It was lovely to welcome back all our pupils on Thursday. Fifty one new students joined Bank View and we would like to extend a special welcome to all new pupils and their families.  I am hoping this year will be one without disruption and pupils will enjoy a full academic year of learning in school.

I would like to take this opportunity at the start of the year to remind pupils and parents/carers about the expectations in regards to attendance, uniform and mobile phones.

Attendance

All pupils must attend school unless they are unwell.  If your child is unwell and unable to attend school you must inform us of the absence via the app or by contacting the school office.

Term times holidays in line with local and national guidance will be not be authorised and if you choose to take your child out of school in term time for a holiday it may lead to you being issued with a fine.

If your child has attendance below 90% they will be classed as a persistent absentee and we will engage the services of our education welfare officer to support you and your child improve their attendance.  If your child has any issues that affect their attendance then please give us a call as a matter of urgency and we will do all we can to help.

Leave of absence from school can only be granted by the head teacher in exceptional circumstances.

Pupils aged under 18 years and 6 months do not have to self-isolate if a member of their household tests positive for Covid.

Uniform

All pupils must wear full school uniform including having appropriate footwear (black shoes). A full list of uniform is on our school website. Pupils can wear the school PE kit to school on the day they have PE. However if they choose to wear their own sports gear they must wear their uniform and then change when they have their PE lesson. School uniform is available from Briendas on Muirhead Avenue – it can be ordered online.

Mobile Phones

We encourage all pupils to hand in their phones to the office when they arrive in school so they are not broken or lost. If a pupil chooses to keep their phone on them then it must be away at all times. If a pupil is using their phone during the school day, they will be challenged by staff. Any pupil who causes persistent issue with their phone will have it confiscated, parents and carers will be asked to collect it and the pupil will not be able to have their phone in school.

The guidance is that testing remains important in reducing the risk of transmission of infection within schools.

We are asking that all our secondary aged students have 2 on-site lateral flow tests, 3 to 5 days apart. The first will be offered on Thursday September 2nd and the second on Monday September 6th. We will only be offering testing to those students we have written parental consent for. If you wish your child to have these tests, and haven’t already done so, please complete the form which we will share with you via parent app.

We will continue to offer twice weekly lateral flow testing on site until the end of September, when this will be subject to a national review.

If you prefer that your child completes the lateral flow test at home we have testing kits available in school – please let us know if you need any. We would be grateful if results from  tests completed at home could be emailed to:

pupiltest@bankview.liverpool.sch.uk

Pupils with a positive lateral flow test result should self-isolate in line with the stay at home guidance. They will also need to get a free PCR test to check if they have COVID-19 to confirm the result.

Whilst awaiting the PCR result you should continue to self-isolate.

If the PCR test is taken within 2 days of the positive lateral flow test, and is negative, it overrides the lateral flow test result and you can return to school, so as long as they don’t have COVID-19 symptoms.

Those with a negative LFD test result can also continue to attend school.

The government guidance is that those students, who are able, wear a face covering on the school transport.

The main symptoms of coronavirus (COVID-19) are:

Please see attached the letter from the local authority detailing the City arrangements.