Headteacher's Update

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January 6th 2021

Dear Parents and Carers

Following the Prime Minister’s announcement of a new national lockdown and the closure of all schools to most students, I wanted to contact you with as much information as I can at this stage. Clearly, there are many things which are not certain at this point, but I will give you as much detail as I can now and update you with more information as we receive it.

Provision for the Children of Critical Workers and Vulnerable Students

The school remains open for the children of critical workers (a link to the updated list of critical workers in included at the end of this letter) and vulnerable students.

If you are a critical worker, require your child to be in school and have not yet been in contact with us then please email:

Students who are part of our critical worker and vulnerable student provision will not be taught in school but will be given access to IT facilities and stationery to complete the same remote learning as their classmates who are at home. Students attending school who are entitled to Free School Meals will have these provided in school. All other students in school can bring a packed lunch or purchase food if they wish.

Students attending school are not required to wear school uniform. They should wear warm clothes they are comfortable in and also suitable for doing some PE type activities.

If any students attending school have any symptoms of Covid they should remain at home and book a test, remaining at home until they have tested negative or completed the required period of isolation if they test positive. Please phone Mr Price on 07732800899 should any students attending school test positive for Covid.

As usual should any member of your household display any symptoms of Covid then students should be remaining at home.

Remote Learning

Throughout this time at home, students will receive daily lessons each period from their usual teacher following their normal timetable. These lessons will predominantly be using Microsoft Teams but could also include lessons where students work on directed tasks as set by the teacher. Live lessons being taught using Microsoft Teams are accessed using a link sent to students’ email accounts and can be viewed via laptop, tablet or mobile device.

Live lessons will begin at the times below, giving students and teachers increased gaps between lessons.

  • Period 1 – 9:15am
  • Period 2 – 10:15am
  • Period 3 – 11:35am
  • Period 4 – 12:35pm
  • Period 5 – 2:10pm

Please note that there will be no live lessons on Mondays period 5 to allow for staff training.

In the event that a teacher is unwell and unable to deliver a remote lesson we will try to ensure this is communicated to students on Show My Homework and that work is set.

Any IT issues

Any issues at all with the following:

  • Accessing Microsoft Teams
  • Logging on to email accounts to receive invites to lessons
  • Lack of IT equipment
  • Any general issues

Please contact Mr Cade at:

Phone: 0787479689

Contact from School

During this period we will be phoning home to check that students are happily engaging with remote learning. These calls will mainly be from tutors, but other colleagues may also be in touch. We will try to be in touch at least once a fortnight.

Exams

We will be writing separately to the parents of all year groups sitting exams this year with updates as soon as we have further detail from the Department for Education. What we know so far is that all exams scheduled for January are going ahead as planned. Other than that we await further guidance.

Free School Meals

Students learning at home who are entitled to Free School Meals can collect food parcels at 1pm each Monday, Wednesday and Friday from the side gate next to the Bistro.

Please do not hesitate to contact us if you have any queries.

All the best,
Mr Turze, Mr Price, Mr Cade