Dear Parents/Carers and Year 10 Students

Year 10 return: – Following the announcement by the Prime Minister on Sunday 24^th May regarding the return of Year 10 and 12 pupils, I have received further guidance from the Department of Education on how this is to be implemented.  Clearly as a result of this guidance, the school is having to adjust the draft plans for year 10.  Over the next week, more steps will be taken to prepare the school for Year 10 to return.  I will share the plans  with you next week.  I will also produce a short video to show how the school site is ready for the return of Year 10 students.

Key points from the secondary guidance are as follows:

• Any plans that secondary schools have made for pupils to return earlier in June should be amended to commence from 15 June.
• Secondary schools should offer this face-to-face support to supplement the remote education of Year 10 and Year 12 pupils, which should remain the predominant mode of education during this term for pupils in these year groups.
• Schools are able to have a quarter of the Year 10 and Year 12 cohort (for schools with sixth forms) in school at any one time.
• Secondary schools should aim to practise social distancing in line with the measures the government is asking everyone to adopt in public and in workplaces, including keeping pupils 2 metres apart from each other where possible.
• Ensuring sufficient distance between pupils is likely to mean classes are no more than half their usual size.
• Mixing between different groups of pupils should be kept to a minimum.
• Where rotas are used, secondary schools should avoid split day rotas within the same day and ensure that only a quarter of children are ever in the school on any one day. Vulnerable children and children of critical workers in all year groups should still be encouraged to attend full-time.
• Within the guidance above, schools have the flexibility to implement face-to-face support for Year 10 and Year 12 pupils in the way that best suits their circumstances.
• Vulnerable children and children of critical workers in other year groups should be accommodated as currently.

M J Serridge

Thank you for completing the google form that was sent through on Monday. After careful consideration, I have decided that the earliest we will consider opening for year 10 students in any form will be the week beginning the 8th June. The 1st June was always more an ambition than an expectation and I can state categorically that Harrow Way students (except those already being accommodated) will not be back in School that week.

Since the Prime Minister’s announcement on the 10th May and the subsequent release of guidelines covering so many areas of life and particularly those pertaining to the education sector, it has been an absolute whirlwind with endless discussion and speculation. The situation, however, requires calmness, clarity, a solution-focused approach and, most importantly, time.

The next phase must not be rushed. In schools, this is the week where our preparation for a partial re-opening has become very real. We have already put in orders for signage, hand sanitizer for all classrooms being used. This week, I have personally, along with other senior colleagues and the site team, looked at rooms that could realistically be used whilst maintaining the required social distance and how we would implement a one-way system of movement around the site where required.  Please be assured that both supporting the learning and wellbeing of students and maintaining the health and safety of us all will remain the key factors in anything that we decide.

Once we have a clear path through this, I plan to share with all of you how we have prepared the school site for the return of Year 10 students. Please remember the intention and instruction for secondary schools is not to reopen fully for year 10 but to offer some form of time in school for students with teachers to support and inform the remote learning taking place at home.

Further details will follow after half term.

Firstly can we say a huge thank you for supporting your child during this difficult time. Without parental support we could not continue to educate your children – you really are a vital part of our school community.

Guidance from the Government has obviously changed in recent days and we are preparing to welcome some students back during the next few weeks. However, it is clear that the vast majority of Years 7, 8 and 9 WILL NOT BE RETURNING to school before September.

This means that home learning is even more important. Students will need to keep up with their studies if they are to hit the ground running in the new academic year. Not only will it benefit them educationally but it will also help to improve their sense of wellbeing. Research has shown that having a routine, staying busy and active (mentally and physically) can all have huge benefits for young people.

Your child will continue to be set work in line with their normal timetable. This can be found in student diaries. This will mean that they will be set more work for Maths, English and Science than other subjects. It is expected that your child follows a normal school day – with breaks and down time – in an aim to replicate a usual school day. Every Monday morning the Harrow Way Cast will be sent to all students so that we can come together as a community and hear what you have been up to at home. In addition, we will share National Academy’s thought-provoking assemblies as well as Year team assemblies. Please also encourage your child to take part in the House competitions – these are posted on Show My Homework and cover a wide range of interests.

Work will continue to be set via Show My Homework using other applications like Google Classroom, My Maths, Seneca Learning, Tassomai and others. Teachers will record when work is submitted so that parents can check what their children are doing.   Read more…

www.thompson-morgan.com/top-10-easy-to-grow-vegetables
www.paddocks-allotments.org.uk/month-by-month/may/sow.htm.
www.thenational.academy/assembly

As I am sure you will have seen last weekend, the Prime Minister announced plans to ease some of the current lockdown measures as part of a “conditional plan” to reopen society. The plans include the proposal for a phased reopening of primary schools from 1st June beginning with Reception, Year 1 and Year 6 children. No date was given for the reopening of secondary schools as yet, however, those students sitting exams next year (Year 10 and Year 12) will be prioritised. They indicated this will allow students to get some face-to-face contact with teachers to support their home learning.

It’s a very unsettling time for us all but rest assured that we’re going to be doing everything we can to make sure we’re ready to receive some Year 10 if it’s safe for our school to reopen in the coming weeks.  I will only invite those students back when and if the assessment of the risk is that it is safe for both children and staff to do so.

I want to reassure you that we’re not going to be pressuring any student to come into school. We’ll keep you updated with all our preparations for making sure the school is as safe as possible, so you and your child can make an informed decision about whether to come in. I will send further details to Year 10 parents next week.

Just as we have done over the last two months we will continue to provide parents with regular updates and will continue to share any further information as soon as we can on the timescales for the reopening of schools and the measures we are adopting to help keep students and staff safe. In the meantime, we will continue to focus on the home learning opportunities available for all our families which will include reviewing what we currently have in place. Further details on ‘Home Learning’ will follow towards the end of next week.

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