Covid-19 - Latest Updates for Parents

On this page, we will update you with key information relating to the school and Covid-19, so that you always have the latest details in one place. This and previous updates can also be found on our Letters and Emails Home page.

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Update: January 15^th 2021

Principal's Weekly Mailing 

Dear Parents and Carers

We hope that this email finds you safe and well. We would like to congratulate your daughters on their work at the beginning of our second period of virtual working. They have worked so hard to engage with live lessons, shown courage at unmuting and answering questions and we have been very impressed by their engagement across the whole day. A huge thank you goes out to all of you as parents and carers for working with us as we navigate remote learning and for your tremendous efforts to help your daughters to stay strong and do their work.

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Information about virtual learning

In order that you can always find the most up to date information on remote learning we have created a web page with all of the detailed information. To find out more about our approach to remote learning and what to expect, please visit our Remote Learning – Information for Parents page.

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Submitting work

In order to help your daughter with her workload we are encouraging teachers to ensure students have time to complete work during the published lesson time. We have found that some students have been finding it really hard to submit work that is less than perfect and this has been causing them to have a backlog of work.

Please remember that when girls are in school at the end of a lesson they close their books and hand them in to the teacher. Our advice is that this should be no different at home. If they have worked really hard for their lesson and done their best, they should submit the work they have done at the end of the lesson.

We have allowed an hour at the end of the day for girls to finish off some work, once that hour is up they should submit the work. We are not looking for perfection, we want to see what the girls have learned in a reasonable time frame so that we can help them learn even more the next lesson. Students are not expected to work until 7pm at night, this is a submission deadline and if they have got to 7pm they really must submit and switch off their computers.

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Free School Meals and Breakfast boxes

We are pleased to announce that breakfast boxes will once again be available for those families in recipient of Free School Meals. These will take place on a fortnightly basis with the first collection opportunity on Tuesday 26^th January between 10am-12pm. We will also be supplying families with vouchers once again on a fortnightly basis and you should ensure we have your most up to date email address so we can get these out to you.

We appreciate this is a very difficult time for many at the moment, with financial circumstances changing rapidly. Please do consider a Free School Meal application if you haven’t already. you may be eligible and we would like to be able to provide families with any support we can. The link is here https://www.cloudforedu.org.uk/ofsm/harrisfederation. Please do note that the application keeps on updating for a month after you have submitted it, so if you’re response is ‘no’ at first, this may change over the next few weeks.

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Friends of HAB

We would be delighted if you could join our Friends of HAB virtual ‘meet up’ on Thursday 21st January at 5.30pm. Our parent/carer association would like to reach out to you and encourage parents and carers to meet other families. Signing up to the webinar does not sign you up to the group so please just come along even if you are curious: https://zoom.us/webinar/register/WN__PklrBUlSY-1O7vGqGHV2A

Please do watch our promo video at the link below. https://www.harrisbermondsey.org.uk/61/latest-news/post/298/friends-of-hab-online-meet-up-thurs-21-jan-530pm

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Digital Awareness Parental Webinar

On Thursday 28th January 6pm to 7pm we have a Digital Awareness Workshop – ‘Supporting your child online’. This workshop will help parents support in keeping their child safe whilst online, and we would encourage all of you to attend; the online world changes so quickly that it is important that we all keep abreast of new platforms and vulnerabilities as a result. Please find the sign-up link here: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/harris-academy-bermondsey-online-safety-webinar-forparents-carers-registration-131462368483

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Social Worker in Schools Programme

We are delighted to announce that Harris Academy Bermondsey has been chosen to participate in the Social Worker in Schools project, after a successful bid by Southwark Council. Rachel Fleming, our allocated Social Worker will be working with us as a Community over the next few months to further improve the support we are able to give to students and families at the Academy. More information on the project will be issued to parents and carers in due course, but for now we know that you will wish Rachel well in her new role with us.

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Termly HAB newsletter

I am pleased that some normality has remained, and our termly newsletter has been published. It is available as an attachment to this email or available to download on our website. Enjoy!

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Contacting the Academy

Whilst most students are working remotely we are still here to help you with any queries you may have. If you have a question or feedback and do not know who to direct it to HABreception@harrisbermondsey.org.uk will always ensure that your query gets through to the person who can answer it.

We hope that you and your daughters are able to enjoy the weekend.

Stay safe

Kind regards

Gillian Hodgson

Acing Principal

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Update: 11th January

Covid 19 rapid testing

I wrote to you earlier this week, before the lockdown was announced to explain that we would commence testing of staff and students from the week beginning 5^th January. Students who are attending school will be offered two tests 3 days apart.

If you would like your daughter to have this test please ensure that you have sent the consent form in to HABReception@harrisbermondsey.org.uk.

Click HERE to download the consent form.

Click HERE to read the privacy notice.

Up to one third of people who have coronavirus experience no symptoms. By testing we will help to stop the virus spread and help to keep our Academy open as safely as possible for as many vulnerable and key worker students. The test is voluntary, but I would encourage everyone to take it.

We expect to be able to role out testing to all students as soon as the academy is permitted to re-open. If you would like your daughter to have two tests 3 days apart when schools re-open, please complete the consent form and return it to the academy.

I have attached the Harris Federation Privacy policy so that you know all of the information on data processing ahead of giving your consent.

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What to do if your child develops symptoms of COVID 19

If your child develops symptoms of COVID-19, you should inform the school and they should remain at home for at least 10 days from the date when their symptoms appeared.

All other household members who remain well must stay at home and not leave the house for 14 days.

The 14-day period starts from the day when the first person in the house became ill.

Household members should not go to work, school or public areas and exercise should be taken within the home. Household members staying at home for 14 days will greatly reduce the overall amount of infection the household could pass on to others in the community.

If you are able, move any vulnerable individuals (such as the elderly and those with underlying health conditions) out of your home, to stay with friends or family for the duration of the home isolation period.

See below the national advice about coronavirus symptoms to look out for, as well as information about what to do if you are concerned. We will keep in close contact with you throughout this period.

Should you or your daughter require any further support, please do not hesitate to contact Ms Karadal at the Academy. We very much appreciate your understanding and cooperation with the measures that the Academy has been advised to put in place and thank you for helping us keep our Harris Academy Bermondsey community safe and well.

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National Guidance on Coronavirus

Symptoms of COVID- 19

The most common symptoms of coronavirus (COVID-19) are recent onset of:

• a new continuous cough and/or
• high temperature and/or
• a loss of, or change in, your normal sense of taste or smell (anosmia)

If your child develops symptoms of COVID-19, they should remain at home for at least 10 days from the date when their symptoms appeared and should be tested for Covid-19. If your daughter tests positive, we ask that you urgently contact the academy so that we can work with the Local Health Protection Team as required to seek further advice. 

All other household members who remain well must stay at home and not leave the house for 14 days.

The 14-day period starts from the day when the first person in the house became ill.

Household members should not go to work, Academy or public areas and exercise should be taken within the home.

Household members staying at home for 14 days will greatly reduce the overall amount of infection the household could pass on to others in the community

If you are able, move any vulnerable individuals (such as the elderly and those with underlying health conditions) out of your home, to stay with friends or family for the duration of the home isolation period.

For most people, coronavirus (COVID-19) will be a mild illness.

If your child does develop symptoms, you can seek advice from NHS 111 at https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/coronavirus-covid-19/check-if-you-have-coronavirus-symptoms/ or by phoning 111.

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How to stop COVID-19 spreading

There are things you can do to help reduce the risk of you and anyone you live with getting ill with COVID-19.

Hands

• Wash your hands regularly and for at least 20 seconds.

Face

• Cover your face in enclosed spaces, especially where social distancing may be difficult and where you will come into contact with people you do not normally meet.
• It is now compulsory to wear cloth face coverings on public transport, shops and several other indoor settings. 

Space

• Stay 2 metres apart where possible, or 1 metre with extra precautions in place.
• Keep your distance from people who are outside your household or support bubble.
• Limit social gatherings (including abiding by the ‘rule of 6’) and avoid crowded places.

Further information is available at: https://www.gov.uk/coronavirus/education-and-childcare

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Uniform

It is important that the academy uniform is worn. Your daughters should wear the academy uniform on the days when they do not have PE or Dance and should wear the PE uniform on days that they have PE or Dance.

Academy Uniform

• Navy skirt/trousers
• Navy HAB blazer jacket
• HAB school jumper
• Long or short sleeved pink open neck Academy blouse
• Black shoes (no trainers or any other inappropriate footwear)
• Flat black boots may be worn in the colder months
• Plain white, black or blue socks (no cartoons/patterns)
• Or, Plain dark tights Academy
• Plain dark coloured coat (Black/Navy/Dark Green)

Headscarves, worn for religious reasons, should be fastened in the traditional school uniform way and be plain navy blue

PE Uniform

• Academy track suit
• Navy or black sports leggings or shorts
• Academy T shirt
• Plimsolls or trainers

If students require a warmer item of clothing to wear with their PE kit they may wear any item from the academy uniform. The following items are not allowed to be worn in the Academy or to or from Academy:

• Baseball caps
• Hooded sweatshirts
• Denim jackets
• Sweatshirts
• Patterned scarves

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Face coverings

As you will be aware, from Thursday 5th November, England will be placed into a national lockdown until 2nd December. Therefore, the use of face coverings is now required in corridors and communal areas such as toilets within the academy. They are also mandatory on public transport and students must wear them if they are using public transport. Our staff will not be allowing students onto public buses until they have their face coverings on. We now need to ask all students to bring a clean face covering in a sealable plastic bag (zip lock sandwich bag is fine). The face covering should have no brand logos or offensive symbols on them. If your daughter is unable to wear a traditional mask style face covering due to specific needs, they should feel free to use a clear visor. Please do contact your daughter’s Head of Year in the first instance if this will be an issue.

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Journey to and from school

I want to thank the overwhelming majority of our students who have been travelling directly to school and then back home at the end of the day. I also want to thank the students who wear their masks correctly on public transport. These students understand fully that they have an important role in helping to protect the community from Covid-19. From Thursday 5th November, education is one of the small number of reasons your daughter should leave her home. It is even more important during the national lockdown that our girls respect the health and safety of the whole community and act respectfully. They must not gather and socialise in the local community and they must wear their masks correctly for the full journey on public transport. As per our Academy expectations, all students must be home within 45 minutes of their school leaving time. As I am sure you would expect any breaches of these rules will be dealt with through the behaviour policy.

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Mental Health and Wellbeing

With the closure of grass roots sport for children as a result of the announced lockdown, I am pleased to let you know that we have been able to ensure that all girls will have access to two hours of Physical Education through dance and PE lessons. All dance and PE lessons will now be practical lessons where the students can get some exercise. Girls should arrive in PE uniform for both their PE and Dance lessons. We are also pleased that we have been able to maintain full access to a broad curriculum including all of the arts subjects. Next week we will write to you with more detail on how we will deliver enrichment online so that all of the students can have access to school enrichment opportunities, an important part of our HAB ethos.

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Contacting the Academy

We are working hard to ensure that our staff give your daughters an outstanding education. In order to reduce the risk of staff needing to isolate HAB staff are being vigilant about social distancing in school, on gate duties and in meetings. We are still available for you as parents and carers if you need to contact us. We can contact you by telephone, email, video call or we can set up, with prior notice, socially distanced meetings in person. Whilst you will now see staff wearing masks whilst on duties in communal areas, as well as in in meetings with visitors, we hope that you understand that this is simply to reduce the chances of staff needing to isolate and to help ensure that we can keep the academy open for all this academic year.

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What to do if someone has symptoms of COVID-19?

1. If your daughter or anyone in your household have symptoms (a temperature or a new, continuous cough, or loss of/change to their sense of taste or smell) please let the school know by emailing attendance@harrisbermondsey.org.uk. You should then keep your daughter and the rest of your household at home.

2. If your daughter were to get these symptoms in school, we would make contact with you to ensure she could get safely home. Please note that Transport for London’s guidance is that any student with symptoms and any person collecting that student should not use public transport to get home, alternative arrangements should be made.

3. Anyone with symptoms needs to self-isolate along with all of their household and get tested as soon as possible. You can find out how to get a test, and how long to isolate at nhs.uk/coronavirus.

4. If the test is negative, and the person no longer has symptoms, the household can leave self-isolation and return to school.

5. If a child or a member of staff tests positive, then we would liaise with the Department for Education and the Health Protection Unit for advice on who should self-isolate and for how long. We expect this to be students who have been in close proximity within the class bubble and will ensure that we take the most cautious approach following all of the Health Protection Unit’s advice. The households of these other children do not need to isolate, unless their child also develops symptoms.