TESTING will be a major factor in the return of students to Tenbury High School that starts on Monday.

The testing will not be of the kind normally associated with schools, but will involve checks to make sure that students do not come to school with Covid-19.

Vicki Dean, principal of the Tenbury High School Ormiston Academy and her staff, are keen to see some kind of return to normality but it will not be business as usual.

She has written to parents explaining about the testing that starts tomorrow.

“The Government has given secondary schools discretion as to how to phase the return to school over that week,” said Mrs Dean.

“Therefore, the plans for testing that will be by appointment involve each child coming into school at an allocated time to have their test.

“They will then return home and start school the next school day, as long as their test is negative.”

Mrs Dean said she understands that this may be difficult for some families but that it is the only way to ensure a safe return.

Pupils will need to wear masks to their test appointment and parents who are bringing their children to school will have to wait outside the gates for their children.

Mrs Dean said that whilst the hope is that there can be a start of a return to normal vigilance is still needed.

“The Government’s announcement indicates that we are tentatively returning to normal,” she added.

“However, I wanted to reiterate how alert we are to the continued risk of Covid-19.

“We will continue to adhere to stringent health and safety measures and your support in helping us be as safe as possible is much appreciated and will help ensure we stay open to all pupils, and keep your child, our staff, and you, safe. Our updated risk assessment will be published on the website in due course.”

Students who spent much of last year and the first two months of this, working from home will resume normal learning.

They will join students that have been considered vulnerable or are from families with key workers that have been coming into school during lockdown under controlled conditions.

Tenbury Ormiston High School has been providing an extensive programme of online lessons for students working from home.

At one point changes were made because it was thought some students might need to spend more time away from their computer screens.

This year, as was the case in 2020, there will be no GCSE exams and the grading will be determined by teachers.

The extent to which children’s education has been set back has still to be determined but no matter how well remote learning was delivered many regard it as ‘damage limitation’ with some students coping better than others.

Additional funding has been promised to help students to catch up.