8th December 2020

Dear Parent/Carer 

This afternoon we have received notification from the DfE relating to contact tracing for pupils over the Christmas period. As I am sure you will be aware, schools have been responsible for the contact tracing of pupils in school should a positive case arise. School leaders have worked hard to ensure this process has continued across weekends and evenings in order to keep our school populations safe. However,
the DfE have recognised that this responsibility cannot continue across the Christmas break when close
contacts will not have been on school site. 

The implications for school are that:

  • We will close as normal on Thursday 17th December (Friday 18th December is a training day)
  • You should continue to contact us, if your child develops symptoms on or before Saturday 19th December and subsequently tests positive for coronavirus. The contact address is: office@scissett.com 
  • School leaders will check emails once per day up until Wednesday 23rd December. After this date, you do not need to notify us unless your child will not be back in January – in which case you should report absence in the normal way. 
  • Should school receive a report of a positive result on or before Wednesday 23rd December, we will continue to contact trace so may advise families of the need to self-isolate should your child be a close contact.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank parents and carers for your support over the last term. The onset of the vaccination programme brings us great optimism regarding the return to normality in the future. However, in the meantime, we are very grateful for your support in ensuring we abide by
the guidance which enables us to limit the risk of transmission. I am sure we all acutely aware of the need to continue to do this over the coming weeks as we approach Christmas. 

May I wish all of our families a restful, safe and happy Christmas break. 

Kind regards

CEO
The Mast Academy Trust