End of Calendar Year Letter

Dear Parents/Carers

As 2020 draws to a close I wanted to write and thank you for your on-going support of Hanham Woods Academy during these unprecedented times. To say it has been an extraordinary year is an understatement. I hope that you and your family and friends have broadly stayed safe and well throughout this year but if you have been affected by issues surrounding COVID-19 our thoughts are with you; please know that we are here to listen and offer support.

As an Academy we have had relatively few cases of COVID-19 amongst staff or students. At the time of writing this letter only 11 positive cases have been reported. This is in some way down to luck but I would like to say that the support of parents/carers, in keeping children at home if households have symptoms, has played a part in keeping the virus away from the Academy. I do believe it also down to the staff for their hard work and close adherence to our systems of control such as ensuring students wash or sanitise their hands regularly, wiping down desks and chairs after every lesson, maintaining social distancing whenever possible and more recently wearing face coverings when moving around the Academy and encouraging students to do the same. I would like to thank all staff, students and parents/ carers for following the guidance and precautions we have brought in. I would also like to mention the pastoral team and senior leadership team who on average have undertaken 3-4 hours additional duties every day to ensure staff and students are kept safe.

The academic year finishes on Thursday 17th December. This will be a non-uniform day with a focus on staff and students wearing Christmas jumpers. We would request a £1 donation for charity on this day. Normal lessons will run all day, however, period 6 will be a tutor period during which there will be celebration events, including the annual and much-awaited staff panto! Friday 18th December is an INSET day for staff.

Students return to the Academy on Tuesday 5th January 2021. There are no plans to change the existing staggered start times or change any of the COVID-19 precautions we have been following. If guidance changes during the Christmas break I will ensure these are communicated to you. If there are any issues related to COVID-19 during the Christmas holidays please do inform us or reach out to us using the dedicated email address [email protected] which will be monitored throughout the closure period.

I hope, like me, you feel that although 2020 has been a very challenging year, there is a sense of hope in 2021 that if we continue to follow guidance (and with the roll-out of the vaccination programme) life may return to normal during the course of the year. I think it is important that we all try to portray this sense of hope to our young people who will have been affected by the difficulties we have all experienced.

Finally, can I take this opportunity to wish you and your families a very merry Christmas. It may well be a very different Christmas for us all this year, but we must all focus on the important aspects of sharing, caring, love and hope.

Thank you once again for your on-going support and please do stay safe and well.

Yours sincerely

Mr S T Kneller | Academy Principal