31 March 2020

Dear Parents/Carers

We are now in week 2 of the national lockdown and I wanted to send you some information about how we are working.

Easter break
The school Easter break is supposed to start at the end of this week but we are continuing to staff the school for children who are in vulnerable groups or whose parents are key workers.   As you know, this is for those who have no alternative and I would like to thank you for understanding this which has meant that the numbers have been small and so enable us to practise social distancing and reduce risks for all including the staff.   The provision is set to continue through the Easter break with the exception of Good Friday and Easter Monday.   This means that staff will be taking their holidays in shifts at different times to the Easter holiday over the next four weeks.

GCSE and A Level grades
We are still waiting on information regarding how those due to be sitting GCSE exams and A Levels will be assessed and I will forward this information when we receive it.   It will inevitably include teacher assessment.   I would like to repeat my assurance that we will follow whatever guidance is provided to ensure that the grades we provide are arrived at fairly and robustly.   It is clear that after this they will possibly be amended and adjusted by examination boards.   We will not be able to inform you of the grades we submit for your child.

Work for students
As it is becoming clear we will not be reopening to students for a long time, it is important that they are able to continue with work whilst at home.   I know that this can be difficult for so many reasons including motivation and access to resources but please do your best to encourage your child to get into a routine of doing school work during the closure.  For the summer term, work will be posted in weekly folders for students and will be matched as closely as possible to topics they would have been studying if they were at school.   Staff will try to minimise the amount that needs downloading and provide answers to work where possible.   Please encourage your child to go online to access the work which will all be on Google classrooms (instructions are on the website).

Please do also do everything you can to keep your child safe online at this time when they are likely to be using the internet and social media even more than normal.   They will not have the filtering system that we have in school to protect them from accessing harmful websites.   There is lots of advice available for parents including the following:

• Childline – for support
• UK Safer Internet Centre – to report and remove harmful online content
• CEOP – for advice on making a report about online abuse

I do hope that you and your families are staying safe and well at this incredibly difficult time.   I look forward (and I am sure you do too) to the time when we can get back to some sort of normality and welcome your children back into school.   In the meantime, stay safe.

Best wishes

Ian Bryant
Headteacher