this next year.
We have high hopes of returning to a sense of ‘normality’ in September and I would like to share with you some information following the recent announcements from Gavin Williamson and Sajid Javid.
Schools will no longer be required to carry out contact tracing from 19th July
This means that from the end of term we will not be contacting you to ask your child to self-isolate if they have been in contact with someone in school who has tested positive. It is still possible that your child could be contacted by NHS test and trace which will be taking over contact tracing.
There is an expectation from the Government that if we contact you before the end of term (16th July) your child must continue to follow the rules as they currently apply and self-isolate for 10 days from the last contact with the child/adult testing positive.
Pupil close contacts will not be required to self-isolate next term
From 16th August, even if contacted by test and trace, students who are identified as close contacts will not be required to self-isolate but they will be encouraged to take a PCR test.
Face coverings will no longer be advised for pupils, staff and visitors in classrooms, communal areas or on school buses
From September face coverings will not be needed in school and pupils do not need to wear them on school transport.
Arrangements for September
- We have been asked to arrange on-site testing for all pupils prior to the start of term. We have emailed all parents to confirm details for this and you can also find detail attached to the bottom of this newsletter.
If you have already given consent then this will continue to be valid. If you would like to withdraw consent please email admin@northgosforth.co.uk. If you have not previously consented but would now like to, please complete the online consent form: https://forms.office.com/Pages/ResponsePage.aspx?id=1FHki3M0o02lSREa1fQVa2a8jNwNeb5AslYR9VFs0kpUN05MODU4RUNBM1ZPMEFRUE9BUlVWV0U2SS4u
- A requirement that all students will test twice weekly at home until the end of September (when the Government will review this). Test kits will be provided by school for this purpose.
- Students will continue to enter school via the lower school and upper school gates on a morning and gather in the designated spaces.
- The break time and lunch time arrangements will remain the same split between lower school and upper school.
- There will be a continued emphasis on hygiene.
- There will be continued ventilation of classrooms and other measures from our current risk assessment.
The twice weekly lateral flow testing is paused for the summer holidays. If any families do still want to keep testing at home then you can order additional test kits here: https://www.gov.uk/order-coronavirus-rapid-lateral-flow-tests?priority-taxon=774cee22-d896-44c1-a611-e3109cce8eae
Leadership Changes
This is the last week for our Deputy Principal, Helen Tully, who has taught at Seaton Burn College/North Gosforth Academy for 21 years. Helen has been an incredibly important member of the staff here and has had a major impact on the school. She will be sadly missed by staff and students and I would like to wish her all the best.
Mark Fryer has been appointed as Deputy Principal and Chris Easton, who currently works at Jesmond Park Academy, will be stepping up as Assistant Principal alongside Ian Cooper.
Student news
42 Year 7 students were chosen to attend a tour of St James Park as an end of year treat. The students were selected based on a combination of good attendance, behaviour and attitude to learning.
The students were given an all access tour of the home of Newcastle United with the help of Mr Ayres, Mr Clark and Tom from NUFC. The students got to see the home and away dressing rooms, sit where the England manager would sit when he visits and go pitch side to see the dug outs, the famous tunnel and the hallowed turf.
They conducted themselves superbly, asked many questions about the stadium and really enjoyed their day out.
Below are some photos of the John Muir group who worked hard, during the rain last Tuesday to clear away rubbish around the visitor's car park, around the tennis courts and the MUGA. Part of the ethos of the John Muir Award is to conserve and look after our surroundings – Y10 students Ryan, Shay and Jake did just that and left the areas looking a lot tidier. Ryan worked particularly hard clearing along one side of the MUGA on his own.
In Art lessons students have been able to investigate and explore more art materials on their return since lockdown and it’s been a great time to allow them to develop their art skills. Different year groups have developed different skills.
Year 7 have enjoyed the clay face project and put their skills to the test, sculpting and attaching clay securely and creating unusual facial features. This required great skill.
Year 8 have developed their painting skills working on creating perspective to give depth to their work starting with the first wash layer and building the image up. This is currently a work in progress, however their finer skills are developing very well.
Year 9 have been developing skills in portraiture and working with different techniques from drawing with pattern effects to manipulations and colour tones to develop their finer skills.
Finally Year 10 have completed an Art Mock exam and worked on developing skills within their own topics and exploring the formal elements to show composition, colour and form.
Key Dates for September
|
Monday 6th September
|
Staff Training Day (School Closed)
New Year 7 covid testing - PM (see email for timings)
|
|
Tuesday 7th September
|
School open to Year 7 students only
All other students covid testing (see email and attachment for timings)
|
|
Wednesday 8th September
|
School open to all year groups
|
I would like to finish by thanking you for all your support this year which has been invaluable to the school.
I wish you all an enjoyable and safe summer break.
Yours faithfully,
Pete Fox
Principal