News
Provision for Year 10 and 12 students for the remainder of the academic year
5th June 2020
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Dear Families,

I hope you are well and staying safe during these extraordinary times. As promised, I am writing to you with an update in relation to the partial re-opening of school for a limited number of students in years 10 and 12.
Over half-term, the Government released further guidance about the nature of provision for years 10 and 12 for the remainder of this academic year. The purpose of this letter is to outline the provision on offer and explain the steps we are taking to ensure the health and safety of all members of our school community.

Provision for Year 10

The guidance states that “Year 10 students should receive some face-to-face time with their teachers in school to support remote learning” and that “no more than a quarter of the year group should be on the school site at one time”. For information we have 168 students in Year 10.

We are going to implement this guidance in the following ways:

  • Students will be split into 16 groups. There will also be additional inclusion provision to support students who would normally struggle with mainstream provision.
  • Students will be invited to attend school for a day each week and will experience four 50-minute lessons. Three of those lessons will be in the core subjects of English, Maths and Science. An additional lesson will be a mentoring session with a senior member of staff. The nature of this session will be to support students with the process of resocialisation. It is not the intention that these sessions will replace work that has been set on Firefly and this work should still be completed and submitted. There will still be ample work set on Firefly for students to complete.
  • Students can only attend on their allocated day.
  • Students should wear full school uniform
  • Group sizes will be up to 12 students, socially distanced and sat at desks at least 2m apart.
  • Groupings will be broadly based on attainment across the three core subjects; it will not necessarily be the case that students are taught by their usual teacher.
  • Handwashing will be required at several points during the day.
  • Students will be based in the same classroom for the whole day; the members of staff will move rooms and workstations will be cleaned following the changeovers.
  • The school day will run from 8.45am to 1pm.
  • During the day, there will be a short, socially distanced outdoor break supervised by staff.
  • Students will be expected to bring a packed lunch and refreshments as well as their own stationery to be used during the day. In the FAQ section below we have outlined a list of items students need to bring for the day.

Guidance around social distancing will be made very clear to students and it is expected that they adhere to this and act responsibly including on the journey to and from school.

We will also issue a new online learning timetable for year 10s which outlines when pre-recorded or live lessons are available. There will also be an “on call” system published to students which will state when live support from teachers is available should they require additional guidance and support with their work. Students will also be required from time-to-time to log into small group or personalised support from their classroom teacher.

Provision for year 12

As you will appreciate there is a particular challenge involved in year 12 provision because of the different combination of subjects which students take as well as the need for specialist teaching. With this in mind, we are planning to offer the following provision:

  • Those studying subjects which require the use of specialist equipment in school will be invited into school for regular in-school sessions e.g. Music Technology, Art, Textiles, etc.
  • Mrs Brennan will liaise with teachers and students to identify a group of students who have been struggling to access our online content. These students will be invited to come in and work in the LRC on specified days.
  • There will be a series of pastoral appointments with the Sixth Form team which will run from the week commencing 15th June.
  • There will be a series of subject days which will be arranged and students will be invited into school where appropriate.

The overwhelming majority of teaching for year 12 will continue to be conducted online and students will only be invited to school on an appointment basis. The Sixth Form team will make contact with students for whom this applies to.

Next steps

I am mindful that this is an overview of the provision and our intention is to write to you next week with a more specific plan for your individual child. This will include information about the classroom they will be working in, entrances and exits from buildings and which toilets they will be using. Parents and carers will also be able to read the documentation around risk assessments and procedures which we have produced in line with Government guidance should they wish to so do.

We have been asked by the local authority to advise against using public transport to get to school. Please can you come to school either by walking, cycling or car. If transport is an issue for you, please get in contact with me as soon as possible.

Please note that we are risk assessing the provision on a daily basis and if at any point I feel that it is not safe, we may pause the provision at short notice.

I understand that you may have further questions so to support this please find below an FAQs sheet.

It would be very helpful for our planning if you could complete the survey below by Tuesday 9th June if you intend to send your son/daughter to school on the basis of the provision outlined above. Please note, that the government have made it clear that there will be no fines issued to parents who decide not to send their children to school during this period.

If you have any questions relating to the provision, please do not hesitate to e-mail me directly using the address below.

Many thanks for your support during these extraordinary times.

Yours sincerely

Mr Emmanuel Botwe
Headteacher
ebotwe@tytheringtonschool.co.uk

Year 10 Return to School Parent Survey


FAQs

Does my child have to come to school?
It is not compulsory for students to attend school during this time and the intention is for this provision to support remote learning; we would encourage attendance if appropriate.

Will students’ temperatures be taken on arrival at school?
This is not currently recommended in the Government guidance.

Will staff or students wear PPE?
It is not expected that either staff or students wear PPE at school. The only staff who would do so are those dispensing first aid or medical support. We will not prevent students and staff wearing face masks if they feel that this would make them more comfortable in school.

Does the school have enough hand sanitiser?
We have invested in hand sanitiser stations around the school and will continue to bulk order these products for the foreseeable future.

How regularly will the school be cleaned?
The areas of the school site in use are being deep-cleaned on a daily basis. Each group will be allocated their own room which only they will use.

Will parents and carers be allowed on-site?
Parents and carers will be informed that they should only come to the school to collect a child who may be unwell or to pick up or drop off their child outside the school site.

What if my child is ill during the school day?
If your child is ill during the school day with any issue, you will be contacted and asked to collect him or her immediately. During this time he or she will be supported by a first aid trained member of staff who will be wearing PPE.

What will happen if one of my child’s class or a teacher he or she has been in contact with is diagnosed with COVID-19?
You will be informed as soon as we are aware of a positive test. If this happens then all students and teachers who have been in contact with this person will be required to self-isolate for 14 days or until a test is returned negative.

The link below provides the Government guidance on this and many other aspects of school provision at this time:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-implementingprotective-measures-in-education-and-childcare-settings/coronavirus-covid-19implementing-protective-measures-in-education-and-childcare-settings

What should my child bring to school?

Essential Items to Bring

Please ensure that your child brings the following items into school:

  • School uniform is to be worn
  • Pencil Case – including pens, pencils, a ruler and calculator
  • Water Bottle (filled) – drinking water fountains will not be available in school
  • Any snacks for breaks between lessons

If you wish to bring your own, please feel free to bring in any personal hygiene supplies that you may wish to use.

Bring Your Own Device (BYOD)

If your child has a device that they can use for learning (e.g. a laptop, iPad, Chromebook, etc.) that they can bring into school, please do. We are going to allow you access on these devices to the school’s WiFi network, using your school log-in credentials.

If you are going to bring in a Windows laptop, it must have the following:

  1. Windows 10 installed
  2. It’s antivirus and firewall software fully updated – Windows 10’s own antivirus and firewall software is sufficient