Dear students, parents and carers,

It was very difficult writing to you this morning, sat in the UCC car park whilst I watched fire fighters bravely tackle the blaze tearing through the three story block of our school. This fire has had a devastating effect on our school community and has derailed our already complex re-opening plans. The fire investigation team are now carefully working their way through the areas of the school that have been damaged. We hope to receive the outcome of their investigations soon and following this we will require a structural engineer to assess the safety of the building and surrounding areas before we are allowed to let staff and student re-enter the school site. 

I have taken the decision to push back our start of term. This has been a difficult decision to make but we are not able to allow staff or students on site until we have a number of key safety assessments completed. Rushing through our re-start plans would be unsafe and we need the next week to ensure we can deliver our training days and phased return of students in the safest possible manner. The details are below:
 

Tuesday 1st September - Friday 18th September - all students will be studying from home. Teachers will set high quality lessons on SMHW for all students in Year 7, 8, 9, 10 and 11. 

Thursday 17th September - Staff in school for statutory training  

Friday 18th September - Staff in school for statutory training

Monday 21st September - Year 7 in school for Orientation Day (Year 8, 9, 10, 11 students studying from home)

Tuesday 22nd September - Year 7 in school in normal lessons. Year 11 in school for Orientation Day (Year 8, 9, 10 students studying from home)

Wednesday 23rd September - Year 11 in school in normal lessons. Year 8 in school for Orientation Day (Year 7, 9, 10 students studying from home)

Thursday 24th September - Year 11 in school in normal lessons. Year 9 in school for Orientation Day (Year 7, 8, 10 students studying from home)

Friday 25th September - Year 11 in school in normal lessons. Year 10 in school for Orientation Day (Year 7, 8, 9 students studying from home)

We are working hard to secure and install temporary classrooms on the school site, which will allow us to have all year groups in school each day. When we have more information I will send further updates out to you. Please rest assured we are doing everything we can to get your sons and daughters back to school as quickly as possible. We are distraught that our re-opening plans have been delayed and I appreciate the inconvenience this will cause families over the next few weeks. 

This event is yet another challenge for us to meet in 2020 but I know that if we remain positive and continue working together collectively as a school community, we will overcome this and re-establish our fantastic school culture very soon.

Thank you for your understanding, patience and support.

Yours faithfully,
Mr B Solly