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Strike Action – Letter to Parents and Carers

  • April 25, 2023

Dear Parents and Carers

As you are probably aware from the media, the National Education Union (NEU) plans to strike for a further 2 days on 27th April and 2nd May.

I am writing to you now so that you have a clear indication of how these strikes are likely to affect the school. Due to the fact that a significant proportion of our teaching staff are members of the NEU, there will not be enough staff on site to ensure the safety of all 1300 students and so the school will have to close. The closure will be for the majority of students with the exception of Year 11 and a small number of Year 10 students.

The Year 7 Parents’ Evening that had been scheduled for Thursday 27th April has now been rescheduled to Thursday 11th May.

Arrangements for Year 11 and Year 10 – Thursday 27th April

To mitigate the impact of this strike day on students in Year 11 and some of Year 10, the following plans are being put in place.

Year 11

To support students in Year 11, we will be running a series of Walk Talk Examinations and Revision Master Classes throughout the day. Students need to arrive in school for 8:55 on Thursday and make their way to the Sports Hall. From here students will be directed to where they need to go.

  • Period 1 – Maths Master Class
  • Period 2 – English Walk Talk Mock
  • Period 3 – Science Master Class
  • Period 4 – History or Geography Master Class
  • Period 5 – French Walk Talk Mock. GCSE Music students not studying French will go to Music.

Students not involved in sessions during period 5 will be able to leave site at lunchtime.

For the Year 11 students who have been informed that they still need to register for cashless catering, they will need to arrive slightly earlier at 8:30 and make their way to the canteen.

Year 10

All Year 10 Hospitality and Catering Students should attend school between 8:55 and 1:15. They will be based in the Food Technology rooms working on their controlled assessment in preparation for final submission to the exam board.

Arrangements for Year 11 and Year 10 – Thursday 27th April

To mitigate the impact of this strike day on students in Year 11 and some of Year 10, the following plans are being put in place.

Year 11

Students need to arrive in school for 8:55 on Tuesday 2nd May and make their way to the Sports Hall. From here they will be directed where to go.

  • Period 1 – Maths Master Class
  • Period 2 – History or Geography Master Class
  • Periods 3 and 4 – Science Master Class
  • Period 5 – Spanish Master Class. GCSE Music students not studying Spanish will go to Music.

Students not involved in sessions during period 5 will be able to leave site at lunchtime. Lunch will be at the slightly earlier time of 12:45.

Year 10

  • All Year 10 Computer Science students should attend school between 8:55 and 11:00. They will be working on a computing assessment.
  • All Year 10 BTEC Performing Arts should attend school from 11:15 to 3:00 to complete an on-line computing assessment.

Thank-you for bearing with us at this time.

Yours sincerely,

Mr P Davies
Headteacher

How Yondr Works

Frequently Asked Questions

We want our students to be engaged in their learning. A child at high school should not really have a reason to contact a parent during the day; however, if there is a genuine reason e.g. they have forgotten their packed lunch, a phone call can be made home from the school office. If a parent needs to contact their child in an emergency, they should contact the school office. If you need to contact your child during the school day, contact the main office on 01942 883796.

In case of a school emergency, we direct our students to safety first, following our school emergency procedures.

 

Students are in possession of their phone - in their Yondr pouch - for the entire school day. We will advise students to store the pouch safely in their school bag or blazer pockets.

If a student damages their Pouch or is caught on their phone, we will confiscate the phone and issue a sanction which is likely to be a suspension.

Note: Damage consists of any signs that the physical integrity of the pouch has been compromised, whether intentional or unintentional, as determined by the school or Yondr staff.

Damaged pouches will be charged to parents at a cost of £20.

They will be searched and wanded with a handheld scanner by a member of SLT. If they are found to have their phone on their person they will be expected to place it in their pouch. Refusal will be met with suspension.

If a student forgets their Pouch, their phone will be confiscated.

As per our previous mobile phone policy;

  • Confiscated phones will be taken to reception where the phone will be secured in the school safe.
  • Parents will be alerted to the phone confiscation via the school office.

Parents will have the option to collect the phone at the end of the day. If parents do not collect the phone, the phone will remain in school until the end of the week or until the student has their pouch.

In Yondr’s experience, this almost never happens. All students funnel past the unlocking stations at the exits, they want their phones back and don’t forget to unlock their pouches. If they do arrive home with a phone in a pouch, they can either come back to school to unlock it, or have a phone free evening!

The unlocking process is quick and takes under a second per student. 

As a privilege, Year 11 will be able to unlock their phones as they go off site at lunchtime; however, they will be expected to put their phones back into their pouches when they return to school for period 5.

Yes. There is an adapted version of the pouch which uses a Velcro fastener instead of a magnetic lock. This means the student still follows the policy, but the adapted pouch gives them easy access to their phone when required. If the student abuses this, they will face a sanction. We are already aware of these students.

Your Office 365 account username is your school network account username followed by @flhs.wigan.sch.uk 
The password is the same password that you use in school to access computers.