On behalf of St Mary’s staff, can I take this opportunity to thank you for the many positive comments that we have received regarding the start to term and in particular how your children have enjoyed engaging with our Remote Learning offer.
Review day reminder for Friday 15th January 2021
Can I remind parents that next Friday, 15th January, is our Year 10 and 11 Review day which means that teachers need to be available throughout the day to meet with the parents in those year groups and so there will not be Progress and Aspiration Form Time on that day or live teaching of lessons.
There will continue to be provision in school for Critical and Vulnerable children on that day.
Mass Testing
At the start of the week our energies were focused on preparing for the whole school population over the coming fortnight but the new lockdown has meant that this will not be implemented until it is confirmed al our pupils can return.
However, as I shared previously, we need parental consent for anyone under the age of 16 to conduct tests. Consequently I will be writing to you separately next week asking you to complete a Google Form that confirms that you give permission for this. It is only necessary to do this once i.e. once we have your permission we would be abler to conduct any repeat testing that is needed.
This is an important development which will avoid the need for pupils to self isolate as close contacts which proved to be so disruptive to many children and their families last term. I would urge you to complete the forms.
Remote Learning
We will continue to refine and improve our Remote Learning as we go forward. We will have an increasing number of live lessons each day. Teachers will be reviewing and evaluating to ensure their online lessons to ensure that they lead to the most effective learning of our carefully sequenced curriculum.
Kind regards
Mr A Boyle
Headteacher
