News

Dear Families,

Welcome to this week’s update, and I must say how nice it is to now be writing in a school that is once again full of students! The manner of the students’ return this week, just as it was after the first period of lockdown has been superb. The students have come back positive, happy to see their friends, and keen to continue with their learning on site. Attendance has been well over 95% and engagement with the testing process has been over 97%. Thank you all for your support. The buzz around the school this week has been great.

There are a number of things to update you on:

Year 11 and 13 assessments and Teacher Assessed Grades

All students will have had by now the details of the topics they will be covering in their Trial exams which begin on Monday 22^nd March. Teachers are currently working hard in lessons to prepare the students for these tests to give them the best possible chance of success. We do not as yet have any further information on the process for awarding teacher assessed grades this year, but we anticipate this guidance coming out shortly before the Easter holiday. I will keep you posted.

Wellbeing support in Bromley

We are aware that for some students and their families, the lockdown period was a difficult time and the strain on mental wellbeing was significant. The link below takes you to a variety of resources that are available for students and families in the local area to support with this. Our School Counsellor, Ms Bullen, continues to work full time in school to offer support to those students who feel they need it. Please speak to Ms Bullen directly, or to your Form Tutor in the first instance if you would like some additional support, or just the chance to talk to someone.

https://www.bromleywell.org.uk/our-services/mental-health-services/

Lateral Flow testing - Home testing        

Attached to this email is a separate letter which gives you the details of the home testing kits that will be sent home with students from next week. The smoothness with which the 3 on-site tests have been conducted has been extremely impressive, with just a few year groups still to have their third test at the time of writing. From next week we will begin to send out the home testing kits to students, and the responsibility for testing falls to you, the families, to do your part to help keep everyone safe. The letter explains the process for doing the test, and then very importantly for recording the results. We would urge all families to engage with the home testing to keep us safe as far as possible. If  there are families who feel that it will not be possible to support your child with testing at home – particularly younger students – then please let us know via your child’s Head of Year.

Thank you to our Test Centre volunteers

I would also like to take this opportunity to say a huge thank you to the numerous volunteers who have done such a wonderful job in our testing centre. Your commitment and efficiency have been remarkable. We thank you for giving so freely of your time in order to help us get our students back into lessons as safely as possible. Volunteers have come from the families of both Langley Boys and Langley Girls and we are extremely grateful for this real community effort.

Basic reminders

Just a reminder about a few basics now we are all back on site

• Students should be dressed in full school uniform every day, and should bring with them the correct equipment that they need for each day’s lessons
• If your child is going to be absent for any reason then please make sure you ring the school as soon as possible to let us know
• Please ensure your child has a face mask with him / her every day to wear around the school building and in lessons. Students do not need to wear masks when outside, or whilst doing PE
• Please reinforce at the home the same messages we are giving in school about the need for frequent hand washing
• Please encourage your sons / daughters to come straight home after school if they are not involved in an organised activity, and not to hang around in the local area as we are still in lockdown
• Please ensure your son / daughter has their lunch card with them every day, and that it has money on it

Driving and Hawksbrook Lane

As we return to normal levels of school attendance, the issue or safety and cars returns. A reminder that for the vast majority of people, driving down the lane is unnecessary. The levels of congestion and pollution caused by students being dropped off, if they are perfectly capable of walking for a couple of minutes from the main road or garage, is unnecessary.

If your child is fortunate enough to drive to school, please can you remind them about the need to drive considerately and safely. Needless to say the consequences of any kind of accident would be devastating for anyone involved. As you know, the lane is a public highway over which we have no jurisdiction. We therefore can only appeal to people’s sense of environmental responsibility and community safety. I thank you in advance for your support.

I hope your sons and daughters have been as pleased with their first week back as I have. It’s starting feel like a much nicer version of ‘normal.’

Have a good weekend.

Yours sincerely

Mr S. Parsons

Headteacher

Langley Park School for Boys

Covid-home-testing-letter-for-families-March-2021.pdf12th-March-2021.pdf