The King Edward VI School – Virtual Open Evening

As your child is now in Year 8 and will be moving on to the next phase of their education in September 2022 we wanted to share some information with you about our school and how to apply for a place.

It is of great disappointment that due to the number of cases currently in school, and subsequent guidance from Public Health England, we are unable to offer the opportunity for you to come and visit the school in person at this point. However, in order to help you make an informed decision about which school to apply to, we have produced a set of resources and information about the school.

• Welcome video
• Prospectus
• Parent Guide

We are really proud of our school and hope the information in the links above show you why this is the case.

The portal for applying for High School places in Northumberland is now open and closes at midnight on Sunday 31 October 2021. Further information about the admissions process can be found by following the link here. Final confirmation regarding the allocation of places is made on Tuesday 1 March 2022.

If you have any questions or queries relating to any of this information please do not hesitate to contact us on 01670 515415 or via email at [email protected].

Full details of the GCSE/A level exams 2022 consultation outcomes are here. A summary of the key changes are here.

In the event that exams can’t be held next summer, Ofqual have released a consultation about their contingency plan. The consultation is here if you would like to read it and submit a response. In summary, it is proposed that a teacher assessed grade process will be adopted. As such it is important that all students prepare fully for any assessments they have throughout Year 11 or Year 13.

The letter issued to all parents/carers and Y11/Y13 students, can be read in full here.

On his 17th birthday former student James McConnell, signed a 3 year professional contract with Liverpool Football Club. As a school we couldn’t be prouder of his journey. Further information can be found here. Good luck to James.

On Tuesday 14 September the Government announced that children aged 12-15 will be offered the Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine. 

This is now being rolled out in schools across Northumberland. It is anticipated that this will run alongside the flu vaccination programme which is also taking place within our school. Public Health England advises that there are no safety concerns and that COVID-19 vaccines can be given at the same time as other vaccines, including the nasal flu vaccine. It is standard practice for different vaccines to be given at the same time as each other.  This happens frequently with routine vaccinations that are given to children in the UK and other countries.

Please note that the School Age Immunisation Service (SAIS) team will be the primary provider of the vaccination programme and will be legally responsible for the delivery of the vaccine with the school being requested to provide the venue. All questions regarding the vaccine should be directed to them.

The letter issued to all Parents and Carers can be read in full here

Unfortunately, following my letter to you last week Covid cases continue to be high and we currently have 56 positive cases within the school community. 

We remain in regular contact with PHE who are monitoring our situation and they have advised us that given that all other prevention measures are already in place within the school and cases continue to rise, we now need to reintroduce face coverings within school. This will be for an initial period of two weeks when it will be reviewed in conjunction with PHE.

In response to this guidance we will therefore introduce the following school expectations for staff and students from Monday 27 September 2021:

• Staff and students are asked to wear masks at all times inside the building where social distancing is not possible
• This includes in classrooms, when moving between classrooms on corridors and in halls and communal areas at break and when queuing for food inside at dinner time
• Staff and students will be expected to use their own masks. The schools will retain a small stock of masks for those times when a mask is lost, damaged or forgotten
• We are aware that there are some students who cannot wear masks for medical reasons and we will continue to be sensitive to this situation

The letter to all parents/carers can be read in full here

In the week beginning 6 October 2021, all Year 11 students will be sitting GCSE standard assessments in Biology, Chemistry and Physics based on the topics covered to date. 

These progress tests will enable the Science department to assess understanding and will allow students to identify areas of weakness that they need to address. We would therefore strongly encourage all students to revise thoroughly for these progress tests, as along with performance throughout the year, these results will contribute toward predicted grades and help to confirm pathways and tiers of entry.

The letter to parents/carers can be read in full here

Unfortunately we currently have had 27 positive cases within the school community. We remain in contact with PHE who are monitoring our situation. The school remains open and your child should continue to attend as usual if they remain well.

Symptomatic Testing

If your child develops symptoms at any time they must book a PCR test via www.gov.uk/get-coronavirus-test. If your child tests positive on a PCR test at any time then please report immediately to school by emailing [email protected].

To read the letter issued to all parents/carers, can be read in full here

The School Aged Immunisation Team are offering your child the opportunity to receive their Nasal Flu immunisation in school on Wednesday 3 November 2021 as part of the childhood immunisation programme.

Further information regarding the immunisation programme can be found by following this link.

The letter, issued to parents/carers of students in years 9-11 can be read in full here

Read the full Morpeth Herald article here.