Dear Parents and Carers,

Today is an emotional day for us here. We have said goodbye to Year 13 as they prepare to move on to whatever lies in their futures. We are very proud of all they have achieved and the levels of maturity and determination they have shown over the course of this year. Many of those students have been at SWA for seven years. They have grown into a very impressive group of young people. We know they will go on to make us all proud and we look forward to hearing about their future successes.

We have also had Year 11’s last day of compulsory education on site. We will stay in touch with them for the first three weeks after the half term break with a tutor time on teams every morning and work set for them to do in preparation for their courses next year. We will look forward to seeing them again on the 25th of June for their official leavers’ day celebrations.

Most of the work for year 11 after half term is on the website now, but that deadline has been competing with a lot of others. It will certainly all be there by Monday 7th June. You can find by looking under the Students tab for Year 11 Prep Learning, or by following this link: https://samuelward.co.uk/a-level-and-vocational-prep-learning

We have finished the mammoth task of setting and marking all the assessments which have been required by the cancellation of public exams this year. We are now moderating and standardising all of those marks. It has been a huge job and teachers have done well to get it all done. Their job has been made easier by all of you keeping a respectful distance from the process. I know that in other schools, staff have come under a lot of pressure from parents to discuss possible and likely grades and even to change those grades.  We’ve had none of that and I’m very grateful to you for trusting us to get on with it and do it right.

I’m sure that your children are as tired as my own are. The return to school has been hard work for students but they have done a great job of it. In fact, they have been fantastic all year. Our young people are emerging from this period of disruption a more resilient, resourceful generation. They impress me every day. 

Covid notifications over half term

We hope you stay safe over the half term break. In the event that a child has a positive covid test result, we need you to let us know so we can inform anyone who was in contact at school that they need to self-isolate.

If your child receives a positive test this week, please let us know as normal. It is of course possible that a student who feels unwell this week might not get a test result back until Saturday or Sunday. From 4pm on Friday 28th May, the school office will be closed, so if a positive test comes back after that time, please contact the trust office and give details of the test result, when the child was last in school and when the first symptoms were observed. Where necessary, the school will get in contact with the families of other students who are likely to have been in close contact.

You can contact the trust office at:

When we trace contacts, we will only go back 48hrs from the first symptom or the positive test, whichever is earliest. The chart below will help you to decide whether you need to let us know.

Date of first symptom or positive test, whichever is earliest

Was your child in school on any of these dates?

Friday 28th May

Wednesday 27th

Thursday 28th

If yes, contact us

Saturday 29th May

Thursday 28th

Friday 29th

If yes, contact us

Sunday 30th May

Friday 29th

If yes, contact us

Monday 31st may

You child did not attend school within the 48hr window

There is no need to contact us

Tuesday 1st June

You child did not attend school within the 48hr window

There is no need to contact us

Wednesday 2nd June

You child did not attend school within the 48hr window

There is no need to contact us

Thursday 3rd June

You child did not attend school within the 48hr window

There is no need to contact us

Have good bank holiday weekend and a good half term break,

Andy Hunter

Headteacher