Letter to Parents September 2022

Dear Parents and Carers

Year 9 will be attending a Knife Crime awareness session on either Monday 9^th May and Tuesday 10^th May for one hour.  The students will attend as a form, so that students can follow up in LC time after having received exactly the same age-appropriate experience.  The aim of the Knife crime session is to raise awareness of the statistics of knife crime, support students in understanding the law surrounding carrying, using or even being aware that someone has a knife and intends to use it.  The sessions are delivered by trained staff from the Youth Offending Service.  The Police service are represented, and we hope to have a surgeon from a Manchester hospital.  The sessions are, as I state, age appropriate, but are also hard hitting.  The team who deliver, have worked in some local primary settings but the sessions are still relevant to students who have attended before.

Unfortunately, the issue of knives in the community both nationally and locally is one of concern.  Education and awareness is a key tool to support our young people make the correct life choices.  This is a session we have run before, and are part of a one year programme to ensure all students in the school receive the experience.  If you or your family have been affected by knife crime and feel your son or daughter may be affected by the session then please contact and discuss this with your Director of College. 

Many thanks,

Jason Kneen

Priestnall School

Assistant Headteacher – Personal Development

Director of Studies – Rylands College

0161 432 7727 Ext 2041

Dear Parents and Carers

Today I have been made aware of a situation where a lone student was followed by a car for a prolonged period of time at low speed.  The male occupant asked them directions, then how old they were and then if they would get in the car.  This has been reported to the Police yesterday by the family.  I felt you needed to be made aware of this.  Below is the email I have sent out to teachers to read to students during p5.

Dear Teachers

Please discuss safety and walking to and from school with your group period 5 today

A student was followed by a car last night on the way home in the area close to school .  They are not physically hurt, but the person in the car did talk to them through the window trying to get them to talk and get in the car. 

When walking home or to school in the morning it is always best to ensure that you are not alone.  Walk with a friend or small group and be aware of your surroundings.  If you feel uncomfortable walking through a short cut then take the long way around.  Try to stay in public view, and pick a route you know well.  Do not talk to people who you do not know, never get into a stranger’s car.

When walking along try to be aware of your environment.  If you have a phone do not be afraid to phone 999 if you feel threatened or in danger.

The majority of the time it is completely safe to be in the local area.  Follow the simple guidelines above and be aware of your surroundings and you can make it even safer.  It is nobody’s fault if they are approached by someone, but we can do things to protect ourselves.

Regards

Rob Jones

Dear Parent/Carer, You may be aware that our Beliefs and Values department has rebranded as the Personal Development department this year. As part of our continued desire to support both you and your child as much as possible, we were hoping you would be willing to spend a few minutes completing a short survey looking at what you and your child feel about some of the topics we cover, and what you feel is important for us to address moving forward. There are specific questions about our Sex Relationship policy and the new sex and relationships curriculum. Both these documents are attached. You can also watch a Podcast on talking to your child about Relationships and Sex education which is on the school website.

I have enclosed a link to the survey below and will look forward to reading your thoughts and ideas. The survey is anonymous, but if you would like to talk further, I would be happy to arrange the opportunity for further conversation. Please feel free to contact me via email.

https://forms.office.com/Pages/ResponsePage.aspx?id=3YAqYIcEL0WJbl0RrE3b_F-F1Klx_P5Hjw6rXgcl6Y1URVoyODNRRzQ4TU1UOU5QREtXRDU0NUExWS4u

• Personal Development Curriculum Overview
• Sex Relationships Policy

Thank you, in anticipation of your contribution.

Kind regards

Martin Jones
Curriculum Lead – Personal Development Department

Hopefully you will by now have had chance to view the GCSE Options information and resources on the school website. The GCSE Options function within the SIMS Parent App will be activated today so if you wish you can submit your choices. Please can you ensure that you follow the guidance and as well as making your 4 choices you also choose 2 reserves all in order of preference.  There will be a Year 9 Parents Evening on Thursday 17^th March so you may wish to wait until after this to make the choices. The deadline for ALL choices to be made is Wednesday 23^rd March. It is very important to meet this deadline and any choices made after this date cannot be guaranteed.  In the meantime, if you have any subject specific questions please speak to email the appropriate member of staff.

Regards,

Paul Stirling

Assistant Headteacher- Curriculum

Dear Parents / Carers

Stockport Without Abuse offer a course to schools called the REACH project.  The programme is a 6 week long programme, one hour a week at school,  for children in year 8 or 9. We aim for groups to be between 8-12 pupils in size.  This is an annual offer, but will only be offered once and for one course. 

Topics that can be covered include:

• Healthy and unhealthy relationships
• Online safety and sexting
• Body image, body positivity and self esteem
• Consent and the law
• Contraception
• STIs
• Online pornography

All of the topics above are covered in the school Personal Development curriculum between Years 7 and 11, but this offers a more detailed and smaller group experience.  As a school we would normally have a cohort in mind and contact home to offer this service.  This year we do not have a full cohort and I have decided to share this with all parents and carers so you can contact if you feel this course may be helpful.  You, or your child, may feel they would benefit from some more intensive help, support or knowledge; this is your opportunity to access it.

This course can be catered to our school’s needs,  so REACH are  happy to be flexible in terms of the topics covered (and whether all students access all topics).

Attached is some information from the REACH project.  Below is a link to a form where you can record your interest to allow your son/daughter to attend the sessions.  If you fill in the form someone from your child’s pastoral team / college will contact you to get full permission and answer any questions you may have

Regards

Rob Jones

Deputy Headteacher

Designated Safeguarding Lead

Start is an online platform designed to connect 11-18 year olds with their future career potential.
By following Start’s structured and progressive activities, the platform caters for all students helping them to make more informed decisions about future study and career options at the right time and in good time.

Students can access the website here: Start – Careers Information for Cheshire & Warrington (startprofile.com) and either continue as a ‘guest’ or create an account by clicking ‘Log in’ and ‘register as a new user’. By creating an account students will be able to store the activities and research throughout the year.

Mr Stirling
AHT

Dear parent/carer,

On the 7th & 8th of March, the Stockport immunisation team are due to come into school to offer the MenACWY Vaccine to all Year 9 students. This vaccine is a routine vaccine that has been running for a few years.

Please expect to find a consent form in your child’s bag tomorrow evening. The consent form will need to be returned to school no later than the 2nd of March. Please still complete the form if you wish to decline to vaccine.

If you would like any information regarding the vaccine you can find it here: MenACWY vaccine – NHS (www.nhs.uk)

Kind Regards
Priestnall School

February Headteachers Update

Dear Parents, Carers and Students,

First of all, I would like to wish you a happy new year; I hope that you and your families remain safe and well. 

You will have seen a great deal in the media about schools opening and the issues that many are facing with regards to staffing.  I am pleased to report that, at this stage, we have only a small number of staff who will be absent from school due to Covid.  I am pleased that we have been able to complete Covid testing before school officially starts so that teaching and learning can begin without disruption on Thursday 6th January 2022 (tomorrow).   If your child has not come into school for testing this week, we would appreciate it if you would carry out testing at home.  Please do not send your child into school if they have any Covid symptoms or test positive. 

As I have said in previous communications, your children have been absolutely fantastic in following the rules with regards to mask wearing and hand sanitising.  Over the holiday, the government has asked schools to reintroduce face masks in classrooms.  This will be a temporary measure and we are informed that this will be reviewed at the end of January.   Unless your child is exempt, can I please ask that you send your child in with at least one face mask tomorrow morning?  Students and staff will continue to wear masks as they move around the school and when queuing in cafes, as they did last term. 

Despite significant staffing challenges last term, we remained open for all students; we will do everything we can again this term so that all students can be in school receiving face-to-face teaching and enjoying the wealth of extra curricular provision we have in place.   

We look forward to seeing your child in school tomorrow in the correct school uniform (warm coats will be essential this week – no hoodies please) and ready for an exciting new term!

Yours faithfully,

Craig Burns
Headteacher