Parents/Carers Update

Streptococcus A (Strep A) awareness

Following the recent cases of school aged children catching Strep A, East Midlands Education Trust (EMET) have asked all of its schools to forward the following link to the BBC News highlighting the symptoms for parents/carers to be aware of https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-63836093. Information has also been emailed out to parents/carers from the UK Health Security Agency outlining the signs, symptoms and actions to take if parents/carers think their child may have scarlet fever.

Action required: School based flu immunisations for years 7-9

A reminder that the NHS immunisation team will be on site on 19 January 2023 to vaccinate students in years 7, 8 and 9. If you have not yet given consent for your child to have the flu vaccination, please click the link below in order to ensure the immunisation team can order sufficient vaccines to immunise students with consent.

T o co mp le t e t he c o n sen t f o rm f o r yo u r ch ild to re cei ve t h e f lu vacci na ti on , cl ick t h e li nk b el ow . On e f o rm fo r e ac h chi ld . ht t p s://w w w. d e r by sh i r ea n dci t yi m ms. co . u k/Fo rms/ Fl u

Sch oo l na me : Hi gh fi el ds Sch o o l Sch oo l c od e : DD 11 29 50 D at e in sc ho ol : 1 9 Ja nu ar y 2 02 3 Flu I n fo rmat i on L e af le t

Re pt o n: 0 1 28 3 70 71 78 Cla y Cr o ss: 0 1 24 6 25 29 5 3 D CHST . immu n isat io n te am@n h s.n e t ww w. de rb ysh ir ef amily he alt h servic e. nh s.u k

Student ID for school transport

The school bus team at Derbyshire County Council would like to remind students catching school transport that they must show the driver their B_Line card as proof of ID if they do not have a photograph on their school bus pass.

January 2023 BTEC exams

Students sitting Y11 travel & tourism, Y12/13 business and Y13 sport BTEC exams in January have been made aware of their exam timetables. Links are given below and are also on our website:

Year 12/13 BTEC Level 3 External Exam Timetable January 2023 Jan-2023-Y12-Y13-BTEC-Timetable.pdf (highfields.derbyshire.sch.uk)

Year 11 BTEC Level 1/2 External Exam Timetable January 2023 Jan-2023-Y11-BTEC-Timetable.pdf (highfields.derbyshire.sch.uk)

Christmas jumper/non-uniform day

Our next charity fundraising event is a non-uniform/Christmas jumper day on the last day of term, Wednesday 21 December (22 December is a CPD day and no students are in school). The last day of term will be a normal timetabled school day, but students and staff will be encouraged to wear a Christmas jumper/non-uniform and donate £1 to support Save the Children. The donation can be made through Parent Pay or on the day to staff on the doors at both sites.

Dig out your favourite Christmas jumper – fairy lights, baubles, snowmen and Christmas trees are all allowed! Donations can help pay for blankets and hats to keep a child warm, provide a hot meal, bring essential healthcare, education and protection to millions of children around the world and help save lives.

Derbyshire County Council Winter Holiday Clubs

It’s About Me! is running FREE activity clubs in Derbyshire for those aged 4-16 who are eligible for benefits-related free school meals. There are a smaller number of clubs that will run provision during the week Monday 19 to Friday 23 December and a majority number of clubs will run between Wednesday 28 to Friday 30 December 2022 and Tuesday 3 January to Friday 6 January.

Each child is eligible to attend a maximum of 4 sessions during the winter school holidays. Activities include sports and games, arts and crafts, cookery, dance and music. Programmes will vary depending on the type and location of each local club, but every day there will be a nutritious meal served up for free!

You are now able to book winter holiday clubs at: https://itsaboutmederbyshire.co.uk/ The website will be updated regularly as new providers are confirmed so if you can’t find a suitable holiday club straight away, check back regularly.

Booked but can’t attend?

During our summer programme, we had a large number of non-attendees. If you book an activity for your child/ren and can no longer attend please contact the provider to cancel, so the space can be given to another child.

We hope you will take advantage of this great opportunity so your child/ren can have a winter of fun with their friends - and be fit and ready to return to school in the new year.

Reminder: School emergency closure procedure Early notice regarding school strategy/risk assessment

We have now reached the time of year when we alert you to the steps we take if we are forced to close the school in an emergency, ie due to extreme weather conditions or equipment failures associated with the change in the weather. We should stress at the outset that this is something we only do with great reluctance, but our overriding concern is the health and safety of our students and sometimes such action is unavoidable.

Feedback from parents/carers, students and staff suggests that communication over snow closures needs to be clear and timely. The handling of snow closures will always create discussion within a school community. I hope that this at least explains our approach in advance of any snow closure.

Current challenges around making the school site and approaches clear after snow or heavy ice:

 Derbyshire County Council prioritises main routes and will not guarantee early clearance and gritting.  A local business has agreed to clear both sites but cannot grit. Other companies will not grit because of a perceived fear of litigation. Clearing both sites takes longer than schools who have to clear only one site.  We have investigated the purchase of a mini tractor/snowplough/gritter but cannot justify a significant expense for equipment that is needed for only a few days a year.  Ice is just as big a risk to opening as snow and is as hard to clear with current resources. There have been a number of accidents on our sites caused by ice and this has resulted in injury to staff and students with resultant absences from work/school.

Risks of opening when heavy snow or ice is expected/forecast:

 Snow and ice increases risk of road traffic accidents for student and staff.  Bus services are often cancelled which results in some students being stranded with parents/carers being forced to make arrangements.  Student numbers will be high (many are local) but staff numbers may be very low (our staff travel in from locations such as Sheffield, Stoke and Buxton). This can result in students being unsupervised on site. Usually when school is open following heavy snow, lessons are adversely affected and staff can find themselves supervising very large numbers of students with a consequent impact on learning.  The sites are surrounded by steep hills and this provides further risk to motorists and pedestrians following heavy snow/ice.  Where late notice is given that school is opening (as leaders seek to assess the situation until the last possible moment), parents/carers have reported that pressure is put on them to revise childcare arrangements.  Early clearance cannot be guaranteed. Accidents on school sites following snow or ice have resulted in injury, sustained absence and costly litigation in the recent past.  Staff/student time which can be used for productive work from home can be wasted on long and hazardous journeys to the school sites only to find lessons being badly disrupted or cancelled due to staff and student absence.

Risk of NOT opening when heavy snow or ice is expected/forecast:

 Parents/carers are caused inconvenience by having to adapt childcare arrangements  Learning time is lost (although through Covid lockdowns we have very much improved our remote learning offer)  The leadership of the school will incur criticism if forecast heavy snow does not arrive despite school being closed.

School strategy regarding snow closure:

1. The school will seek to communicate clearly with parents/carers and local cluster primary schools when heavy snow or ice is forecast or expected. 2. To minimise the risk to students and staff, and to facilitate childcare adaptations for parents and carers, the school will aim to close as soon as heavy overnight snowfall is probable. 3. The school will seek to announce closure before midnight and definitely before 6.00am. The school accepts that this may result in widespread criticism if heavy snow does not fall or does but doesn’t settle.

School emergency closure procedure

Snow – during school hours:

If there is a heavy snowfall during the day while students are already in school, and it becomes clear that getting home at the normal time may be difficult or dangerous, we may decide to close early. If we do close, the following instructions are given to students before they are allowed to leave the premises:

• If students know for sure that they have a safe destination with someone to look after them (such as their own home or a relative, neighbour or friend’s home) and provided they are sure they can reach this destination, they may leave when asked to do so. • If students are uncertain whether there is someone at home, they need to check before departure and should telephone to make sure of their arrangements. The school will make its telephones available free of charge to those who do not have a mobile phone, but obviously this may delay departure as we only have three external lines. Students should only leave once they are certain of their arrangements.

It would be helpful if you can discuss at home what you want your son/daughter to do in the event of school closing early so that they know of arrangements in advance.

If students cannot make arrangements and are not sure what to do and where to go, they must remain in school in the care of the staff of the school until suitable arrangements have been made. A member of staff will always remain in school with students until everyone has been collected.

Snow – overnight:

In the event of heavy snow overnight we would ask parents/carers to use their discretion in deciding if it is safe for their child to set off for school. Emergency closures happen perhaps once or twice a year.

The school will inform you of closure as soon as the decision is made to close the school, by various means: the school website; BBC Radio Derby, by text and/or email and the Weduc app. Once students have been sent home, students and parents/carers should listen to local radio or check our website for further instructions about our plans for the following day. This information is usually posted on the school website by 7.30am each morning.

Breakdown of equipment:

If, as happens very occasionally, we suffer a complete breakdown of equipment, depriving the school of its basic services, such as electricity or water, we may be forced to send students home for their own safety. The same procedure will be followed as for a snow closure.

Forthcoming events:

December INSET day:

The next INSET day is Thursday 22 December - no students will be in school.

Christmas concert – an evening of music:

Highfields Christmas concert will be held the evening of Wednesday 14 December in the Wheeldon Hall at Lumsdale (upper school site) from 7pm. Tickets are available on the door.

Christmas Concert