Welcome to Queen Elizabeth's High School
New information for students and parents/guardians, including wellbeing guidance can be found at: https://qehs.lincs.sch.uk/covid-19
Year 10 and Year 12 Parents/Guardians please complete the Parentmail Survey by 12pm Friday 22 May
School Closure Update
Dear Parents/Guardians
I cannot ignore the strange situation we all find ourselves in with regards to the closure of schools across the country and the debate currently running regarding whether schools should open.
I can personally see both sides of the argument. It is true that we need to start to open up society at some point and can’t remain in lock down indefinitely. Opening schools is part of that wider loosening of the lock-down and should be part of the debate. I, and all of the staff at QEHS are incredibly keen to get our wonderful school back up and running as usual again. We are missing the vibrant, exciting and busy atmosphere that pervades our everyday lives at school. Our amazing students are what make working at QEHS such a pleasure, and not working with them every day is really difficult. We would have been looking forward to final rehearsals for our school production of School of Rock, taking part in a variety of House Competitions and enjoying a whole range of exciting and interesting lessons in Term 6. So in short, I am sure we all miss being at school.
However, the Covid-19 virus seems to be very infectious and can be devastating for some people should they catch it. Lincolnshire has thus far been lucky in that we have one of the lowest infection rates of the whole country. That being said, parts of Lincolnshire are more severely affected such as Boston, and neighbouring counties, such as North Lincolnshire, have greater levels of infection. A number of our school community including staff and students have serious underlying health conditions, which means that we must protect them as much as possible from infection. We also need to be mindful of loved ones who are at greater risk should we pass the virus on to them.
I will not debate the politics of whether now is the right time to open schools; as a Headteacher of a state school I must do what the Government is asking me to do with regards to trying to open up society again, and to that end we intend to open for Years 10 and 12 by providing them with some face-to-face contact to supplement their continued learning at home. This opening will be carefully controlled starting on Monday 8 June and we will closely monitor how well our social distancing and hygiene procedures work. It cannot be denied that attending school for either staff or students brings more risks of infection than staying at home, no matter how many control measures we put into place. It is important therefore, that what we offer students attending school outweighs these greater risks and it will be up to individual parents and students whether they feel this is the case.
What I do know is that at some point, hopefully in the near future, we will again welcome back our wonderful staff and students with open arms and warmth and we can get back to the amazing job of supporting our students to become well-rounded, intelligent and well-educated young adults.
Mr D Allsop
Headteacher
Headteacher
Parental Guidance: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/closure-of-educational-settings-information-for-parents-and-carers/reopening-schools-and-other-educational-settings-from-1-june
Queen Elizabeth's High School
Welcome to the website of Queen Elizabeth's High School. QEHS is a school where children can grow and develop into successful young adults who are equipped with the knowledge, skills and qualifications to follow their dreams and aspirations. Qualifications are a key element of that success and our past results at both GCSE and A Level speak for themselves; we are regularly listed in The Times Top 200 Schools list. However, education is more than that, and here at QEHS we provide a safe environment in which young people can grow and learn who they are, what interests them and who they would like to be in the future.
