Covid-19

Update 03/07/2020

Dear Parents/Carers

It has been wonderful to have so many students back in school since the 15thJune, and following yesterday’s announcement we can finalise our planning ahead of September.

You will be aware that Gavin Williamson, Secretary of State for Education, has revealed the plans for opening up schools to all students in the new academic year. You can read his statement here.

Guidance has also been published by the DfE on what you as parents/carers need to know about the autumn term. This can be found here.

We are pleased that schools are being asked to welcome all students back in September. Our students have been sorely missed and we cannot wait to have their humour  and endeavour back in the classrooms. We will be writing to you shortly to update you on our plans for September. We want to make sure that we can answer the many questions that I am sure you will have. Thank you for your patience while we finalise details with Staff and Governors.

You may also be aware that Ofqual has launched a consultation regarding the examination season next Summer. The consultation can be found here. There are a number of proposals linked to the format and content of next year’s assessments for GCSE and A-levels.

Finally, you will also know that Ofqual has published its decisions following its consultation on the Autumn exam series for students who would have been taking exams this Summer. The decisions can be found here. We will be writing directly to Year 11 and 13 students and their parents/carers next week regarding the current arrangements for Results Days and the associated activities that follow.

As always, thank you for your ongoing support.
Kind regards,

Angus Neal

Update 02/07/2020 - Letter for July 15th, For Year 7, 8 9 

Update 09/06/2020 - Risk Assessment - School Reopening

Update 27/05/2020 - Year 10's

Update 14/05/2020 FOR YEAR 7,8,9,11

Dear Parents/Carers,

I hope that your household
are keeping safe and well. As you will have seen, the government have announced
for schools to re-open for Year 10 only as of Monday June 1st.  As your child is not in year 10, we will
continue to set work remotely through show my homework to enable your child to
continue their learning at home in the safest environment for them.  We obviously at this stage do not know what
education will look like in September, however, closer to the time, details
about re-integrating your child back into school will be shared with
yourselves.

Whilst we are in
unprecedented times, can I thank you for the tremendous effort you are showing
by supporting your child’s learning and ensuring they still are kept in some
form of regime so they are ready to return to education.

Your child’s tutor will be
contacting each child via email on a weekly basis to have a very quick catch up
with them and support any issues they may be having.  If you have any other queries, please contact
the school either on the school number or via the school email address.

Take care and keep safe,

Angus Neal

Headteacher

Update 14/05/2020 FOR YEAR 10 ONLY

Dear Parent/Carer,

I hope that your household is keeping safe and well. As you
will have heard, the government have decided to bring Year 10 students back
into school as of Monday June 1st for what they phrase as “face to
face” conversations. Whilst a lot of parents, staff and students will be
apprehensive about a return to school, I want to outline what the
practicalities will be with regards to students returning, so that you can make
an informed choice about letting your child return. We are all in agreement
that for the benefit of a child’s education being in school is the ideal. However,
this needs to be balanced with the welfare of the students and staff within
school.

The re-integration of year 10 pupils will occur as of Monday
June 1st and will occur in two phases which will be explained below:

Phase one

Between now and next week your child’s tutor will be in
contact with you  via email to arrange
for your child to come into school( dates below) for a one to one meeting with
themselves for roughly 30 minutes. This will enable dialogue to occur and
ascertain any issues your child may have been having during the lockdown
period. The appointment will be on a day allocated to the tutor group so the
appointment can be made on the same day for the tutor as detailed below:

Monday 1st June Tuesday 2nd June Wednesday 3rd June Thursday 4th June Friday 5th June
Tutor Groups 1 8 15 21 27
2 9 16 22 28
3 10 17 23 29
4 11 18 24 30
5 12 19 25 31
6 13 20 26 32
7 14

This session is purely for students and no parents are
allowed to be on site, this includes coming into reception so we can limit
contact. Once your child has had their appointment they are free to come home
and must not hang around to socialise with friends.

Phase two.

As of Monday 8th June until Thursday 9th
July a programme of academic tutorials will be taking place over the 5 week
period. In order for social distancing to be maintained this will require your
child to attend school for either a morning or afternoon session lasting for 2
hour 30mins. This will be roughly twice per week. The sessions will cover all
subject areas and will focus upon tackling any misconceptions pupils have had,
particularly difficult content and content which will prepare them for future
work. In the interests of welfare, the group sizes will not exceed more than 6
pupils.  The full programme of when you
child will be needed in school will be sent out to you at a later date, once we
have established which students will be coming back in and which ones are
staying at home. On making your decision please be advised that if you decide
to keep your child at home there will not be a facility to send them in if you
change your mind as this situation is very difficult to logistically organise.  Any late returns will not be accepted, please
complete the survey by Monday 18th May. The link is at the bottom of
the letter.

Risk assessments

To re-assure you of the welfare of your child whilst in
school I want to highlight what procedures your child must adhere to whilst on
site:

  • All student coming onto site will access the
    school through the food technology room doors at the front of school. There may
    be a queue and students will wait 2m apart as specified by the markings.
  • Before entering the building all pupils will
    have their temperature checked. Any with high temperatures will not be
    permitted on site.
  • On entering the building all students will be
    required to thoroughly wash their hands at a wash station and will then go
    straight to their tutor room or teaching room depending on phase one or two.
    All students know where they are going as it is their normal timetabled
    classroom.
  • In the classroom students will sit at their allocated
    desk and will be kept two metres apart at all times.
  • On departure students will be staggered to leave
    the classroom and must go straight out of the building and home.
  • All desks are sanitised at night. Each student
    will have their own desk and any desk used by a student in the morning will not
    be used by a student in the afternoon.
  • All doors will be wedged open so no contact is
    to be made with the door handle.
  • Pupils must take all work issued with them and
    not leave anything on their desks.

We will have other pupils on site who
are either critical workers children or vulnerable. These will be separated and
socialising with this pupils is also not permitted.

I hope that whilst these measures
seem stringent, I am hoping you will be re-assured that they will be sufficient
in preventing any contamination.

On a final note, if any student
does not adhere to any of the guidelines set out then they will not be
permitted back onto site until September. These are very challenging times and
I am sure you will re-iterate to your son or daughter the need to behave in a
mature fashion for the sake of all concerned.

I look forward to welcoming year 10
back into school so we can enable them to be prepared for next year’s exams.

It is vital that you let us know if
your child will be returning to school or not by Monday 18th May.
Please click on the link below to complete the survey. Any non-completion will
result in a phone call from our EWO as it is a legal requirement to inform
school of attendance at school. This only needs to be completed once.

https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/VDSK88T

Take care and keep safe,
Angus Neal

Update 15/04/2020

Letter for Parents re-exams

Update 01/04/2020

A reminder of the safeguarding information that was sent out at the start of the school closure. In particular, parents please ensure that you undertake all the usual checks when using the services of any online tutors.

Safeguarding:

We are conscious that we will still want to support students’ welfare even when operating a remote learning environment. To that end, students and parents can still raise any concerns with school or through to the DSL’s who will be on site every day. The best method of communication is via the Sharp system which can be found on our website. We are very conscious that our young people are entering unknown territory where many adults are as unsure as they are. If you can share  the following services to them:

These are available to all and are there to support all young people.

Update 2 Saturday 21st March

Many thanks to all parents for their support at this time.

The advice from the government remains the same – if you are able to keep your child safely at home then please do so.

All parents who are entitled to a place in the emergency provision have been sent a letter by email. If you have not received a letter and were expecting one, please use the contact us form on the website to let us know.

We are keen to support our key worker colleagues as best we can for as long as we can. For that reason we are limiting the number of staff and students on site to those who absolutely have to be there. We are attempting to provide an extended provision to cater for key workers who are working shifts or additional hours. The setting will therefore be open from 8-8.

Update 1 Saturday 21st March

Dear Parents/Carers,

 School Closure

 As of 2.40 pm yesterday afternoon, school closed its doors until further notice. You will have received regular communications from us over the last week, including the letter about Key Workers and Vulnerable Children via the website. However, I wanted to outline to you in one document the steps we’ve taken to prepare for this event and set out the expectations we have for students during this period of school closure. That said, it’s unlikely that we’ve thought of every scenario, therefore we will continue to update you. Importantly, the first thing to highlight is that whilst we will do our best to provide positive student engagement and learning, we cannot replicate a normal school experience. In addition, every student and teacher will have very differing experiences, due to their personal or family settings. This could mean that some staff will have childcare responsibilities which limit their ability to do anything other than set basic work. Some students and staff will have computer access for the whole time and others possibly piecemeal access. Furthermore, students and staff may well fall ill. All of these are outside of our control. It is, therefore, imperative that parents/carers and students are realistic and demonstrate empathy at this time. We have not experienced this before. It will require us all to be understanding and kind.

Remote learning

 Staff will set work via Show my homework. The ideal is that staff will set work for every lesson as per the student’s timetable: please note this is an ideal! Staff have been asked to set work for no more than a week if this is not possible. Set work might be a task that students need to get on with independently or a collaborative task. Please note there is no expectation that staff use interactive platforms. Some staff have been developing their practice through using these platforms as a result of our new IT infrastructure; others have not. The students will, therefore, have a mixed diet, just as they would in school. We will try to provide a blend of computer, paper based work and other activities/tasks. Staff have been asked to ensure that in communicating work to students they indicate:

• A clearly defined task and the recommended resources/sites to use

• A clearly defined outcome

 • A deadline for completion and if return is expected

• How feedback will be given

The range of tasks set by staff will vary based on their ability to access technology, working space at home etc. Work should not be set for weeks at a time, as we are conscious about sustaining student engagement. If students have issues with their work, then they will need to email the member of staff about this during school hours (8.25 am-2.40 pm), but only after checking with their friends and the resources available to them. The member of staff will then respond as soon as they are able to dependent upon their individual capability. Staff have been asked to communicate between the hours of 8.30 am and 2.40 pm. However, in light of restrictions on their availability, they may need to set work outside or respond outside of these times. Students must not deviate from contacting staff between 8.30 am and 2.40 pm regardless. We strongly encourage our students to keep active during the day and have breaks from their laptops or mobile phones. We also recognise the importance of contact with friends and peers. We hope that parents/carers will talk to their children about how to manage their working day when self-isolating, ensuring social distancing measures are adhered to.

 Safeguarding:

We are conscious that we will still want to support students’ welfare even when operating a remote learning environment. To that end, students and parents can still raise any concerns with school or through to the DSL’s who will be on site every day. The best method of communication is via the Sharp system which can be found on our website. We are very conscious that our young people are entering unknown territory where many adults are as unsure as they are. If you can share  the following services to them:

 • Kooth – https://www.kooth.com

 • Childline – https://www.childline.org.uk/ – call 0800 1111

 • Samaritans – https://www.samaritans.org/ – call 116 123

 • Shout – https://www.giveusashout.org/

These are available to all and are there to support all young people.

 If a student is ill then please email absences in the usual way. We can then ensure that subject teachers are made aware.

Exams:

The news regarding the cancellation of GCSE and A-level exams will have hit both the Year 11’s and Year 13’s hard. We are disappointed on their behalf. We know that they have worked hard and will have seen the exams as the end goal and a validation of all their hard work. In light of the announcements in the press, it is important that for the time being our examination classes continue to complete their work as set by their subject teachers. This will allow us to continue to assess and judge where they are in relation to grade boundaries. Please do, therefore, encourage your child to focus on his/her studies. We believe that the Government will be true to their word that this situation will not disadvantage our young people. We are pleased to see that the universities are being proactive in contacting those holding offers. Year 11 and Year 13 are in a very good position ahead of this closure. Please remind them of this. They need to remain focused on what is in their control and that’s working in the best way they can until directed to stop. When we return we will need to arrange for textbooks etc to be returned to school. Details will follow as and when that becomes possible.

 IT Support:

We are able to provide a basic remote IT helpdesk facility, if students are encountering problems accessing any school system from home. If they have any specific issues relating to this, you can  email enquiries@holytrinity.academy, clearly stating their name and form.

Appropriate use of IT:

Please remind your son/daughter about e-safety. You can access advice and guidance via https://www.thinkuknow.co.uk/. Students are not to take photos or record (visually or audio) any video conferencing functionality staff provide. We have also informed staff that they will not be able to conduct 1:1 video conferences or calls, unless it is a Designated Safeguarding Lead.

 Resources:

 Whilst students will be provided with materials from staff, below are a sample of resources that students can access if they encounter problems with materials at any point. Failing that they can always read a book!

• https://www.senecalearning.com

• Hegarty Maths: supplement school maths lessons by providing homework practice

 • Quizlet: a spaced repetition flashcard app

 • Memrise: a language learning app

  • BBC Bitesize
  • GCSE POD
  • My Maths
  • Mathsgenie

A full list of other websites was shared with your child during an assembly. These are all on our school website for you to access.

Please remember that we are still here for your son/daughter and you. We have been touched by the many kind messages that have come into school thanking us for the support we have given your child and our communications with you. Thank you in turn: these messages are genuinely appreciated by all of us.

Kind regards

Angus Neal