Return to School Update
We are delighted that following the Prime Minister’s announcement yesterday we can look forward to welcoming students back to NSB shortly and the school is currently reviewing the national school opening guidance issued by the Department for Education (DfE) last night in order to plan a safe return for all of our students.
The DfE guidance supports a phased return of students over the course of the week beginning March 8th in order for a government directed mass testing programme to be carried out by schools prior to students returning to the classroom. This national directive means that your child will return to school for face to face teaching during the week beginning March 8th after your child’s year group has gone through an initial Covid-19 testing process. It is important to note that this does not mean that all students will be returning to school for face to face teaching on Monday, March 8th.
In regards to an overview of the testing process, the government are requesting that students are tested once at school before returning to the classroom after a negative test. Students will then be tested twice more (between three to five day intervals) at school before home testing kits are distributed to all students. The government then request students to be tested at home by parents / carers twice a week. Although the testing is optional the government ‘strongly encourage’ that students participate in the testing process.
We wrote to parents on January 29th 2021 with information on how consent can be provided to enable students in Years 7 to 11 to be part of the asymptomatic testing scheme on their return to school. A link to this letter can be found by clicking here. Please follow this link to the related privacy statement. We wrote directly to students in Years 12 and 13 who need to provide this consent themselves.
Although the government plan for testing has changed since this letter was sent out, it is still a requirement for consent to be provided by a parent of a student in Years 7 to 11 in order for them to be tested in school. A large number of parents and Sixth Form students have already provided consent, however, we urge any parents who have not yet provided this consent to do so as soon as possible. Without consent, a student cannot be tested.
To provide or withdraw consent, parents are required to log in to our AIM platform. A link to the AIM platform can be found by clicking here. If you have forgotten your password please select the 'Forgotten Password?' link on the sign in page. If you have forgotten all your log in details then you can send an IT support helpdesk request to our IT Technicians who will then be able to assist you. Please click here for parental IT support.
When you log in to the AIM portal, the consent document should appear immediately. If it does not, then please click on the AIM icon in the top left corner or contact the IT support help desk using the link above.
We will write again to all parents / carers next week to set out the finalised detail of when each year group of students should attend school for testing and face to face teaching during the week beginning March 8th.
Yours faithfully
Richard Bernard
Headmaster
Northampton School for Boys
