Parents/Carers Update

HPV Human Papilloma Vaccinations in school – 20 April 2021

The School Age Immunisation Service (SAIS) for Derbyshire and Derby City are in school on 20 April 2021 to give the HPV (Human Papilloma Vaccine) to year 8 and 9 students.

Year 8 action:

The immunisation team will vaccinate year 8 students with their first HPV vaccination in year 8 and their second HPV vaccination in year 9. The same consent form will be used for both doses of the HPV vaccination.

Please click on the link below to complete the consent form. The option to consent or decline the vaccination is at the end of the questionnaire so please complete even if you do not want your

child to have the vaccination.

HVP consent form: https://www.derbyshireandcityimms.co.uk/Forms/HPV

The unique school code for Highfields School is DD112950.

Year 9 action:

The immunisation team have already got consent forms for the majority of year 9 students and most have already been given their first HPV vaccination, however there are still some year 9 students that would like their first HPV vaccination but were unable to receive this last year due Covid.

If you are a year 9 parents/carer and have already completed the HPV consent form your child will be vaccinated with either the first or second dose of HPV on 20 April.

If you would like your child to receive their HPV vaccinations and you haven’t already completed the consent form please visit click on the link below to give consent. The option to consent or decline the vaccination is at the end of the questionnaire so please complete even if you do not want your

child to have the vaccination.

HVP consent form: https://www.derbyshireandcityimms.co.uk/Forms/HPV

The unique school code for Highfields School is DD112950.

Legally students can self-consent on the day if they are 13 years old and assessed as competent by NHS staff members, however this creates much more work for staff and the team.

For more information about the vaccination please see the link below: http://www.derbyshireschoolnurses.org.uk/parents/immunisations

The School Age Immunisation Team can be contacted by telephone as follows for further information:

Repton: 01283 707178 Clay Cross: 01246 252953

Expressions of Interest for Ski Trip to Davos, Switzerland 18-26 February 2022

Mr Richardson & Miss Hamrouge

Following previous ski trips to Davos we have decided to return next year, depending on interest and the latest government advice regarding overseas visits. At the moment we are collecting expressions of interest in the trip to see if it is viable.

The ski resort is perfect for our trip. The benefits we enjoy are the high quality ski equipment, un-crowded well-groomed ski slopes, no lift queues, around 7 hours ski tuition per day from British ski instructors and full evening entertainment programmes.

The trip is open to all current year groups and the cost will be £1046 (dependent upon exchange rate fluctuations). Full details and expression of interest forms are available from the main office on both school sites for students who would like to find out more.

Reminder - Y8 virtual parents evening

4-7pm Tuesday 30 March 2021

We would like to remind year 8 parents/carers that the Y8 parents’ consultation evening is scheduled for Tuesday 30 March and will be held virtually using the SchoolCloud platform through Weduc.

Thank you for the parents/carers who have already made appointments. If you have not yet made an appointment, please do so via the Weduc app. Appointment slots are for five minutes with each teacher and bookings are open until Sunday 28 March at 4pm

We are limited to an allocated five minute appointment time and at the end of the five minutes the call will be closed to allow the next student and parents/carers to join. Teachers do not have the ability to extend the time of virtual appointments unlike previous evenings on site where we have been able to continue our discussions with you, where it has felt necessary. In order to cope with this, we suggest that if there are specific things you would like to cover during the session then you mention them at the start, so you know that time can be given to them. You might like to have thought about questions in advance.

Parents/carers will need to have downloaded the Weduc app to access parents’ evening appointments. Full details on how to make appointments have been issued to parents/carers on email and can also be found under the support and resources section of our newsletter.

Covid-19 home testing kit result reporting

For students who have received home testing kits, please remember to test twice a week (ideally Sundays and Wednesdays), and report the outcome of all tests to NHS Test and Trace and to school through the links provided via recent Weduc email communications.

If a student has a positive test result, they will need to stay home and self-isolate. If the result of the test is unclear (void) they will need to do another test.

Asymptomatic testing over the Easter holiday

Following the success of the asymptomatic testing programme on the return to school, it is vital to keep testing at home throughout the Easter holidays and into the summer term.

Please continue with the regular habit of testing at home twice a week (Sundays and Wednesdays) to help manage the spread of coronavirus. All home test results should be reported to the NHS and to school on the links issued to parents/carers.

Department for Education coronavirus (COVID-19) helpline opening hours over the Easter holidays

The Department for Education coronavirus (COVID-19) helpline will be open every day over the Easter holidays to answer any questions you have about coronavirus (COVID-19) - Telephone: 0800 046 8687.

Over the bank holiday weekend (Friday 2 April to Monday 5 April), lines will be open from 10am to 4pm. Usual opening hours will resume on Tuesday 6 April.

2021-22 INSET dates

We can confirm we have set all our INSET dates for the 2021-22 academic year as follows. On these dates school will be closed to students:  Monday 27 September 2021  Friday 3 December 2021  Wednesday 22 December 2021  Monday 4 July 2022  Friday 22 July 2022

A reminder of the term dates for next year are also given below.

Term 1: 1 September 2021* to 22 October 2021 Wednesday 1 September – only Y7 and Y12 students return to school

Thursday 2 September - all students return to school

Term 2: 1 November 2021 to 22 December 2021* Term 3: 10 January 2022 to 18 February 2022 Term 4: 28 February 2022 to 8 April 2022 Term 5: 25 April 2022 to 27 May 2022 (2 May 2022 is a bank holiday) Term 6: 6 June 2022 to 22 July 2022

*Please note the change of date for the start of term 1 and end of term 2 that are different to the Derbyshire County Council school term dates.

Advance notice – Temporary road closure, Lumsdale site access

Derbyshire County Council have advised school that there will be a road closure at Upper Lumsdale below the entrance to Highfields School (upper site) on 29 and 30 March. Access to school will be maintained and the road will reopen as soon as the work is completed.