01.04.2020 Update from Ms Moore

Dear Parents/Carers

Just a quick update for you in these strange times.

Firstly, thank you for keeping your children safe at home. Their health and wellbeing is more important than anything else. Our support for learning team and pastoral team have been trying to keep in touch with some of our more vulnerable children and form tutors have set up a google classroom just to help tutor groups with communication.

Thank you too for those of you who have made the time to support your children in accessing the work being set by teaching staff. If you do have any problems with this, please let us know via enquiries. Most staff are using google classroom and students are able to message specific queries via that platform. We will upload onto the website a handy children’s guide prepared by one of our parents – thank you Mrs Smith! Please do not get stressed about doing the work and please make sure your children are not working late at night. I appreciate that some of you may have been self-isolating while others have made use of the fine weather rather than being inside all the time. School work may not have been a priority for you yet. After the Easter break, we will ask teachers to let us know if any students have not submitted or accessed work. We will then be in touch with parents if necessary.

Just a reminder that teachers will only be available between 9am and 4pm during term time and not through the Easter holidays. The enquiries email is being processed during those hours too. Assuming that your child has been working over last week and this, then he or she should not need to work over the holiday period either.

School will be open with only 2 members of staff over the Easter holiday, including the 2 bank holidays, to look after any children of key workers who don’t have any other options. I really appreciate that almost all parents have been able to make alternative arrangements. It is safer for children to be at home. It would be very helpful if you could let us know if and when your children are going to be in school so that if necessary I can call on another member of staff. We will be serving free school meals during the holiday as we are at present.

We are still awaiting definitive guidelines from Ofqual and the exam boards to instruct us on how to arrive at predicted grades for students in Y11 and Y13. It looks likely that it will be based partly on mocks and partly on class work and/or coursework. Once we know for sure, we will let you know. In the meantime, if students have any work that has not been done which should have already been done this should be completed as a matter of urgency.

Thank you again for your support and for the many kind comments and feedback you have sent us. I hope you and your families stay well.

Sue Moore
Head
1st April 2020