Page 2 - Abberley Adventures - Feb 2022

ABBERLEY ADVENTURES
2
Covid
Thankfully, we have not had anywhere near as many positive cases this term as many school. Nationally, the number of people testing positive has reduced significantly but cases have risen in many schools due to the relaxation of the measures that were in place last year. Our low cases may be partially a result of the herd-immunity built up through the outbreak we had in November but I’m sure that we have been luck and so we do need to continue to be cautious.
There is much talked and written about the total lifting of restrictions but, until things become clearer, we continue to follow the Schools COVID-19 operational guidance, which was last updated on 19th January. To see this guidance, please click here. We continue to focus on hand and respiratory hygiene amongst all in our school community and to ensure careful and frequent cleaning regimes and plenty of ventilation in all communal areas.
We continue to test our Year 7 and 8 weekly and full boarders at school twice a week and, unless exempt, all other pupils in these year groups are expected to test at home twice a week. Parents should ensure that these tests continue to take place. We have some lateral flow test kits at school but we try to keep these for school use. Parents should be able to get hold of test kits for home use. For further advice about how to order kits online, click here.
School Values
Mr Besley has spoken at various times about his aim for the school community to agree on a set of shared Core-Values. These will be given central importance, they will be modelled by staff and woven through the fabric of all that we do as a school. Staff and children have been discussing these for over a year and children have voted for the values that they feel should be central to our school. People often talk of the famous Abberley Spirit. It is hard to define what exactly this is, but we have finally agreed that the following core-values are at the heart of what makes our school such a very special place:
Kindness, Collaboration, Courage, Adventure and Respect.
Mr Besley will be writing to parents next half of term with further details and he will be giving a talk in Yates’ Theatre about the importance of Value-Based Education. The date and time will be shared with you soon.
Pastoral
It has been fantastic to see the pupils throughout the school being able to mix more during their free time! Furthermore, there are plans to implement a peer listening system in the near future, which will provide greater opportunities for the older children to support the whole community.
Our School Council is important because it provides staff with feedback from all of our pupils. Earlier in the term, our Head Boy and Head Girl addressed the whole prep school and explained the actions that have been agreed through both the School Council and the Food Council. Our ICT and E-Safety councils have also met this term and we are considering the comments raised.
During the last week of this half term, the whole school participated in Place2Be’s Children’s Mental Health Awareness Week. Important topics were discussed and covered in assemblies and lessons. The highlight of the week was certainly the ‘Dress to Express’ day, which was very well supported and
helped to raised funds for the charity! During the same week, the older pupils discussed e-safety as part of Safer Internet Day.