19 January 2022

COVID

Our rates of COVID remain very low (17 students and 2 staff currently absent through COVID-related issues).  We now await the next Government review of COVID procedures on Wednesday 26 January, and any new guidance for schools, to see how this will affect our day-to-day working arrangements.

Reminders for Parents

I have always been very grateful for the support of parents and carers and the very strong working relationships that we have.  I was absolutely thrilled to read the results of the Parents’ Survey and the very positive feedback that the College received (with, of course, some areas to further focus on!).  This will be published soon, together with our action list.

I hope the following reminders assist in ensuring parents are fully aware of our procedures and practices and that communications are made and dealt with in as swift and appropriate way as possible.

Meetings with staff in person: Please can I ask that you do not attend the College to see staff without a prior appointment?  All staff are fully committed during the College day with teaching, meetings and other professional matters.  We are always happy to arrange meetings in advance so please use the system as outlined below to request an appointment.

We would always expect any such meetings, or when parents are dropping off/picking up items from receptions, to be conducted in a polite and respectful way.  We do not tolerate rudeness or aggression to our staff, and we will immediately terminate meetings if such unacceptable behaviour occurs.

Communicating by email or Edulink: Please do use the College systems to communicate with the College as this will ensure that your communication is dealt with swiftly and by the right person.  By using our systems there is the added benefit that all communication is monitored to make sure that it is efficiently dealt with, and it alerts us to any trends that we need to look at.

Sanctions: We will always communicate with parents regarding sanctions and are grateful for their support.  A reminder that, as much as we welcome such support and think this really helps in addressing the issues, we do not require parental permission to set any sanction and any communication is simply for notification not requesting permission.

I trust these reminders are helpful and helps clarify a number of matters.

Parents’ and Options Evenings this Half-term

A reminder that the Parents’ and Options Evenings this half-term will all be run remotely.  I know that this is disappointing for those events where clearly face-to-face interaction is preferable, however I am sure all parents will understand the need for this decision given the national and Surrey situation in terms of the Omicron variant.

Mr Tanner - Principal