Where else to start this week but with the football!! Like the majority of the country, I have been inspired by the performance of the team which is in such stark contrast to the meek performances in tournament football that have been the staple of my football watching life. I, like you I’m sure, will be glued to my TV on Sunday evening urging the team to finish the job. 

In school it has been another week dominated by Covid. Every day has seen new cases with even more students self-isolating due to family contacts. The data locally is continuing to rise and is currently significantly higher than the national average. With the prevalence of cases locally and the more transmissible nature of the delta variant, it would appear that the current disruption to learning will continue into next week.

Earlier this week we found out more information from the Government regarding the situation in schools once we reach stage 4 of the roadmap, likely to be on 19th July. A lot of the changes will take effect in the new school year including that children under the age of 18 years old will no longer be required to self-isolate if they are contacted by NHS Test and Trace as a close contact of a positive, they will be advised to take a PCR test instead. Also that staff who have been double vaccinated will not need to self-isolate, as long as they have had their second vaccination 10 days beforehand. Taken together these steps should massively reduce the disruption to learning that has been so prevalent at the end of this academic year. 

One big change that will have an impact before the summer is that from 19^th July close contacts will be identified via NHS Test and Trace and schools will no longer be expected to undertake contact tracing. Quite how that will work we don’t as yet know but I for one will be very glad that this responsibility is transferred to this appropriate body. 

In true Queen spirt, despite all the disruption Covid could throw at us this week the second round of auditions for We Will Rock You took place this week, proving that no matter what The Show Must Go On. Luckily, the weather was conducive to queuing outside allowing students to socially distance while staying in their year group bubbles. If the high standard of the warmup singing was anything to go by, Mr Khokher and Miss Evans have difficult decisions to make.

As always, I include my weekly reminder about Free School Meals eligibility. If your financial circumstances have changed, your child may be eligible for Free School Meals. If you click on this link you will find guidance on the eligibility criteria and the application process. It's a quick process and we are notified of all FSM entitlements by Gloucestershire County Council each Monday. I would urge you to take a look if you think you may benefit from financial assistance. 

Finally, once again Covid has prevented the annual G15 Celebration of Success from taking place in Gloucester Cathedral. Building on the success of last year’s event, the G15 Celebration of Success 2021 will take the form of a video premiering on Monday 12th July at 7pm. This year the video will be entitled ‘Out of the Darkness’ to signify the hope that students have in there being better times ahead. The video will showcase performances from each of the 15 educational institutions which, collectively, form the G15 Partnership, along with art work from some of them and can be accessed via this link. 

Please do enjoy a fabulous weekend and let’s hope that the England team can finish the job on Sunday and ensure that football does come home!

Regards

Richard Johnson 
Headteacher