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Home Learning Letter for Parents 20th March 2020

Home Learning Letter for Parents 20th March 2020

Dear Parents and Carers

As I am sure that you are aware, from Monday 23rd March the school will only be open to children of key workers and those who require additional support, have an EHCP, are Looked After and In Care and those with an appointed social worker. This will leave many of you in the position of having to support your child at home with their learning so I can assure you that we have made arrangements to ensure the students receive the best quality of education possible during this uncertain time.

Here are some of the steps we have taken so far to support your child’s home learning:

  • All students who have access to a Wi-fi enabled computer, tablet, laptop, mobile device are now set up on Google Classrooms, which is our Virtual Learning platform where lessons will take place. More information on how to support your child and help them gain access to Google Classroom can be found at: https://www.reddish.stockport.sch.uk/page/?title=Google+Classroom&pid=469
  • Students who do not have such access will be provided with work packs from their subject teachers. Additional work and resources will be provided if the school closure period extends.
  • All students have access to GCSE Pod on their devices and assignments will be created for them on this platform. More information on how to support your child and help them gain access to GCSE Pod can be found at: https://www.reddish.stockport.sch.uk/page/?title=Gcse+Pod&pid=436
  • Show My Homework will continue to be used in the same way to set homework, extension tasks and activities. This can be used at any point for additional work.
  • If your child received additional support through an intervention group, these will continue to run as effectively as possible virtually so they can keep in touch with those familiar faces and support the well-being of the children.
  • Our Year Teams will continue to monitor and support your child by ensuring they engage in the above daily.
  • Staff will maintain contact with pupils via Google Classrooms and other learning platforms, if you need to contact any teachers direct, their email addresses can be found on our website in the Information Tab – Subject Teachers Email addresses https://www.reddish.stockport.sch.uk/attachments/download.asp?file=1072&type=pdf

Although sufficient work will be provided to cover this period, we appreciate as a family you may need to schedule study time with your child flexibly. We understand that your child may not be able to stick to the times of a normal school day and may choose to work in the evenings and that all of this is subject to their ability to access IT.

We also encourage your child to take regular breaks from their devices, whether using them for learning or social activities, and give them opportunities to exercise, get fed and watered before returning to their learning.

Important notice for year 11 students:

We are still awaiting further guidance from the Government regarding GCSE’s and how they intend for students to get the grades “they need and deserve”. We have considered a number of scenarios ranging from exams being administered later on in the year, to the exam boards accepting predicted grades from teachers. It is crucial in both cases for all year 11 students to engage in all home learning activities and submit work to either prepare them for exams or provide valid and reliable evidence to support teacher predictions should the exam boards request it.

For those students coming to school, school will look/feel very different. Students will be grouped together to do their home learning in U Block. Learning activities will be interspersed with opportunities to go on the farm, take part in sport and other enrichment activities.

We still intend to run school reporting systems as close to normal:

  • Reports for years 9 and 10 will go out as planned before Easter
  • Reports for years 7 and 8 will go out as planned before Friday 8th May
  • Year 11s will receive their mock examination results and GCSE predicted grades after Easter

I understand that we all have more questions than answers right now and I want to assure you that we have a team of unbelievably dedicated staff that will endeavour to support you and your child along the way. Please do not hesitate to contact the school as you normally would if you require any further guidance in supporting your child at home.

If you have a concern regarding the safety and/or welfare of any child, do not hesitate to contact the school, or contact the Safeguarding Team directly at s.vivante@reddish.stockport.sch.uk.

Thank you for your continued support.

Linda Hanson

Headteacher