In the press you will have heard politicians scaremonger that our children’s generation will ‘lose out’ as a result of the pandemic, or that our children have months of summer gloom where they must ‘catch up’ their lost learning. We genuinely believe both viewpoints are completely untrue and feel that, with the right leadership, our students will continue to flourish in the months and years ahead.
That’s why we are delighted to inform you that as of Monday 7 June, our school will be ‘Stepping Up’ as part of our ‘Step Up, Not Catch Up’ initiative.
After May half term, Year 11 and Year 13’s centre assessed grades will have been reported and we have been strategically planning to maximise the impact we can have on the whole school community after this point. Rather than wait until September, all of our students will ‘Step Up’ and move into the next year of their school life, enjoying a really challenging final 7 weeks of learning. New classes will have their teacher for the 2021-22 academic year and make real strides towards their curriculum aims.
We will return to subject specific teaching venues and students will once again be able to cook in a food room, paint in an art room, conduct an experiment in a science lab and so on. Extra-curricular activities will restart, students will have access to outdoor spaces at lunchtimes and educational visits can start to be planned once again.
As part of this we will, of course, continue to follow government guidelines around hand sanitising, social distancing and COVID19 testing.
For Year 11 students who are applying to sixth form, Year 12 study will begin on Monday 14 June. This means that in a year where learning has been disrupted, giving our students this time will really help to secure any knowledge gaps that may exist in GCSE content and then allow students to really get to grips with the demands of their chosen courses at Post 16.
For Year 11 students who have chosen not to return to our sixth form, a bespoke package of support has been planned and will encompass all of the careers guidance and skills development required to move onto their next intended destination. Year 13 will have a similar bespoke support package designed to help them progress to university, apprenticeship or work place.
The final day of face-to-face teaching will take place for both these sets of students on Friday 28 May, but both may be invited on site for face to face support as part of their support packages.