Today’s message is about planning. We have spent the past few weeks planning the staggered return of Years 10 and 12 to school from Monday. We have to get it “right” – right from a health and safety point of view, right to ensure that everyone feels safe and supported and right so that their learning while they are in school is purposeful and that they make the most of every minute when they are with us.

We will be delighted to see them but are also mindful that we are not yet seeing students in Years 7, 8 and 9. We continue to plan for them – online quizzes, virtual video lessons, “live” tutor times – and, as we have said throughout this period, we will continue to evolve our provision to avoid it becoming stale. An important aspect of this will be the Key Stage 4 Transition work for our Year 9 students which will be launched in a couple of weeks.

We are planning for next year’s Year 12 students. They have already completed a good amount of transition work and there is much more to follow regarding transition and starting Sixth Form in the coming weeks.

We are also planning for our new Year 7 students who will be joining us in September. Starting Secondary School is a significant change at any time and even more so in our current circumstances. We are working with our Primary School colleagues to put in place the best possible arrangements that we can in line with Government guidance and parents of these students will be receiving further information shortly.

And we are planning for September. There has been a great deal of coverage about schools in the media this week and what is clear is that it is still, perhaps understandably, unclear what arrangements will be in September. What I would say to our school community is that we are considering several different possible scenarios and that our planning will be ambitious, detailed and unremittingly focused on the progress, safety and wellbeing of each and every student at Wallingford School.