Dear Parents and Carers,

Step 4 of the COVID-19 Roadmap in England 

As we approach the end of another academic year that has been significantly challenging for us all, we wanted to take this opportunity to extend our sincere thanks to you all for all you have done during the pandemic to support your child and their school/setting during this time. We have and continue to be grateful for your ongoing resilience, cooperation and understanding through such turbulent and uncertain times.

Over the last year we have seen our pupils in and out of their education setting due to bubble closures and the need to isolate. Many of you have and continue to support your children to work remotely during periods of isolation and we know that whilst for some this has been a good experience, for many, this has been a real challenge and has caused uncertainty, disruption and has impacted on both adult and children and young people’s health and wellbeing. It has been wonderful to see through social media, some of the fabulous and creative ways our children have been learning remotely and in their classes.

We would also like to say a massive thank you to the headteachers and all the staff in our schools who have worked tirelessly to keep our schools open and as safe as possible and to support children whether in school or at home learning remotely. Many have worked over the holidays and often weekends and evenings to ensure that the work is ready for the children and that the schools are COVID-safe.

You will be aware that new guidance for schools has now been issued by central government to describe what the next steps are when we reach the 19^th July and then again from the 16^th August when particular groups will no longer be required to isolate.  As Wigan’s Director of Public Health and the Borough’s Chief Medical Officer, I wanted to briefly set these out for you and explain why we may have advised measures that are different to those advised in the Guidance.

Arrangements from 19^th July

As the Government moves the Country to Step 4 of the COVID-19 Roadmap, this means that further restrictions are to be lifted and members of the public are expected to take more personal responsibility for their actions.

However, as many children in Wigan will still be in school on July 19^th, and as we remain an enhanced response area (ERA), I have advised schools and settings not to relax restrictions on July 19^th, but instead to introduce these new measures at the start of the new term in September.

Our schools will continue to operate under their current risk assessment and related health and safety procedures for the last few days of the Summer Term. This means, for example, that children will still be taught in designated bubbles, social distancing rules will be maintained, and schools will still ask children to wear face coverings where required.

Schools in Wigan have also been advised that local Public Health advice remains the same in relation to a range of school events, including Proms, overnight residentials, transition days, and sports days. Attendance continues to be mandatory and therefore pupils should be attending school during term time. When planning holidays please remember that any self-isolation after the holiday should also fall within the school holidays.

We regret that we have had to make these recommendations to schools, however the high rates of COVID-19 within the borough leave us with no other option. For further information about the rates of COVID-19 in Wigan, please visit: https://www.wigan.gov.uk/Docs/PDF/Resident/CrimeEmergencies/COVID19–Weekly–Tracker.pdf.

Arrangements for the Summer Break

Over the summer, we will continue to support schools with COVID-19 testing for staff and for older students, either on site or at home where appropriate, and we will continue to support them to identify children who need to isolate as a result of either having COVID-19, or from being a contact of another child or adult who has tested positive. To obtain home testing kits over the summer, please visit this link: https://www.wigan.gov.uk/Resident/Crime–Emergencies/Coronavirus/Request–aCovid–19–test–without–symptoms.aspx. Booking is not required, and you will be provided with 2 boxes (containing 7 tests each) per person. It is recommended that people undertake 2 tests per week to help to reduce the transmission of COVID-19. Please ensure that results are uploaded onto the national portal as per the instructions inside the kit. Enquiries can be emailed to [email protected].

Children attending summer schools/clubs may be required to take lateral flow tests depending on their age. Y6 pupils attending their new secondary school summer activities may be asked to take part in testing. If they are a close contact with a positive case, they will still be required to isolate until the new rules come in on the 16^th August.

We hope that you will support us in our Public Health work to help keep everyone safe.  By far the best form of protection against COVID-19 is to be fully vaccinated and if you have not yet done this, you can find clinic dates and book an appointment as soon as possible via the NHS Portal at:

https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/coronavirus–covid–19/coronavirus–vaccination/book–coronavirusvaccination. Appointments can also be booked by calling 01942 807780.

Everyone aged 18 years and over are eligible, and those aged 16-17 years who are carers or have a health condition. There are also a number of walk-in vaccination clinics across Wigan where you do not need to book: Walk–in Vaccine Clinics – Healthier Wigan Partnership

Where possible, you should continue to maintain social distancing, minimise contacts especially in crowded spaces, continue to wear a face covering in shops and other public places, and practice good hygiene measures including regular hand washing. If your child is unwell, they should stay at home as there are a number of other viruses also circulating.

Arrangements for September

As the guidance currently states, we are hoping our schools will return to some form of normality in September. This includes, amongst other things, the lifting of bubbles and not wearing face coverings. However, in certain circumstances such as a local outbreak, measures may be reintroduced. Further information for parents and carers is available at:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/what–parents–and–carers–need–to-know–about–earlyyears–providers–schools–and–colleges–during–the–coronavirus–covid–19–outbreak/step–4–updatewhat–parents–and–carers–need–to–know–about–early–years–providers–schools–and–colleges

On return to school in September, all secondary school pupils will be asked to undertake two on-site lateral flow tests, three to five days apart. It is recognised that specialist settings will have additional considerations to take into account when delivering asymptomatic testing and additional guidance on testing in specialist settings has been published: Rapid asymptomatic testing in specialist settings (applies until Step 4) – GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

You may find when your children return to school that some of the changes will remain in place. This is because schools have found that some of the measures have improved the systems used and have proven to be beneficial.  Please do remember that all school situations are different and what happens in one school will not necessarily be the same in another school. Please do respect the systems that your school has in place. All schools will be reviewing their risk assessments for the new school year to ensure that all the children, young people, staff and visitors, including parents and carers, remain safe.

Should you have any questions about the information in this letter, please contact your school in the first instance.

It just remains for us to wish you all a very happy and safe summer holiday.

Yours sincerely,

Professor Kate Ardern, MBChB MSc FFPH                                    Cath Pealing      

Director Public Health                                                               Assistant Director –Education

Wigan Council                                                                              Wigan Council

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Wigan Council Parent Letter – Step 4 Roadmap

5th July 2020

Emergency Plan Covid – Year 10  Remote Learning

Dear Parent / Carer

Due to the continued significant impact of members of staff isolating from school due to Covid related factors either having covid 19 or having to isolate we are having to revise our current emergency plan.  We currently have 36% of staff absent next week.

This plan has been devised as result of the continued increase in transmission of the Covid 19 virus and its impact on staffing attendance and therefore the safety of students.

• Teaching Staff – Unable to teach lessons in school.
• Site safety supervision of students at break, lunch, start and end of the school day supervision.

As a result of high staff absence we will endeavour to keep school open, however due to the reduced staffing levels we will have to implement a reduction of students in school strategy.

Following an analysis of the school timetable and the impact the absent staff are having, and our ability to cover the lessons we have identified Year 10 as one the year groups that will need to remain at home and follow online learning on Google Classroom.

These students are just online learning they are not isolating.

Year 10 students will start online learning from Tuesday 6th July and they will return on Friday 9^th July.

This is intended to be a short term measure that will be reviewed throughout the week based on the daily staffing numbers.

We will be contacting Critical Worker Students and Vulnerable Students on Tuesday regarding in school provision.

This is a last resort and we have considered all other alternatives.

Thank you for your continued support at this critical time.

Yours Sincerely

Mr J Grant

Headteacher

Online Learning Guidance

Life is what you make it !!

All students will be expected to attend all online lessons, coaching and hangouts and follow their normal timetable on Google Classroom.

• A mixture of virtual lessons live streaming (Google Meets) or pre-recorded videos will be used.
• Activities and tasks will be assessed with a Rubric in Google Classroom where possible.
• Parents can follow the students progress, lesson activities and teacher feedback on Google Guardian. How access Google Guardian is on the school website.
• When communicating online with parents, carers and pupils school should:
• Communicate within school hours as much as possible.
• Communicate through school channels
• Use school email accounts
• Use school devices over personal devices wherever possible

4th July 2020

Emergency Plan Covid – Year 7 and 9  Remote Learning

Dear Parent / Carer 

Firstly I would like to apologise for the timing of this letter but we have tried over the weekend to find other solutions for the staffing issues but have not been able to due to the numbers absent. 

Due to the continued significant impact of members of staff isolating from school due to Covid related factors either having covid 19 or having to isolate we are having to revise our current emergency plan.  We currently have 36% of staff absent next week.

 This plan has been devised as result of the continued increase in transmission of the Covid 19 virus and its impact on staffing attendance and therefore the safety of students.

• Teaching Staff – Unable to teach lessons in school. 
• Site safety supervision of students at break, lunch, start and end of the school day supervision.

As a result of high staff absence we will endeavour to keep school open, however due to the reduced staffing levels we will have to implement a reduction of students in school strategy.

Following an analysis of the school timetable and the impact the absent staff are having, and our ability to cover the lessons we have identified Year 7  and Year 9 as the year groups that will need to remain at home and follow online learning on Google Classroom. 

These students are just online learning they are not isolating.

Year 7 and Year 9 students will start online learning from Monday 5th July and they will return on Monday 12 July. 

This is intended to be a short term measure that will be reviewed throughout the week based on the daily staffing numbers. 

We will be contacting Critical Worker Students and Vulnerable Students regarding in school provision from the 6th July. 

This is a last resort and we have considered all other alternatives.  

Thank you for your continued support at this critical time.

Yours Sincerely

Mr J Grant

Headteacher

Online Learning Guidance 

Life is what you make it !!

All students will be expected to attend all online lessons, coaching and hangouts and follow their normal timetable on Google Classroom.

• A mixture of virtual lessons live streaming (Google Meets) or pre-recorded videos will be used. 
• Activities and tasks will be assessed with a Rubric in Google Classroom where possible.
• Parents can follow the students progress, lesson activities and teacher feedback on Google Guardian.  How access Google Guardian is on the school website. 
• When communicating online with parents, carers and pupils school should:
• Communicate within school hours as much as possible.
• Communicate through school channels 
• Use school email accounts 
• Use school devices over personal devices wherever possible

Dear Parent/Carer

RE: Orrell & Upholland Bus Service

As a school we subsidise the Orrell and Upholland bus to a value of approximately £30,000 per year to keep the cost to parents as low as possible. We liaise annualy with TfGM to try and get a better service for parents and this year have been successful. Please see below for the changes to TfGM and our services for September.

Changes to the Orrell Bus

Due to the changes in the TfGM service from September 2021, the Orrell bus (Grayway coach) will be replaced by the 957 service bus. The 957 will commence at the Hare & Hounds and follow the old Grayway bus route. More information on the route will be available on the TfGM website in the near future.

Changes to the Upholland bus

The Upholland bus route is changing for September 2021. Please see below for the new route and stops available.

The payments for the bus are collected on a termly basis. The cost of the bus per term is £140.00. If you would like your child to use the Upholland bus service please process payment online via Scopay Payment must be made at the latest by Monday 19^th July 2021.

Passes must be purchased before the service can be used in September 2021.

For enquiries about the Upholland Bus please contact myself.

Yours faithfully,

Mrs J Douglas

Assistant School Business Manager

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Orrell & Upholland Bus Service update

Please see below a Parent letter issued by Wigan Council

Dear Parent/Carer,

As you may have already been made aware by your child’s school, we have made a formal recommendation to all secondary schools and colleges in Wigan to reintroduce the use of face coverings, until the summer term. Other areas in Greater Manchester are making the same recommendations to their schools and colleges, and we wanted to write to you to explain why this recommendation has been made.

Why are you recommending face coverings in schools again

As has been reported extensively in the media in recent weeks, there has been an increase in cases of COVID-19 across the UK, particularly of a variant called Delta (also known as the Indian variant). In Greater Manchester, we have seen a considerable increase in cases in all boroughs in the last fortnight, apart from Bolton. In Wigan, there has been a consistent rise in the number and prevalence of cases within the borough since the week ending 30th April, and over the last 7 days (prior to 2nd June 2021), there have been 261 cases in Wigan, at a rate of 79.4 per 100,000 population, which is over twice that of the national average.

The reason we have seen these increases is likely because the Delta variant of COVID-19 is more transmissible than the previously predominant variant in this country (the Alpha variant, originally known as the Kent variant), as well as the increased mixing of people and movement of people between areas as a natural result of the relaxation of lockdown measures.

In addition, amongst our cases, we are seeing a higher proportion of children and young people than we had previously been seeing. Our rates in the 11-16yr olds are currently at 108.4 cases per 100,000, and in our 17-21yr old populations at 164.2 cases per 100,000. Largely, this increase in proportion is due to the success of our vaccine rollout in other age groups but does indicate that where children and young people are regularly mixing without the appropriate COVID-19 controls and safety measures in place, there continues to be a risk of COVID-19 transmission. Alongside rapid testing, the available scientific evidence states that, when used correctly, wearing a face covering reduces the emission of virus-carrying particles when worn by an infected user, helping to protect others.

As a result, all Local Authorities in Greater Manchester have therefore secured permission from the Government to formally recommend to our schools that they reintroduce face coverings in secondary schools and colleges, with the intention that retaining face coverings will help prevent further transmissions of COVID-19. This recommendation will now be in place in Wigan until the end of the summer term.

Although we have not yet advised any individual school to reconvene on-site LFD testing of pupils, we have also secured permission to do so if needed. In the meantime, we would ask secondary school pupils and college students to continue taking LFD tests at home. It is also really important that any symptomatic children do not attend school and immediately isolate and undertake a PCR test.

What are the recommendations around face coverings?

The recommendations we have made to schools and other educational settings are:

• Where pupils in Year 7 and above are educated, face coverings should be worn by adults and pupils when moving around the premises, outside of classrooms, such as corridors and communal areas where social distancing cannot easily be maintained.
• Face coverings do not need to be worn by pupils when outdoors on the premises.
• As before, some pupils will be exempt from wearing face coverings, and schools should take this into account. Further information on face coverings, including exemptions, can be found via this link.
• Face coverings are worn in early years and primary school settings by staff and adult visitors in situations where social distancing between adults is not possible, for example, when moving around corridors and communal areas.
• In secondary schools and further education settings, staff should wear face coverings in all indoor environments – including classrooms – where 2m social distancing cannot be maintained during lessons.

Are our schools still safe for young people?

As the Government has regularly pointed out throughout COVID-19, there are no risk-free options. Therefore, decision-making around schools has always aimed to weigh up the balance of risk between contracting COVID-19, and the risk to children and young people from not being able to access education.

That being said, although scientists are continuing to study COVID-19 and any new variants, including the Delta variant, the evidence we have available continues to suggest that children and young people are less likely to suffer serious illness/hospitalisation as a result from COVID-19 than those in other age groups.

The transmission route of COVID-19 and therefore the ways we can keep ourselves safe continue to be the same for all variants; including vaccination, social distancing, face covering, regular handwashing, ventilation of indoor rooms, and regular testing. Our schools in Wigan have been open throughout the pandemic and are therefore extremely experienced in implementing and monitoring the control measures within their schools. Our schools regularly review and update their risk assessments, implementing any changes as needed. The Health Protection Team continue to monitor cases in schools on a daily basis and are quick to offer schools any additional support where needed. The Health Protection Team continue to be impressed by the creativity and dedication school leaders have shown in identifying and applying robust COVID-19 safety measures in our schools.

Furthermore, our internal data shows that the majority of cases in school continue to be brought into schools from outside in the community rather than being in-school transmission. Our data also shows that in the majority of cases, our schools are then able to prevent further transmission when there is a case within the school.

What about proms and transition events?

We acknowledge the importance of both proms, transition events, and other celebratory events to schools, parents and young people. In particular, we know that proms and other celebratory events are really important for our young people, both as a celebration of their achievements in the previous academic year and during their time at a school, as well as for the positive emotional and mental health and wellbeing benefits these events bring.

Although we know there are really strong control measures in place in our schools which are able to reduce the likelihood of in-school transmission, and that transmission is happening in communities rather than schools, we are trying to balance the risks of transmission against the benefits of accessing education. Therefore, taking into account the current prevalence of cases in Wigan, including amongst our children and young people, our local advice to schools is that proms and other similar events should not go ahead under the current circumstances.

However, we are at present supporting the holding of transition events, although we have advised schools that they should carry out risk assessments before transition events, that events should be held virtually where possible, and that this position may change in future should there be further worsening of COVID-19 transmission within the borough. Your school should contact you about any arrangements for transition events.

If my child is identified as a contact of a confirmed case, what should we do?

Due to the current increase in the number of new variant cases in Wigan in recent weeks, we are asking all staff and pupils who are identified as a contact of a confirmed COVID-19 case to access PCR testing, where appropriate. Household members of those isolating can also book a PCR test through this route. This will help us to identify and isolate cases including where people don’t have any symptoms, prevent onward transmission, and minimise our case rates in the Borough.

To access PCR testing as a contact of a confirmed case, you can visit https://www.gov.uk/getcoronavirus–test. You will be asked to identify whether you (or your child if you are arranging a test on their behalf) have COVID symptoms. If there are no symptoms, you should select ‘No’ for this answer and proceed through the questions until you get to the question: ‘Why are you asking for a test?’ In response, please select the box that says, ‘I’ve been told to get a test by my local council, health protection team or healthcare professional’. And then, after this, select the option that states: ‘My local council or health protection team has asked me to get a test, even though I do not have symptoms’. You can then proceed to book a test. It would also be helpful if you could report to the school when you have accessed testing so that your school is aware of whether tests are being undertaken.

We hope that this letter has helped to reassure you about your child’s return to face-to-face education and we thank you for your continued support of our schools in these challenging times.

Yours sincerely,

Professor Kate Ardern

MBChB MSc FFPH                                Cath Pealing

Director of Public Health                        Assistant Director of Education                                                       

Parent letter – Wigan Council 9th June 2021