Dear Parent/ Carer
With school closing today I wanted to update you, as best I can, on the arrangements and plans we have made and are making for the coming weeks.
In terms of work for students in Years 7, 8, 9, 10 and 12 we have made the following arrangements.
A temporary google site has been created with work being populated for each subject, for each year group and when this goes live later today can be accessed via the school website.
For Year 7 and 8 the summer knowledge organisers are currently being proofed and once returned by the printers we will post them out to families. Today I have also signed off on the school joining an e-library for these students enabling them to access books on a phone, tablet or laptop and further information on this will be sent to you shortly.
For Year 9 and 10 GCSE Pod will be used alongside the material above. For those in Year 12 the school will be predominantly using Google classroom for lessons to be set and sent. Google classroom is an amazing resource which we are rapidly learning about as a staff and upskilling increasing numbers of teachers so that children across the school can benefit from it. Already some subjects in a number of year groups are benefitting from this facility.
The students also have access to mathswatch and kerboodle for all years with additional learning material.
The work that has been uploaded to the temporary website is for students to keep busy and occupied and we currently have no arrangements in place for staff to mark this work or provide feedback. Over the coming weeks staff will be asked to create and upload resources for google classroom across the full range of subjects which will facilitate a more interactive programme for staff and students and work can be monitored and uploaded. Initially, we will focus on Year 12 and Year 10 as they are midway through their exam course.
In terms of arrangements for our current Year 11 and 13 we await guidance from the Department for Education (DFE) and will share this with you in due course. Before I began writing this letter I have just held an impromptu Year11 leavers assembly, arranged shirt signing and photographs and a free lunch and promised to arrange their Prom when we have a better sense of how long our current closure will last.
Late last night we learnt which students are considered vulnerable groups by the DFE and are contacting these families today directly to assess the level of support they need from school while acknowledging the advice that the DFE have provided. Arrangements are also in place for our counselling support to continue online for those most in need.
We also now have a list of Essential Staff who should be offered school provision for their children and a letter will be sent about this and a google form will need to be completed by parents. Those children needing to attend school should enter via main reception and sign in. School will be running from 8.30am – 2.30pm each day. On Monday after we have a clearer picture of the number of students we will need to support we will begin to make more formal arrangements around what study programmes will be delivered for these students. For those students who need to attend school and usually catch the bus we have contacted Warrington Borough Council and are awaiting further information from them as to whether buses will continue to operate.
For those on free school meals we have contacted our local supermarket to ascertain the process for food vouchers and they have informed us that they are awaiting further information from their head office and central government. As soon as we have confirmation we will contact families directly.
As always we will continue to follow the advice and guidance from the DFE, central government and Public Health England. We will send updates via our twitter account, website and Sims Intouch. Should you have any questions please do not hesitate to contact us in the normal way or email ‘enquiries@greatsankey.org’.
Finally, in the uncertain and rapidly changing times we find ourselves in, our thoughts and prayers are with you, your families and our community. Please stay safe and remember we are ‘greater together’.
Yours faithfully
John Shannon
Headteacher
