News Stories

Dear Parents, carers and students

I wanted to take this opportunity to write to you after what has been a remarkable couple of weeks. These are unprecedented times and we have all had to wrestle with new trials, pressures and experiences that we feel unprepared for. Many of us are concerned for the health of those we love, financial pressures and the need to maintain some sort of normality for our children.

As a school we are in uncharted territory and we have put together a very different school in an incredibly short space of time. There will be teething problems - we will set too much work and sometimes too little; the technological solutions we rely on so heavily will fail or be too confusing to figure out and we will fail on occasions to provide the service that we so desperately want to do. None of this will be due to a lack of care, commitment or hard work but simply that we are navigating in uncharted territory. I would urge you to get into contact with the school if you have any concerns and we will do everything we can to help.

I'm very proud of what the school and the staff have done over the past two weeks. They have worked incredibly hard to make sure that vulnerable children and the children of key workers are looked after at school, created a virtual school and been in contact with many of you to check on your welfare. In addition, we have provided over 200 pieces of protective equipment to the healthcare staff at St Francis Hospice to support them in the incredible work they do.

We are about to enter the Easter holiday which will hopefully provide some time for rest and recuperation. The virtual school will stop for all students during this break but our provision for the children of keyworkers will continue throughout the Easter break including the bank holidays. We will be sending out a list of activities and opportunities for children to explore over the two weeks, but this is done to support parents in helping to provide the structure that all our children need through this challenging time.

When we return after Easter all Year 10 students will be receiving their normal timetabled lessons on Microsoft Teams and we will let parents and carers know when students do not attend these sessions. Our Year 10 students cannot afford too long away from their lessons without it having a detrimental effect on their chances of GCSE success next year.

Can I take this opportunity to thank you all for the support you have given the school and wish you all a happy and safe Easter holiday.

Yours faithfully

Mr G Stananought Principal