Letter from Mrs Williams 27 November
27 Nov 2020
Dear Parents and Carers
I hope that this finds you all safe and well. Yesterday it was announced that despite the lockdown ending on Wednesday next week, we in North West Leicestershire will be entering Tier 3.
As we approach the festive season we must remain positive, follow the guidance as much as possible and keep on going. Hopefully, we will move out of Tier 3 at some time in the near future. I am determined to stay focused on this.
It has certainly been a busy few weeks in college. Despite the small number of positive cases, all year groups have now experienced some sort of temporary closure. We hope that this will lessen over the next few weeks and we will continue to encourage all staff and students to wash hands, cover faces and make space.
When I visit lessons or chat with students at lunchtime I continue to be proud of their resilience and positivity. This is coupled with the commitment from the whole staff to ensure the continuation of the smooth running of the college.
Remote Learning
Unfortunately, over the past few weeks each year group have had a minimum of two days isolation. Whether students are staying at home for short or the fourteen day isolation period. Unless they are unwell, the expectation is that students complete the work set via online platforms or through Foldr lessons, or a blend of both.
It is important that students continue to work at home whilst self- isolating. During this time, teachers will email work to the student’s school email. In addition, all students have access to a number of online platforms including MyMaths, Read Theory, Seneca, Active Learn and Focus on sound. Lessons and resources are also on FoldR – please see the Remote Learning tab on the website for all log in and password information.
All teachers have been working on creating accessible, challenging lessons and resources which follow our current curriculum. It is therefore extremely important that students at home are completing work, sending it back to their teacher for feedback as appropriate and completing activities set on the online platforms.
We suggest that students follow their usual timetable however this is guidance and in some cases lessons on Foldr may cover more than one, hour long period. The government expectation for home learning is currently 4 hours per day. For some students, shorter sessions across the subjects is more realistic.
Teachers and students can interact via the student emails. At times teachers will invite their groups to join Teams meetings online. These may be used to launch a new topic or project or to offer support and feedback. Please encourage students to participate in these meetings. Failure to participate could mean missing vital information required to complete a task. Please check that whilst self- isolating students record any meetings or deadlines in their planners. This should help them to stay organised which we know can be difficult without the structure of the college day.
For any students with Educational Health Care Plans our student support team and learning mentor will endeavour to call and students self- isolating during the 14 day period to ensure that they are well and able to access the home learning.
We do appreciate that you may have to juggle your own work, childcare and home schooling which is a challenge in itself. Please do not hesitate to contact the college if you need additional support.
Lunchtime
As you know since the return to school the lunchtime for all has been reduced to 30 minutes. This has proved to be ample time for students and staff to eat, have a change of scenery from their bubble and a visit to the toilet.
The pre-ordering of meal deals/grab bags has been honed over the last term by Mrs Woodward and her team and I would like to thank those of you who use the system for your help in making this happen. I would also like to congratulate Mrs Woodward on the 5 stars gained on the recent Food Standards Agency inspection. Well done to you all.
Lunchtime is not exactly how it used to be, on duty, I enjoy seeing our students enjoying some fresh air, catching up with friends and eating a balanced lunch. We will continue to review our options as and when any Covid restrictions are lifted. In the same way we will continue to adapt the meal options available.
Let the festivities begin!
Whilst we cannot celebrate the run up to Christmas in the usual way there are lots of activities going on for all to get involved in and to enjoy:
- Miss Moore is running an art project around “The 12 days of Christmas”. We hope that you will be able to see our student’s work on the high street in Ibstock throughout this festive period.
- Staff have been collecting donations for the food bank and for some of our families in need. If you would like to donate any Christmas treats, tins or other food cupboard items please send them to your childs Pastoral Manager. Thank you.
- During the final week of term we will be holding our celebration assemblies online during tutorial to celebrate the fantastic successes of our students throughout this term. The focus will be around our college motto “Respect and Pride brings Success” and the RESPECT standards.
- Look out for our festive lunch menu and students will be entertained with their favourite Christmas songs over lunch time.
- Don’t forget the college day finishes at 2pm on Friday 18 December 2020.
With best wishes
Sophie Williams
Head of School
