The Flagpole

We are very much looking forward to welcoming all our pupils back to school next week. As you are aware a huge amount of planning and preparation has been underway to ensure our pupils are safe at school. The pupils’ health and well-being, and that of our staff, is our top priority. 

This letter gives key guidance on medical and health issues that have been put together in conjunction with our medical team and government guidance.

Importantly we have reviewed and updated our guidance on the wearing of facemasks.

Facemasks

In light of updated government and WHO (World Health Organisation) guidance, we are now asking that pupils wear facemasks in school in certain areas. You will be aware that we have already made the wearing of facemasks compulsory on the buses.

We are now extending the compulsory wearing of facemasks in school: facemasks will need to be worn by pupils and staff whilst moving between lessons in the corridor and whilst queuing for lunch. Facemasks will also be required at the end of the school day whilst waiting in the playground for parents to collect. Pupils attending the medical centre will always be asked to wear facemasks.

We do not require either pupils or staff to wear facemasks whilst in lessons but they may they choose to do so.

We know from our questionnaire that some pupils may be exempt from wearing a mask for medical reasons, we will provide these pupils with an identifying pin to wear somewhere discreetly on their blazer so that they will not have to explain if challenged by staff.

Prevention of COVID-19 transmission

The best way of doing this is to minimise contact with individuals who are unwell by ensuring that those who have coronavirus (COVID-19) symptoms, or who have someone in their household who does, do not attend school www.gov.uk.

The main symptoms of coronavirus (COVID-19) are:

• a high temperature – please if you have not already done so source a thermometer to check temperatures at home;
• a new, continuous cough – this means coughing a lot for more than an hour, or three or more coughing episodes in 24 hours (if you usually have a cough, it may be worse than usual);
• a loss or change to your sense of smell or taste – this means you've noticed you cannot smell or taste anything, or things smell or taste different to normal.

If a pupil or anyone else in their household has symptoms of COVID-19 – You and everyone else in your household must remain at home.  Do not go to work, school, or public areas, and do not use public transport or taxis.

Nobody should go out even to buy food or other essentials, and any exercise must be taken within your home.

Test and Trace

Do not wait, if you have symptoms, get a test as soon as possible.  You need to get the test done in the first five days of having symptoms.

The testing process has moved on since we were last at school and there is now greater capacity for testing, with results often back within 24 hours. Anyone with symptoms can be tested. 

For more information on testing please follow the link below, tests can also be booked by calling 119.  www.nhs.uk/conditions/coronavirus-covid-19/testing-and-tracing/get-a-test-to-check-if-you-have-coronavirus/

If you or any member of your household is contracted by NHS Test and Trace and advised to self-isolate it is vital that you do so.  If any pupil has been advised to self-isolate or is off school due to illness, please inform the school via the attendance line in the usual way and arrangements can be made for work to be sent home.

If you have recently returned from another country please follow the rules for re-entering the UK and self-isolate if you have been advised to do so. www.gov.uk/uk-border-control.

Illness and school attendance

As mentioned earlier we are all now aware of the three main symptoms of COVID-19, however as we all know children may have a temperature for various other reasons; or in some circumstances may present initially with feeling “generally unwell”.

We request that if your child has required Paracetamol or Calpol to reduce a temperature that you keep them off school for 24 hours after their temperature has returned to normal.

If your child feels unwell, even if they are not complaining of one of the more well-known COVID symptoms, please do not send them into school. We are asking that you monitor them at home so that as well as preventing the transmission of COVID in school, we can also minimise the spread of many of the “bugs” children pass around.  Most importantly it will allow time for the child to be assessed at home and to see whether they go on to develop an illness or are back to normal by lunchtime.  It will also paint a clearer picture of what we are dealing with.

I know that many of us as parents encourage our children to keep going sometimes when feeling slightly unwell as it encourages resilience and often they feel better after a couple of hours.  I also appreciate that parents will be concerned about children missing more time off school.  However, the health of our Princethorpe family is of paramount importance and in these new times we need to employ extra caution and keep children home if unwell.

As was our practice during February and March this year, we will check the temperature of all children presenting to the Medical Centre and will now have a lower threshold for sending children home if they are unwell.  In the interests of social distancing and keeping the whole community safe it may no longer be appropriate for a pupil who is feeling unwell to stay in the Medical Centre for a period of time before taking a decision if they should go home.  We ask for your patience and forbearance with us as we navigate these uncertain times.  If you do receive a call asking you to collect your child we ask if this can be done as promptly as possible.  Please also ensure the school has your up to date contact details.

As we need to keep children in their Year Group bubbles and will operate on a one in one out basis in the Medical Centre, pupils may be asked (with their teachers’ permission) to text first for an appointment. Children requiring immediate First Aid or displaying COVID symptoms will be seen as a matter of urgency.

Any pupil displaying COVID symptoms will be taken to our isolation room and parents will be contacted immediately so they can be collected promptly.

As there may be a wait to see one of our school nurses, you may feel that it is appropriate for your child to carry one paracetamol for a headache or period pain if this is their normal practice. I ask you to use your discretion as parents and consider if this is something you feel appropriate for your child. Under no circumstances should a pupil share medication with anyone else in school.

We have plenty of First Aid kits around the school and the majority of staff are First Aid trained so children will continue to be well supported in school.

We are treading uncertain times together and appreciate how daunting the return to school may feel for some pupils and parents.

Please don’t hesitate to contact us if you need further information or support, call 01926 634214 or email pcmatrons@princethorpe.co.uk.

Kind regards

Paula Greig                Beth Shape                          Ed Hester       

Senior Matron            Deputy Head (Pastoral)      Headmaster               

I would like to take this opportunity to welcome you to the start of Michaelmas 2020 and we are very much looking forward to getting the Co-curricular programme underway. For those of you new to Princethorpe College, a special warm welcome and I hope that you get fully involved in the programme. We have a wide offering of co-curricular activities and clubs that are on offer centring around five key themes: 

• Sport, health and physical well-being
• Independent academic development 
• Leadership, community and service
• Spiritual and emotional development
• Performing arts and culture 

With the new lunchtime timetable we are not starting the lunchtime clubs for this first phase, but are starting the after school ones from Tuesday 1 September, so please come prepared to stay after school and we will walk you through the new way of working for all activities.  Phase two will be released in three weeks time when we will let you know what the lunchtime provision and the revised after school activities are. 

So that we can stay safe, after school activities are taking place in individual year group bubbles; please remember to wash your hands before and after the activities.  

Please find the electronic version of the after school clubs and activities by clicking here. 

You are not required to pre-book, however some activities and clubs operate on an invitation only basis. If you have any questions about an activity or club, please speak to the teacher in question listed.

I hope that you are all well and I cannot stress enough how much we are looking forward to seeing you all this term.

Neil McCollin
Assistant Head - Co-Curricular

Further to Mr Hester's email to parents last week, please see the link here for the equipment pupils will be expected to have for the start of term.

Kind Regards

Dr Liz Pyne
Assistant Head - Teaching and Learning

Thank you to all those parents who responded to our Parents' Questionnaire and attended our online Back To School Q&A Session on Tuesday 25 August. 

Please click on this link if you would like to watch a recording of the session (joining instructions if you need them can be found here) and on this link if you would like to see some FAQs from the questionnaire and evening.

Arriving on the first day of term

If you arrive between 7.30am and 8.15am you must report to the following areas:

• Years 7 to 11 – Main Refectory (remain in year group bubbles)
• Upper and Lower Sixth – Sixth Form Dining Room or Common Room (remain in year group bubbles)

If you arrive either by car or school bus after 8.15am you must report to the following areas and remain there until 8.35am when you will then move to your tutor room (see your timetable for rooming).

Parents must remain in their cars at all times. This system will run every day, however, from Wednesday 2 September you will move to your first lesson and not tutor time at 8.35am. There will be staff on duty to help and support.

Pick up at the end of the day

When school has ended at 3.45pm, make you way to the playground (remember to put on your mask) if you are being collected by car.  If you are traveling home by bus make your way to the correct bus area for your bus.

Bus zone 1 (front of school) S1, S5, S8 and S12

Bus zone 2 (back lane) S2, S3, S4, S6, S7, S9, S10 and S11

If you are staying for Prep, please report directly to the Sixth Form Centre where you will remain in year group bubbles, your parents should text you when they have arrived at school to collect you

If you are staying for co-curricular activities please report to the relevant area.

Remember that you should be wearing your mask while moving around the building at the end of the day as well as while you wait outside.

Please contact Mrs Sharpe directly is you have any questions about arriving on the first day.  bethsharpe@princethorpe.co.uk.

Mrs Beth Sharpe
Deputy Head - Pastoral

Stop Press - New Bus Booking System

A few parents have inadvertently made a duplicate booking on the new system resulting in availability looking very low on some services. We are checking thoroughly and will remove any duplicates as soon as possible. Please check the system again over the weekend for more up to date availability. We are not expecting any capacity problems and seats should be available.

If you are a regular pass user or a parent of a new pupil who has requested a pass, we have already added your booking to the system, you just need to claim it as per the instructions below. Apologies for any confusion. 

Please find below the Bus Briefing for September 2020, which includes comprehensive information on all routes and stops, plus a specific COVID-19 update with information relating to our new booking system and new operational measures to keep pupils, staff and drivers safe on our bus services.

We encourage all new pupils to use the bus from the first day of term.

If you child uses the bus services you must ensure that you and they read this briefing before using the services next week.

Princethorpe College Bus Briefing September 2020

New Bus Booking System

We have introduced a new booking system in partnership with Vectare. The system is designed to make managing travel arrangements as easy and straightforward as possible. It will give a clear indication of availability of seats for new pass holders and ad hoc users who wish to purchase individual journeys.

From September 2020 onwards, those wishing to book a new bus pass or individual journeys will need to do so on the system. This will ensure there are enough seats for us to operate our bus services in line with the government’s safer transport guidelines and will remove the need for pupils to go to the school shop to purchase ad hoc tickets.

The site includes a diagrammatic network map and a postcode search which will allow you to check the closest stop to any given location.

Regular and New Bus Pass Users

All regular bus users and parents of new pupils who have indicated that they require a bus pass have already been pre-loaded onto the system and emailed a confirmation of their booking.  Parents should go to https://princethorpe.vectare.co.uk, press the ‘sign up’ button and fill in their details and their child’s details, to have access to the ‘My Account’ section of the Vectare website.

When you receive your confirmation email, please check it carefully to make sure it is correct and then go to the ‘My Account’ section to claim your booking by entering the reference number on your email and your email address. At this point, the booking will then be assigned to your account and you will be able to view the details in the ‘My Account’ section.

As a default you will have been allocated the nearest stop to your home postcode. If for whatever reason, your booking is incorrect or you wish to change it, simply reply to the email stating which route and stop you would like to change it to.

If you do not receive a confirmation email by Saturday 29 August, please contact princethorpe@vectare.co.uk and they will re-issue the confirmation email for you.

Ad Hoc Users and New Passes

Those wishing to book a new pass or ad hoc users can set up an account, check availability and book a pass or individual journeys on the system as they require.

If you require multiple individual regular bookings please email princethorpe@vectare.co.uk with details of dates, days and specifying morning or evening and they will make the booking on your behalf and send you a confirmation email. A facility for parents to do multiple bookings themselves is in development and will be available as soon as possible.

To book a new pass or individual journeys, please visit www.princethorpe.vectare.co.uk from noon on Friday 28 August and create an account via the ‘sign up’ button, then select ‘book now’. Upon completing the booking form, a confirmation email will be issued (via email) to both yourself and your child. At this point, your child is able to travel on the service, but please note that they will be asked to show their booking confirmation on their phone for each journey at the time of travel. Ad hoc bookings can be made up until 10 minutes before the bus leaves the first stop on the route or departs from school.

All ad hoc users must pre-book a seat to travel. A £10 penalty fare will be charged per journey for those who omit to do so.

Ad hoc and new pass bookings will be added to the next termly fee invoice.

What if you have already purchased paper tickets?

If you have already purchased paper tickets from the school shop, please return them to the school shop or student hub in a sealed envelope marked for the attention of Barbara Bromwich, Finance Assistant by Monday 21 September and you will receive a credit note to your next term’s fee bill.

Arrangements For The First Week Of Term

Bus passes will be issued to regular and new bus pass users by their form tutors on the first day of term.

Pupils can simply board the bus on the first morning without a pass as long as they have a booking.

For single journeys pupils must show a valid ticket for the journey on their phone starting Wednesday 2 September. Where travel has not been booked in advance it will not be possible to travel if there are no available seats, if it is possible to travel then the above mentioned penalty fare of £10 will be charged.

Bus Services - Twitter

Parents and pupils aged 13 and over are encouraged to sign up for our Twitter feed on the bus service using @PCBuses. We will use this to keep pupils and parents informed of anything that happens during the journeys to and from school.

Simply go to twitter.com/PCBuses. From here you can follow @PC Buses, if you have a twitter account, or if you do not regularly use twitter you can bookmark this link on your mobile or computer and check it whenever you need to.

Travelling To School

The safety of pupils using the bus service is of paramount importance. We ask parents to talk to their children about how to keep safe going to and from the bus stop and ensure they know what to do if the bus doesn’t arrive. There is a briefing for pupils who use the bus service at the start of each academic year. The College’s risk assessment of the bus service is attached here and a copy is also on the My School Portal.

Temporary Road Closures

We keep an eye out for future road closures or upcoming road works and welcome any advance information from parents about such closures. We discuss them with the bus operators and communicate any changes necessary as soon as possible.

S8 Banbury - evenings

The evening route may be delayed as a result of roadworks on the Fosse Way.

If you experience any technical problems with the system or have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact princethorpe@vectare.co.uk or use the ‘Contact Us’ section on the website. 

Over the summer holidays the Estates and Grounds teams have been working very hard. As well as completing their normal programme of maintenance, this summer they have also reconfigured the school in line with government advice on safe social distancing in education.

There are plenty of changes that will be immediately visible to pupils when they return next week. New one way signage manages the flow of pupils and staff around the site, classrooms have been re-configured with single desks, shared spaces such as the Library and Staff Room have been re-purposed as classroom space, two large marquees have been erected to provide extra multi-purpose spaces, the Refectory and Sixth Form Dining Room have been re-configured to safely manage the flow of pupils at break and lunch and extra hand sanitiser stations, wash basins and toilets have been put in place across the campus.

The Sixth Form Centre has also been refurbished to cater safely for the increase in Sixth Form numbers this September. The Common Room has been redecorated and has new furniture and G73 has also had a makeover.

The IT team have also been incredibly busy reconfiguring the school’s IT hardware and software to support our new ways of working.

Huge thanks to our Estates, Grounds and IT teams for all their hard work in readying the campus for the pupils’ return to school.