Happy New Year. I hope you’ve all had a good break and a safe Christmas. I cannot believe that 2020 has gone and we are starting this new year in a very different way.

In the time in between Christmas and New Year we were busy planning and looking ahead at the new term. Mr Quinn has been working around the clock with other national leaders to ensure the best outcomes for our young people and then Boris dropped the bombshell of another National Lockdown!!

The decision to move to 2 logistics days was to ensure that:

• The staff team were ready to deliver our blended offer
• The students were made aware of what they would be doing and when
• Families and carers were made aware of the offer
• Our Risk Assessments were detailed, and we ensured that we are endeavouring to minimise any risk and taking preventative measures to stop the virus spread

So, when we returned to the Project on Wednesday it was brilliant to see how this plan will ensure we are safe but also that all progress is monitored and evaluated against students’ EHCP STEP targets.

Our New Schooling offer has been created to keep students engaged and students and staff alike safe. All students will have a Virtual offer working with different teachers on specific days learning the core subjects. We have an onsite offer for some of our most vulnerable students and the children of keyworkers. We also have a group of Year 12 students accessing vocational training providers so that they can keep developing their workplace skills. Each day has been carefully risk assessed so that we can cater for all students’ needs. We will also be making daily safeguarding calls to ensure that families, not just the students, are as happy as possible in this difficult time.

In this time, we are asking again everyone to be safe. This strain of virus has unfortunately had a massive effect on everyone, so we are asking everyone AGAIN:

• Face – to wear a mask
• Space – to keep a distance
• Hands – to wash hands at all times to prevent the spread
• When you are at home – to stay at home, not mix households and only go out for essential items

The world is a different place. At the moment we have to live in a different way to STOP the spread of this virus, so we are able to return to some kind of normal.

Finally, I was sat in a meeting on Thursday when there was a comment made by a key worker to our staff team, which really brought ‘home’ how hard our staff team work to get THE best outcomes around ALL our young people:

“I want to say that what you are doing with this student is brilliant and is the right option. Thank you.”

I want to also take this opportunity to say thank you to our parents, carers and key partners for their patience at this very testing time, and finally to my staff team who have worked tirelessly to ensure our Springboard students are nurtured and more importantly safe.

Mrs Tootill
Springboard Project

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