Latest News from Upper Shirley High School, USH, Southampton Hampshire

Welcome from Mr Woods

Dear Parents and Carers

IMPORTANT MESSAGE ABOUT SCHOOL START TIMES

Thank you for supporting excellent attendance, punctuality and uniform this week. Your collective efforts, goodwill and cooperation are ensuring children embed our new routines well.

We appreciate that there is a distinct sense of ‘rules and control’ but this is designed so all feel safe, calm and secure at USH.

We appreciate that morning routines at home are having to adapt to the new start times and some families have multiple drop-off. Timings are crucial to ensuring year groups do not mix, so whilst historically being early for school was a virtue, children must time their departure from home so they arrive at their correct time and we will not allocate ‘holding bays’ for students arriving early. This is for the following reasons:

1. To offer certain students early arrival would erode the safety measures which staggered starts are designed to uphold.

2. Staff are at full capacity in supervising the already very complex daily schedule and we simply do not have more staff to supervise those who arrive more than 5 mins early.

3. We do not have space to separate 5 year groups in this way.

4. The new start times need to be accepted and established for all. Start times are one of many necessary measures to keep everyone safe and we must keep this structure secure.

Regards

Mr Woods

Covid Security

There have been a lot of changes to the school site over the summer holidays.

Social distancing is most important and there are reminders of this even before you enter school.

Our orange footprint spots show the safe distance to stand to ensure students and staff are safe if they have to queue. These are place all around the school; from Reception, in the canteen and beyond!

We have introduced a one-way system around the school and have arrows and signage all around to remind everyone of this.

The best way to safeguard against contracting Coronavirus is hand hygiene and there are sanitising stations in every classroom. Students are asked to sanitise hands on entering the classroom and to wipe down the desk and chair they have used at the end of a lesson. Before leaving the classroom students should be sanitising hands again and putting on a face covering.

If students need to visit the Medical Room they will see that we have added individual booths.

A new cleaning provision is being implemented thoughout the day to ensure that high risk contact points (door handles, taps, toilets, etc.) are being thoroughly cleaned.

We are monitoring our new systems and procedures constantly and making small adjustments to them as required to ensure the safety of our students, staff and the wider community.