Welcome back to Ryburn Sixth! We’re so excited to see our students again next week and to welcome our new Year 12s.

2020 has certainly been strange so far. This new phase at Ryburn will be rather different from back in March, but I know we will all do our best to support each other as we continue in your child’s education.

Thank you for your patience while we have been finalising plans for the opening of the school and sixth form, we have been working hard to follow the recommended government guidance and our independently approved Risk Assessment. We have implemented a number of significant changes to our classrooms as well as our usual timetable and we are feeling confident of our plans.

Please take the time to carefully read the information in this letter, and the Back to School Guide on the school website and ensure that your child is fully aware of what to expect, and what is expected of them.

The key elements of our plan are:

Minimise contact between different year groups (or “bubbles” of students)
Continue to offer a curriculum which remains broad and ambitious
Promote good hygiene through cleaning hands more thoroughly and promoting “catch it, kill it, bill in” approach
Engage with NHS Test and Trace process

As such we have created different “bubbles” within the school. Years 12 and 13 have been combined to create a separate bubble, based in the Ryburn Sixth area, and will not mix with any students from lower years.

FACE COVERINGS

All students, except those who are exempt, should arrive at school wearing a suitable face covering, as all students will enter school via a communal drive. It is important that students wear a face covering until they arrive at the classrooms. Face coverings will be removed in lessons when students are working in their “bubbles” but will need to be worn in all other areas inside the school building (except when eating lunch). If a student wishes to wear a face covering in the classroom then this will be allowed.

If your son/daughter is exempt from wearing a face covering, please email Mrs Brenchley so we can record this information.

Teachers will be moving between different “bubbles” throughout the day and will aim to keep a minimum of 2m between themselves and students where possible. All staff will be provided with a visor to use if they are required to move into closer contact with a student (eg. supporting a student briefly in lesson) and outside the classroom in corridors and communal areas.

COMING TO RYBURN SIXTH

Monday 7 September will be a Transition Day for Year 12 (starting at 10:00am) ONLY. Year 13 will return on Tuesday 8 September.

The official start time at Ryburn Sixth will remain at 8.55am and will finish at 3.15pm.

Students must enter via the Ryburn Sixth entrance, and use the driveway closest to this. School will be open for access to students from 08:30 only and students should go straight to form rooms on arrival. We have measures in place to avoid congestion. Please read the Back to School Guide for details.

Illustration of the separate entrances in use at school this year.

BREAKS AND LUNCHES

We are operating separate break and lunchtimes for all year groups. Ryburn Sixth students are to use the Common Room for lunch, or may choose to go off site, and will not have access to the school canteen during this time. Food will be available at break and lunchtime in the Common Room, including free school meals.

SCHOOL BUSES

As well as following our arrangements in school, it is important that students also behave responsibly and observe social distancing when travelling on school buses.

Students should sit within their year group “bubbles” on school buses and follow the guidance provided by the local authority bus providers. A face covering is compulsory on both school and public buses for the majority of students, unless they are exempt, and students should continue to wear these until they reach their classroom.

A number of extra services are running to help with this:

S2 – Two buses will be provided
S7 – A further bus will be added to this route and will be called the S10
579 - Additional buses are running on this route during school times

When buses arrive at school there will be a member of staff present to ensure the students alight in a staged manner to ensure social distancing is adhered to at all times.

Those who catch school buses should now have received their pass for September. If this is not the case then please contact West Yorkshire Metro on 0113 3481122.

Thank you all for your support over the past few months, it has been a very difficult time and we have worked hard to ensure the school has followed the Department for Education’s guidelines, as closely as possible. The link below provides more details on the information provided above, so please could I ask you to read this carefully. Form tutors will go through this information in full detail on their first day back.

Back to school guide

If you do have any additional questions that are not answered via the school guide then please email Head of Ryburn Sixth Mrs Brenchley or our Deputy Head of School, Carol Evans in the first instance.

May we wish you a very warm welcome back to Ryburn Sixth!