Dear Parents, Guardians, Carers, ( Friday 20th March 2020 5pm)

As you will be aware, commencing Monday 23rd March 2020, the school will be closed until further notice for students, with the exception of a small minority of those whose parents are vital key workers, or vulnerable students with identified needs. Further information regarding these arrangements will be sent in due course to those parents directly affected. Please note that the advice to parents is to follow the first principle of keeping their children at home if at all possible from Monday onwards, and to only send them to school if there is no safe alternative.

For the vast majority of our students, who will not be attending school from Monday, we have provided remote learning materials for students to access and complete independently. This has been set by their subject teachers using our Show My Homework and Google Classroom platforms. A guide for accessing and using  Google Classroom, as well, as well as accessing the school learning portal (RM Unify) is available under the ‘Login Via RM Unify’ tab on the school website.

Please note that work has been provided for students to complete between normal school hours. Staff will be able during normal school hours to offer guidance and feedback. It is recommended that students aim to follow their school timetable in order to establish an effective home learning routine.

You will also have heard about the cancellation of the May and June exam series. We know how very disappointing this is not just for students who have worked so hard but also for their teachers. Information on how students will get the qualifications they need is imminent and will be communicated to you in due course.

In the meantime, It is clearly in students’ interests to continue to work as hard as they can so that when the certification method is confirmed, they are in the best possible position to get the grades they deserve. This period of closure offers a real opportunity for students with exams to revise, read around topics and really embed the learning they’ve already done. If your child was expecting to take terminal examinations this summer,  support in reinforcing this message with them would be welcome.

You may be interested in the wealth of resources we have included on the wellbeing section of the ‘About Us’’ tab on the school website, which provides valuable guidance on the range of emotions children and adults may be experiencing at this time.

It is also important to ensure that your child is aware of and following the guidance regarding safe and responsible behaviour outside of school, maintaining social distance and washing hands regularly. All of this guidance can be found on the school website. 

We hope this information is useful for you in supporting your child at this highly unusual time.

Kind regards

Ms Nicholas

Senior Deputy Head teacher

 

 

We have just emailed parents (Friday 20th March midday) requesting key workers to urgently complete an online questionnaire re possible provision for next week. See below.

Dear parents/carers,

Re: Coronavirus update – school closure to most pupils

Following on from our last update, we are now writing to let you know that we have now been instructed to close the school to almost all children after this Friday 20th March until further notice.

We are waiting for the government to publish more information on how we will be able to offer support to the children of key workers and those in need and what this means, but it would help us in the meantime if you could let us know if you are categorised as a key worker. 

PLEASE COMPLETE THE SHORT GOOGLE QUESTIONNAIRE VIA THIS LINK TO INFORM US IF YOU ARE A KEY WORKER. 

YOU MUST COMPLETE THIS QUESTIONNAIRE IF YOU ARE A KEY WORKER EVEN IF YOU HAVE EMAILED INTO THE SCHOOL IN THE LAST COUPLE OF DAYS.

Key Worker Questionnaire

It is imperative that you let us know if you are a key worker so that we are more able to try to prepare for imminent school closure. YOU MUST MAKE SURE THAT YOU HAVE RESPONDED TO THIS QUESTIONNAIRE BY 4PM AT THE LATEST ON FRIDAY 20TH MARCH 2020.

Where key workers have a partner who is working from home, we would not usually expect to provide school services. Families must be aware that, in the forthcoming days, some schools will have to combine to offer joint services. We will do what we can to keep you informed on our website but you should contact Lambeth in the first instance. https://www.gov.uk/find-local-council

And remember: if you or your child feels ill and you want to know what to do next, please use NHS 111 online.

Thank you again for your continued support, and we will be in touch with more information as we have it. Please make sure that you are using the school website latest news to check for updates - we may be in a position in the near future where we do not have admin staff available to send emails and so we will be updating the school website remotely.

Kind regards

 

Ms Nicholas

Senior Deputy Head teacher

 

Dear Parents/Carers,

Please see advice and information emailed home to parents today (20th March) below.

CORONA VIRUS Updates are as follows March 20th 2020

To date we are very fortunate that none of our staff have had a positive test for the COVID-19, the coronavirus. We do, however, have a number of staff who have underlying health issues or are pregnant and they need to be protected as much as possible from catching the virus. There are also a number of staff who have followed government guidance to self-isolate as they may have come into contact with people who have the virus. This has made it increasingly difficult to staff all of the classes and, as a result, we are going to make some changes to the school day from tomorrow. 

From Thursday 19th March, school will be open as usual for Year 10, 11 and Sixth Form students only.

We are also offering provision for any child in Yr 7, 8, or 9 whose parents are classified as key workers, ie: teachers, police officers, armed forces personnel and National Health Service (NHS) workers. If your child falls into this category, please let the school know as soon as possible that they will be attending school.

Year 7, 8 and 9 students should remain at home and study from there. During this partial closure, teachers will continue to plan and set learning tasks for students via Show My Homework that are in line with the content they would be delivering to years 7, 8 and 9 on Thursday and Friday. In addition to this, years 7 and 8 have Independent Learning Booklets at home for each subject and a cross-curricular project to complete by the end of term. Year 9 will also have weekly homework tasks to complete in addition to weekly homework, in line with school policy. Year 9 students should also use the BBC Bitesize website, which offers a wealth of revision activities for their subjects.

Students should also check their school email for regular updates from their teachers. 

We would ask parents to refrain from asking individual teachers to set work for their particular child and follow instructions to access work that has been uploaded and shared as above.

Safeguarding

There will be Safeguarding leads on site on Thursday and Friday. There may be arrangements for some individual students to come to school because of their personal circumstances. In this case, staff from school will contact the individual parents/carers concerned. Please note that there are a range of support services and their contact details that are posted on the Wellbeing tab of the school website – under the About Us Section.

Free School Meals

Any child who is in receipt of a free school meal and whose family would like them to come into school on Thursday or Friday for lunch should do so and arrive at 12:40pm. Please email the office staff to let them know in advance. In this instance, children should sign in on arrival at front reception and then sign out again at 1:10pm at the latest.

We are fully aware that there may well be further developments, please be advised that we plan to review these arrangements on Friday morning and will update all parents by 1pm Friday. 

As the advice from the government is changing on a daily basis, please do check the school website and the suggested links for the most up to date advice and guidance.

Thank you for your support and understanding,
 
Kind regards 

Ms Nicholas

Senior Deputy Headteacher

 

CORONAVIRUS Updates are as follows March 17^th 2020:

Social Distancing

We have decided to cancel all of the larger gatherings that have been planned for the rest of this term. This includes our assemblies, Year 8 Parents’ Evening etc. 
 
Self Isolation

The latest advice from NHS 111 is that if students have a family member who is self isolating or have been in contact with someone who is self-isolating, the student should stay at home and self-isolate regardless of whether they have any symptoms.
 
If your child is in this situation, please call the attendance line as usual and let us know that your child is self-isolating.
 
Vulnerable pupils
 
Some parents have let us know that they are particularly concerned for their child, despite their having no symptoms, on account of their medical condition. A number have already chosen to self-isolate and it is absolutely right for parents to take these decisions for themselves. Please just let us know in the usual way (attendance line) if you decide to keep your child at home.

School cleanliness

We have additional cleaners in and are attempting to make sure, where possible, doors are kept open to avoid unnecessary handling of the door handles etc.
 
Planning the next steps
 
We will be talking to all students in tutor time this week about how will be approaching any potential school closure, how we will provide them with work and what we expect of them if that happens. Staff are planning and preparing work that will be shared via Show my Homework and Google classroom. Details will follow later this week as appropriate. We have been making sure that students know how to access online resources and materials.

Thank you all for your continuing support and cooperation

 

Department for Education Coronavirus helpline

Yesterday, the government launched a new helpline to answer questions about COVID-19 related to education. Staff, parents and young people can contact the helpline as follows:

Phone 08000468687

Email: DfE.coronavirushelpline@education.gov.uk

Opening hours: 8am to 6pm (Monday to Friday)

 

Please continue to go directly to the most up to date information at

www.gov.uk 

Please see below the most recent information that has been sent into schools.

As of 13th March 2020: