Following a change in Government guidance, the earlier national recommendation that face masks should be worn in classrooms has been lifted.
In a special message, Deputy Head (Pastoral) David Ryan sets out below for the boys what this does – and does not – mean for daily life at QE, while adding a few further pointers for families on staying Covid-safe.
For the boys
A change in Government guidance means that as of Monday 17th May, there is no longer a recommendation to wear masks when you are in classrooms.
Keeping our School community safe has, and continues to be, our main focus as we deal with the Covid-19 pandemic. Therefore, could we ask you to be aware of the following:
- You may still wear a mask in a lesson if you choose to do so. Also, please do be aware that there are others in our school community who continue to need to do so.
- There may be some lessons in which you are asked to wear your mask; please do so where this is the case.
- We may, of course, be advised to reintroduce mask-wearing for a temporary period in response to a localised Covid outbreak. Were this to be the case, we would advise you to do so from the start of the School day.
- Thank you for the responsible attitude you have already shown in continuing to wear masks in corridors. We will ask you to carry on doing so until further notice: this allows us to maintain a high degree of Covid safety as different year groups mix.
For all QE families
As the national situation improves, I am pleased that we have now been able to return to a single, School-wide lunchtime, albeit while maintaining the year-group bubbles for eating and for extra-curricular activities.
May I appeal to you to continue to ‘play your part: help control the virus‘; is it important that we remain vigilant as a School community, still adhering to our three key messages: Please keep your distance, Wash your hands, and Catch it, bin it, kill it. Further details may be found in our Back to School Guide 2021.
I would like to remind families and older pupils to register their home-test results with the Test Register system, as well as with the Government website.
Finally, may I also remind drivers of our short list of traffic and travel dos and don’ts. We are keen to keep all pedestrians safe and to maintain good relations with our neighbours, so we strongly request that you comply with these simple rules.
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