Hats off to all of the local Alsager residents who have gone early on Christmas lights. They have brightened the town up and created a far more pleasant atmosphere during this second lockdown. I have full admiration for those who have even put up their Christmas trees and are prepared to incur the wrath of all traditionalists. We have had some great ‘only in Alsager’ moments this week: a conversation about cheese scones, discussing whether the preference was hot or cold, and a personal favourite, a Y7 student took his guitar out onto the tennis courts and busked during lunchtime.
The Office for National Statistics has said today that one in 85 now has Covid in England. We are not at that level in school, but we have had a few cases this week. In order to reduce transmission, I urge you to follow the Government guidance during this lockdown period; we are hearing stories amongst students of sleepovers still taking place and students socialising in different households. If your child receives a positive Covid 19 test result, please use the email address: positivecoronaviruscase@alsagerschool.org to inform us. We will contact families promptly. Whilst we missed out on the million pound contract to SERCO, we do have an efficient track and trace system in school and so I ask that your child does not contact other students from Alsager School to tell them that they will need to self-isolate. We will work with your child, with staff and Cheshire East to ensure that the appropriate students are self-isolating.
The decision was made this week in Wales not to have GCSE and A level exams in summer 2021. At the moment, the full exam calendar is still planned in England. I fully appreciate the concern that many of you are feeling at this time; we have been affected by Covid 19 and time out of school is detrimental to progress. Across England, some schools have been affected far more than we have but there are large pockets of the country, where children have not been affected at all. This is not a level playing field. I would urge you to contact our local MP to share concerns about this. As a school we are doing everything possible to provide an outstanding education for our students; our students must not be disadvantaged for something beyond our control.
I hope that you are still able to have an enjoyable time this weekend. Helicopters flew over the school grounds this week taking the celebrities over to Wales; I’m A Celebrity will be different this year but is certainly something to look forward to. As always, thank you for your support. Take care and stay safe.
“Kindness is power” (Marcus Rashford, MBE)
