REMOTE LEARNING FOR ALL YEARS 4th – 8th JANUARY 2021 and
Years 7-10 and YEAR 12 11th – 15th JANUARY 2021
Following on from the government announcement on 30th December to extend the phased return to face-to-face education, please see this update on the main changes for secondary-age pupils:
- schools should take time in the week commencing 4 January to prepare to deliver testing of staff and pupils
- in the week commencing 4 January, secondary schools should only provide on-site education to vulnerable children and children of critical workers, and prioritise remote education to those in exam years
- in the week commencing 11 January, secondary schools should provide on-site education to vulnerable children, children of critical workers and those in exam years (Year 11 and 13), and provide remote education to all other pupils
- from 18 January, all pupils should return to on-site education
Horsforth School will send further information about how we will look to get all students back when the lateral flow testing allows once further guidance has been issued by the government.
There are some Year 13 external exams scheduled during this period and they will still be going ahead as planned; students should come in to school through the main entrance.
The Year 7 CATS assessments will be moved to later in the month, more details will follow next week.
All year groups will receive high quality remote learning from Monday 4th January and students are expected to follow their normal timetable and the teacher will deliver a live, interactive input during the timetabled lesson time. This would be for a minimum of 30 minutes using Google Meet. This might involve, for example, a focused Q&A session, an explanation of new content or task in more detail, engaging students with a low stake quiz, or giving feedback on work previously completed. Students will then use the rest of the time to get on with the tasks set. Students will be expected to ‘attend’ each lesson remotely and keep up with the work set. The only exception is if the student is unwell, in which case parents will be expected to report the illness and absence to school in the usual way. Form time will also be delivered remotely and all students are expected to attend.
Attendance to lessons will be monitored.
Please ensure:
- Your child is in an appropriate and neutral space such as a dining table, desk, sofa, kitchen table. Your child should not be in bed, or in a bedroom.
- That there is nothing inappropriate or offensive in the background.
- Remind your child to not share personal information whilst on line.
- Try to ensure the space is quiet and that other children are not seen in the background.
- Your child should be appropriately dressed and ready to learn, with full equipment at hand.
- Your child must follow the same rules and etiquette as we would expect in a classroom.
- Ground rules may be given at the start of each lesson and these must be followed. Students may ask staff appropriate questions when prompted.
- Students who behave poorly during a live lesson will be subject to the same sanctions in line with school policy on their return.
- Do not allow anyone into the Google Meet who doesn’t have a Horsforth School account.
Due to the very latest DfE announcement that states Schools will open on the w/c 4th January and 11th January for children who are vulnerable and for those of key worker parents the provision will be available for 2 weeks until all children return to school as usual on the 18th January.
Thank you to those parents for expressing an interest or accepting a place at our key worker and vulnerable children provision from Monday 4th January, via the link sent out in the letter before Christmas. Any Year 11 parents who wish to accept a place in the provision will also have to use this link.
Provision Information:
- Children attending must attend for the full week and the full school day.
- Parents/Carers must follow the usual absence procedures and phone school as usual if a child is unable to attend.
- Parents/Carers must not send their child in if they are ill or are presenting with early signs of Covid-19.
- The provision runs from 8.20am – 2.30pm.
- Students must be punctual and arrive from 8.00am- 8.15 am.
- Their only entrance/exit to and from site will be the back entrance near to St Margret’s Church. Staff will open the gate at 8.00am and this will have to close at 8.15am. Therefore please ensure your child is on time.
- Students will go straight to the sixth from common room where the provision is based (next to the History Block)
- Students wash their hands on entry and sanitise regularly throughout the day. They will wear their masks. Ensure they have masks for the provision.
- Students must be in full school uniform and shoes. There will be no PE.
- Students will need to bring a fully stocked pencil case, headphones and their planner.
- Students will work on the same independent remote work set by their teachers. This will be done on PC’s or laptops (if students have one issued by school, they can bring this in) and is the same work as they would do at home for this week. Staff will not be teaching in the key worker provision.
- Students are sat at desks with 2m spacing.
- The provision is set into year group zones to allow for maximum space and distancing.
- Teachers and support staff supervise and monitor the students, and are on hand to support, but not teach.
- The provision has a deep clean every day and we have cleaners on hand throughout the day.
- Students follow the same covid-19 class codes for health and safety. Students will be subject to sanctions if they misbehave and maybe asked not to return.
- They must bring a packed lunch and snacks for the day, including cutlery. Students must bring a large water bottle every day; they have no access to water fountains or taps.
- They will leave site at 2.30pm by the back entrance.
When parents do request a place, we ask parents to do everything they can to ensure their child is not mixing socially out of school and that they are fully aware and observe the same social distances rules as adults.
Thank you as always for your support and I wish you a Happy New Year for tonight and a brighter 2021.
Yours Faithfully
Dr P C Bell