As we continue to refine our remote learning provision, I thought it would be helpful to continue to remind you of some of the expectations and support we offer.

Helping your child access learning

We are committed to all of our pupils being able to access learning, be it online, in school or a combination of the two. Please let us know if your child does not have the technology to access online learning – please contact us via [email protected]

Establishing and keeping to daily routines

Secondary aged pupils should be doing at least five hours of work each day.

We require all pupils to register promptly with their form tutor every morning whether they are in school or at home. Registration time is 8.40am. Please ensure your child attends registration promptly

Going forward we have asked teachers to finish their lessons at least five minutes before the end of the allocated hour if a lesson follows immediately afterwards ie. between Periods 2 and 3 and Periods 4 and 5, to allow pupils and teachers to stretch their legs and take a comfort break before starting the next lesson.

The school timetable remains the same, whether pupils are in school or learning at home. All lessons for pupils will be uploaded to Google Classroom at the start of their lessons. All work completed by pupils must be sent to teachers by 5pm each day.

Each week, some lessons will be ‘live’. This means that pupils must be prompt in joining their teachers at the specified times. The school’s usual code of conduct applies, whether pupils are learning in school or online.

Every weekday during lockdown is a school day. Attendance is not optional!

Please ensure your child can access Google Classroom – if there are any problems, please let us know by contacting [email protected] helpdesk.

Let us know if your child is unable to attend school/online lessons

If your child is unwell, please let us know using the normal channels – ringing the school on 01516397531.

 

Can we still access the Google Classroom training materials?

We have training videos for parents/carers and pupils on how to use Google Classroom. These are posted here:

If you have any worries or concerns about your child’s access to learning, please get in touch with their Year Team. We are committed to enabling access for all pupils and have a number of solutions to offer.

Can I check whether my child is engaging with Google Classroom work?

As a parent/carer, you can receive email summaries showing your child’s progress in Google Classroom.  You can choose the frequency of the emails, such as daily or weekly.  You can unsubscribe or remove yourself from Google Classroom at any time.

The email summaries will include:

  • Class activity – announcements and assignments recently posted by teachers.
  • Missing work – work that is late at the time the email was sent.

You will not receive an email summary when:

  • There is no activity to report for the given time period.
  • You selected ‘No summaries’ for how often you’d like to receive emails.
  • Your child has not joined any classes.

For more information please visit the Google information page on Google Classroom email summaries.

As a parent/carer, you must receive and accept an email invitation before you can receive email summaries.

We will send an invitation to the email address that we currently have stored on our system.

Read! Read! Read!

If there’s one thing that’s sure to help your child progress in the coming weeks and months, it’s regular reading. The teachers are providing lots of opportunities for pupils to read and it would be helpful if you did too.

Wellbeing and mental health support

There are a number of resources to support and guide people on the Wellbeing section of our website but please, if you have any concerns about your child’s wellbeing or mental health, get in touch with us immediately by contacting their Year Team via the school office.

Onsite testing update

Updated government advice is to increase the workforce testing to twice weekly and pause the daily contact tracing that would have allowed close contacts to remain in school. Close contacts will now be sent home to self isolate.

Thank you for the donations

Can I thank you for the cash donations to our digital access fund and the laptops received from Wirral Laptop Donations this week. 

Ready Respectful Safe

These words which have become the mantra that encapsulates our behaviour expectations are just as valid in our remote learning environment and our teachers are recording these behaviours on our Classcharts system and will be using it to celebrate with you with praise postcards.

Thanks again for all your support and encouragement.

 

Mr A Boyle

Headteacher