Update – Welsh Government Guidance regarding the wearing of face masks

27th November, 2020

Re: Wearing of Face Masks

Dear Parent/Carer,

As you may be aware, the Welsh Government has updated its guidance on the use of face coverings in schools and on dedicated school transport for secondary school pupils. I should however stipulate that this is just guidance and not policy.

Please be assured that as a school our main focus is the health and safety and wellbeing of our students and staff. However, after careful consideration and in consultation with our governing body, we have made the decision not to enforce the wearing of facemasks in outside areas whilst in school.

The main reasons for this are as follows:

· We already have stringent health and safety procedures in place across the school site to reduce risk of infection from COVID.

· We ensure that year groups do not mix and remain in their contact groups whilst outside on their lunch breaks.

· We believe that this would be detrimental to our students’ wellbeing.

We will continue to reinforce the Health & safety procedures that we currently have in place and also continue to insist that facemasks are worn in all indoor communal areas(unless a student is exempt). Students and staff are of course able to wear their face masks in outdoor areas if they so wish.

Please continue to follow the guidance and DO NOT send your child to school if they have any of the recognised COVID symptoms. As always, we thank you for your support in helping us keep our school community safe.

Yours sincerely

Jennifer Ford