Winchester Weekly

Following yesterday's announcement from the Prime Minister, we look forward to the return of boys to the school from Monday 8 March. As the Headmaster notes in his video, it will take time to turn the new government regulations into more detailed approaches. For example, the wearing of masks, more regular testing, and exam arrangements from Ofqual (expected on Thursday). We will share more information in next week’s newsletter, however, below is the essential information to help with planning your son’s return.

A staggered return

As communicated prior to Leave-out, the return will be staggered to allow for every boy to be tested for COVID-19 prior to entering their boarding house. As before, we will conduct the mass screening using SAMBA machines at our temporary test centre on Kingsgate Park (the site of our sports centre). The dates of return will be as follows;

• VI Book 1 (Year 13) 0800 - 1830 Monday 8 March
• V Book (Year 11) 0800 - 1830 Tuesday 9 March
• Junior Part (Year 9) 0800 - 1830 Wednesday 10 March
• Middle Part (Year 10) 0800 - 1830 Thursday 11 March
• VI Book 2 (Year 12) 0800 - 1830 Friday 12 March
• Overspill (any year group) - as required Saturday 13 March

There will be no teaching for any year group on the Monday and Tuesday (all day), or Wednesday (afternoon only). This will allow for staff training.

Given the difficulties involved in establishing the school bubble, there will be no exeat on Friday 12 – Sunday 14 March. The downtime on 8, 9, 10 February is partly to compensate for this and also to allow for staff training. 

To access the booking form for your son's test, please click here. A short video of what to expect when you arrive for your son's test can be found here.

International pupils

In our previous communication, we tried to provide some certainty, especially for those in public exam years, by strongly advising against returning in March for any pupils requiring an international flight into the UK. We continue to believe that the return in March for international pupils is particularly complicated by the UK quarantine rules. The limited time remaining until the end of term makes it difficult to justify the additional complications. We are therefore focussing on the return of international pupils in Cloister Time, and we set out some more details of what we hope to provide here.

If you have any questions related to your son's return, please contact us at covidenquiries@wincoll.ac.uk.

Best wishes, 

Dr John Cullerne, Undermaster

Public examinations - As outlined above, we await guidance from Ofqual regarding the approach to be taken to Teacher Assessed Grades. We will provide further information as soon as we know more. Boys in V Book and VI Book 1 have received guidance from myself and the Heads of Department regarding the approach to mock exams at the end of this term.

V Book Parents’ Evening (PE3) - PE3 will take place remotely this coming Sunday 28 February, and parents should have received a letter outlining the arrangements which can also be found here. Please contact us with any questions or queries. 

VI Book 1 Parents’ Evening (PE5) - PE5 will take place remotely on Sunday 7 March, and parents will be sent a letter outlining the arrangements on Monday 1 March.  

Middle Part Exams - Middle Part exams, originally scheduled for Common Time, will be postponed until next term so that they can be conducted under controlled conditions when boys are back in school. We hope that parents will appreciate that exact dates and timings can only be finalised once we have the full picture regarding the TAG process for boys in V Book and VI Book 1.  

Middle Part Parents’ Evening (PE2) - PE2 will be postponed from 26 February until after Middle Part exams are completed during Cloister Time.

Dr Tom Thomas, Director of Studies