Dear all,

 

Well, that has been a week hasn't it!  Thank you so much for your continued efforts in trying to keep some sort of normality to life. It's really tough isn't it, and I must remind everyone that if you are struggling then please get in touch with us and we will do what we can. I am sure that like me, you have all had some moments over the week where you are questioning your sanity! Well done to Mr Wynn, who seems to have nailed the juggling challenge. I stopped when the third ball shot out of my hand and knocked a picture off the wall. There will be more to come and I hope for better fortune on the next challenge.

 

One of the difficulties of this type of working is to try to balance the adults being able to support families, whilst working from home, and also ensuring that the students can carry on learning.  It has become clear to me that we need to drop the pace a little bit so that we do not all burn out.  

 

With this in mind, we have made the following changes to the week:

 

1. Lessons will only run from P1 to 4. This allows some form of catching up at the end of the day for everyone. Lessons will still be 50 minutes

2. Wednesday school will only be P1 and 2. The rest of the day will be to allow everyone to try to sort the other things around the house that need doing and can provide an opportunity to just stop!

 

We are mindful of the impact on Year 10 as they are in full swing of their GCSE series. This will be a national issue and one that will need to be addressed in time, but I am sure that following our timetable, even in a reduced form, will not hinder their chances for the future. Those discussions are for another day, but we are planning for them.

 

We have had some families who are having technical issues logging on and I thank you for your patience in this time. The ICT team have been great in helping where they can.

 

School remains open next week for the children of frontline/key workers and the bus services are being rationalised to reflect the numbers coming in.  The bus pick ups will be normal times for these students and we will have things for them to do when lessons are not on (for example Wednesday). Can I pass on a huge 'THANK YOU' from all of us to those parents/carers/ex-students who are frontline workers and to the staff, who continue to work on the rota of coming in to school each day.

 

We are looking at how we go about recouping money for any trips and visits and as you can appreciate, this will take some time. Thanks for being patient with us on this one.

 

Please remind students that they are to remain at home unless following the guidance set out by the Government and whilst this is tough, there is a vital reason why we are either practicing social distancing or self isolating. Short term sacrifice - long term gain!

 

I will be in touch early next week to let you know the latest on examination guidance, how we streamline our contact regarding attendance, and to generally convince myself that I am actually talking to adults and not just my children.

 

Thank you for your fabulous support.

 

Stay safe and positive

 

Steve Brady