I hope you and your family are well. Our students continue to be positive and engaged and the atmosphere in school is calm and purposeful. Please pass on our thanks to our wonderful young people. 

 

Attendance 

Attendance is holding up. Please continue to inform us of any children with symptoms or any positive tests (there have been none yet). You can find full information about what to do if your child is ill on our attendance page at: https://www.hopevalley-chorustrust.org/attendance - this page also has the link to the online absence form which you should fill in for any absence, as well as contacting us directly.  We have updated our Virtual School page too – each subject area has outlined the topics for the term and included links to work so it should be easier to find work for students who are self-isolating.

 

PE kit

A reminder from the PE department, our PE kit is: 

• Green football/rugby socks 
• Black sports trousers/shorts 
• White polo shirt 
• Black rugby jumper/sports jumper 
• Indoor/outdoor trainers 

No school jumpers or uniform are to be worn in lessons. All students must get changed, even if they are injured. 

 

School catering 

Since returning to school in September the catering team have had to simplify the menu while adjusting to serving in two halls. From next week there will be a new two-week menu which adds more variety and cold options. You can view it on our catering webpage at: https://www.hopevalley-chorustrust.org/catering 

The team has used the opportunity to also carry out an internal audit on how they comply with School Food Standards. These standards were mandatory guidance introduced in 2015 to ensure children received a healthy and varied diet whilst in school. These changes may be disappointing to children (no chocolate!) but will ensure that they have a range of interesting and healthy choices. 

Please be assured that we keep a close eye on our catering arrangements. Even with the new system, we have not had any days where we have run out of food. We are also waiting for a new member of staff to join the catering team. When they are back up to full capacity they will be able to return to dishwashing and therefore avoid using disposable utensils. 

 

WisePay 

The WisePay site is back up but, as you will know from the letters we sent out, they suffered a data breach. I am really sorry if you were affected by this.  

It is taking some time for the WisePay service to return to normal. Anyone struggling to reset their password should email our finance team at: finance@hopevalley.derbyshire.sch.uk and they will send a password reset email. Please ensure you put the student name in your email so we can identify the relevant account. 

 

Safety 

Finally, a reminder about safety. Please ensure your child brings a new/clean mask to school every day. Also, please remind your child that hand sanitiser is only to be used on hands and can be dangerous if used inappropriately. 

 

I wish you a restful weekend. Thank you for your continued support and kind messages – it really helps to know that we have a positive community.

Best wishes, 

Gaynor Jones
Principal