Following Graham’s update on 12th June (available here), please find the latest news for families of all the children and young people attending our schools and colleges below. A separate update for young people attending our social care provision, New Bridge Horizons, can be found here.

Dear Parents and Carers,

As we draw closer to the end of the Summer term, I appreciate that many of you will be anxious about what will happen over the Summer and in September for your child.

You may have seen in the national media this week that the government are promising that all children will return to school in September. This position is subject to change! However, to achieve this goal our schools will be required to undertake a significant amount of work over the coming weeks. We will continue to ensure that the safety of our young people and staff is the key priority in our planning.

Your child’s class team will be in touch over the next few weeks to communicate our plans regarding a return to school for your child in September. Whilst we are working towards a full return for all children, this may need to initially be staggered or phased and we may still require a blended learning approach, for some, in the first instance. This could include some time in school and some time at home, but we will ensure that you have a secure and personalised plan for your child within the next 4-6 weeks, in line with the risk assessments that have taken place over the past few weeks. It could also mean that your child may be taught in a different and temporary learning space (ball hall, dining room, office space etc.). It is the only way we can accommodate the youngsters so as to abide by social distancing protocols. This will need careful planning, co-ordination and communication.

To enable our staff teams to plan for September, and to prepare our sites, we have had to take the difficult decision to have a full close down for the 6-week holiday period, meaning that for the first time, our Summer holiday clubs will not run this year. For our Oldham schools, our current hubs will close on Friday 17th July 2020. Our Tameside hub at Hawthorns School will close on Thursday 23rd July 2020. We will not be offering any provision for any children or young people over the summer holidays.

I appreciate that this news will be difficult for some of our families and we have not taken this decision lightly. We will continue to support our children and families until the end of the Summer term and we look forward to working with you to ensure a safe return to school for your child in September.

As always, if you have any questions, comments or queries, please do not hesitate to contact your school teams or Daniel Wood (dwood@newbridgegroup.org).

Once again, can I thank you for your continued support at this unprecedented time.

Take care,

Graham