Return to School Procedures – Year 9 Students – Wednesday 20th April

Return to School Routine and Procedures for Year 9 Students

Dear Parents of Year 9 Students,

Following the approval from the Education Bureau (EDB), we will be able to welcome back our student body this week on a staggered basis. Students will return in stages on a full timetable as per the message shared with you by Mr Stuart Bridge. On Wednesday 20th of May, our Year 9 students will return to school.

As a school, we sought and achieved approval for our reopening plan. As a result of our very considered and safety-conscious plan we have been given permission to resume regular lessons, however, we must operate under strict guidelines in terms of hygiene standards and social distancing.

Key Return to School Procedures:

To help us manage and maintain a healthy return to school we ask for your support to increase environmental hygiene of all community members and implement the following measures:

Take your child’s temperature before he/she comes to school every day and fill in the Health Monitoring Record daily. Your child should bring the completed record sheet to school each day, for their class teacher or tutor to review.
Please find the Health Monitoring Record attached. For the first day of class resumption, either print this or record the details on a piece of paper for your child to bring to school.
If your child is unwell they should stay away from school. They should see a doctor immediately if symptoms, especially fever and cough, are detected.
To prevent infection, please ensure your child comes to school wearing a mask and that he/she understands the importance of wearing their mask at all times during the day.
All visitors to school, including parents visiting to pick up and drop off, should monitor their own temperature before coming to school.

During today’s online assembly, I discussed the following key routines and procedures with Year 9 students:

At the start of lesson 1 and at the end of period 4, all students will have their temperatures checked and they will record this on their temperature check forms.
Hand sanitiser will be used by all students at the start of every lesson.
All students must wear correctly fitted masks at all times. We encourage parents/guardians to pack a spare mask for their child in case of loss or accidental damage (we also have a supply of masks).
Students will be expected on-site and in their first lesson rooms by 8:00 am. Students will, therefore, have an extended period 1, with the early part being used for hygiene and temperature-related routines and procedures followed by time for personal administration time.
Breaktimes and lunchtimes will operate on a split basis to allow for social distancing.
Canteen is solely for secondary students who have bought hot food from the canteen
No food is to be dropped off during the school day.
Lockers will be temporarily out of use for all students, this is due to hygiene-related restrictions. All teachers will be encouraged to avoid asking students to bring in heavy textbooks during this period of restriction.
There will be no 1-1 tutoring appointments this term as all Year 9 students are required to be on-site in their first period from 8 am
Homework will be limited for the first week, again this situation will be reviewed.
During tutor time, tutors will lead well being focused sessions to help students with this transition back to education. These sessions will be planned and provided by Mr Broderick our School Wellbeing Coach (SWC).
There will be no Extra-Curricular Activities this term.
Wellbeing and Counselling support will continue to be on hand through our SWC, Counsellor, Tutors and myself.
A modified PE curriculum will be offered to all students in Secondary and will be in line with strict health and safety recommendations.
Due to EDB requirements, the DBIS Library will be closed during secondary break and lunchtimes.
Students are actively encouraged to clean their stationery items with 70% alcohol cleaner to minimise the chance of infection.

To follow on from the letter shared by Mr Benjamin Loran earlier today, the following information focuses on the specific timetables, entrance and exit points, break and lunchtime arrangements and any other procedural matters that you and your child(ren) need to be aware of to ensure the smooth and safe running of the school.

Entrance and Exit Procedures

Year Level	Entrance and Exit Point
Secondary Year Groups (7-10)	North-West Pitch Gate (students must walk across the pitch directly to the Secondary School Building. There will be a gazebo on the pitch with members of staff on hand to check students have the required ‘Health Monitoring Form’. All students must pass by and show their form before entering the main site.

Please note that we appreciate not all parents will be able to print the ‘Health Monitoring Record’ on their first day back to school so we will accept a temperature check written on a piece of paper which is signed by a parent/guardian. Students will then be issued with a Health Monitoring Form for their usage.

If students do not have a temperature check completed, we will conduct a temperature check at the gazebo. If your child’s(ren)’s temperature is elevated, they will be sent to the nurse and then pending a call with parents/guardians they will be sent home.

Timetables for Year 9 Secondary Students:

Year Level	Date of class resumption	Start Time	End Time
Year 9	20.05.2020	08:00	15:15

Arrangements for Breaks and lunchtimes

Break time & tutor time:

Students should wear masks during break time.
Students should keep a proper social distance with other students.
Drinking fountains – are only available for bottle refills.
Break Times are staggered as below:

Year Level	Break Time	Tutor time
Years 9	10:30 – 10:50	10:55 -11:15

Lunchtime:

Students should wear masks during lunchtime.
Students should keep a proper social distance with other students.
Drinking fountains – are only available for bottle refills.
Lunchtimes are staggered as below:

Year Level	Lunch	Lunch Eating Spaces (Canteen, Globe, Hall)
Year 9	13:15 – 14:15	13:15 – 13:40

Continuation of Wellbeing support

As a school, we are proud of our wellbeing and pastoral support provision and we are deeply committed to it. We know that this period of closure has been a trying time for all involved, and it is our intention to make the transition back to live face-to-face classes as smooth as possible. We will, as always, monitor both the physical and mental well being of our students throughout this process. It is our strong belief that working together in partnership we can help our students get back to some level of normality for the remainder of the academic year.

Online Learning Provision and Support

As always, we will carry on with providing support to those who are not able to return to school due to being abroad, in quarantine or otherwise. Educational materials and resources will continue to be available in the respective Google Classrooms for each of our students’ lessons. For students who are unable to access the lessons at the timetabled delivery point due to time zone or other issues, they will be able to access the lesson recording and related resources via the Google Classroom as per the established procedures.

We would like to add that even with the reopening and the return to normal lessons for the majority of our community, students will still be able to attend live lessons through their scheduled Google Meet based classes. From Wednesday the 20th of May onwards, teachers will be delivering face to face lessons in the normal school environment. These lessons will be shared live through a Google Meet to allow access for all students. There will, of course, be some differences to how online lessons were presented previously, though we feel that this new format will still allow for participation, interaction and of course high-quality learning. With the live Google Meets giving synchronous remote access to the live lesson content our students will be able to ask questions, get feedback and support throughout the lesson.

In addition, staff will still be on hand to offer support and guidance within normal office hours of 8:00 am to 4:00 pm. Added to this, all staff will continue to monitor and respond to emails and Google Classroom messages of students away from school within office hours.

To add, we will open the uniform shop by appointment only on Thursday the 21st of May, if you want to buy a uniform or uniform related items then please contact the office at [email protected].

Apologies that we have sent this information by both email and the Hub, on this occasion it was necessary because of the very short time before students return to school. However, we will return to using the DBIS Hub bulletin system from this point onwards as our normal way to communicate.

Once again, thank you for your continued support during these challenging times. We are very much looking forward to welcoming students back to school and resuming some normality.

As always, if you have any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to contact me on [email protected].

Kind regards,

Justin Low M.Ed, BEng (Hons), PGCE, MInstP

Year Group Leader – Year 9