Friday 29^th January

Dear Parent/Carer

Many of our school community enjoyed fun in the snow on Sunday and Monday but that also unfortunately meant that our school site was incredibly dangerous: the site is on the side of a hill and is west-facing so the low winter sun barely appears over the top of the campus on some days. This meant that despite our best efforts and the use of a snow plough and gritter, the site only became safe mid-morning on Tuesday once temperatures started to increase.

It has been a very busy time at school, with staff trying to balance on-site and off-site provision. Last week we were able to offer places for on-site provision to 52 pupils and over 87% of our learners are currently engaging in activities with the school including accessing work packs, participation in online sessions and through attending on-site provision. That all just goes to show what an amazing job you are all doing at home – thank you for your hard work and for supporting our special young people to engage with education as much as possible.

We recognise that this period of lockdown can be very challenging and would continue to encourage Parents and Carers to develop some kind of routine so that your son/daughter has structure during these very strange times. Our school priority remains focussed on the health and wellbeing of pupils, staff and the whole school community, and we recognise that placing high demands on pupils can lead to conflict and challenging behaviour. If there is something that would make a positive difference to you or your child and you have any suggestions or recommendations for the school to consider then feel free to share these with school staff during your regular communications or by contacting us on 01656 815595.

YBC are launching an Around the World Challenge next week, where we will be joining together to virtually travel around the world. You just need to track the physical activity of you and your family each week in miles (for example from walking, running, cycling) and then share those with class staff to add to the overall progress each week. We are hoping this will be a positive way to enable everyone to work together towards achieving a fantastic goal, whilst improving our fitness levels and health and wellbeing.

I sincerely hope that all members of our school community who are currently unwell make a full recovery and that you and your family remain as safe and well as presently possible.

Thank you for your continued support: together we can achieve!

Mrs Helen Ridout