You can download a copy of this letter as a PDF.
- March 30, 2022
Dear Year 9 and Year 10 Parent/Carer,
You may already be aware that a significant number of our staff are having to self-isolate, and last week we unfortunately reached the point where we could not safely staff the school.
Although there is no legal requirement for people who have tested positive for Covid-19 to self-isolate, there are still very clear guidelines in place for educational settings. These guidelines require any staff and students who test positive to stay away from school for between 5 and 10 days, dependent on having two consecutive clear LFD tests.
We have been asking certain year groups to work from home; Year 10 have not yet been affected by this because we have purposely tried to keep them in school. However, as staffing has not improved and other year groups have already missed face-to-face learning, we have been forced to include Year 10 in our considerations as well as Year 9 again.
For that reason, we are asking Year 9 and Year 10 students to remain at home with effect from Thursday 31st March, for the remainder of the week.
We fully expect all year groups to be in school when we return after the Easter break. In the meantime, work will be provided for all students, including “live” lessons delivered through Microsoft Teams. Further guidance on how this will work are attached below.
There are a small group of vulnerable students who will be able to work in school for the duration of time that their year group is unable to attend. The parents and carers of these students will be contacted directly by a member of the year team as soon as possible.
I realise that this will be inconvenient for you, but we are left with no choice at this moment in time. I can assure you that every action we take is aimed at keeping all members of our community safe and I ask for your cooperation in continuing to work with us as we move through this next phase of the pandemic.
Yours sincerely
Mr P Davies
Headteacher
Covid-19 Contingency Planning for Remote Curriculum Provision
What happens if a full year group needs to access remote learning?
Whilst students are not attending school, they will be advised to follow their normal timetable from home. Students will be expected to get up, get dressed and to be ready to access their lessons virtually, including form time. Where possible, teaching staff will deliver live lessons via Teams or a pre-recorded lesson. If a live lesson is not being delivered, work will be sent to the students. Students will need to check their Satchel One, their emails and Teams’ calendar daily to ensure they are receiving up-to-date information about their lessons and work.
In the main, the class teacher will take responsibility for the setting of work for their class; however, in the event of a class teacher’s absence due to illness, lessons may have to be assigned to other members of staff within a department.
Virtual lessons or recorded lessons will be carefully planned to facilitate independent study. Typically, the live delivery element of the lesson will last for 20-25 minutes. Teachers will provide explicit instruction, modelling and feedback for students. This will be followed by time to allow students to complete work independently. Teachers will provide clear and realistic deadlines for the submission of any work completed remotely.
All students have been shown how to access their work through the various platforms available in Office 365, notably Teams and Email. For students still unsure on how to access the features of Office 365, instructional videos can be found here. Parents will be able to monitor the work being set through Satchel One (previously known as Show My Homework)
Monitoring and support
Class teachers, Heads of Year and Heads of Faculty will all carefully monitor the engagement of students working remotely. Either the Head of Year or the classroom teachers will contact parents if there are any concerns with levels of engagement. Heads of Faculty are also closely monitoring the quality of provision as part of their routine quality assurance.