NEWSLETTER Friday 20th March Dear parents and carers, Last Friday when I wrote my newsletter piece for you all I had no idea that the situation would be so different one week later. We are all facing extraordinary challenges at this time and the situation is placing pressure on all parts of society. Our staff have been doing all they can to keep our school open since this crisis began and I would like to pay tribute to their remarkable commitment. They have been extraordinary and we will continue to play our part over the coming weeks.
As I’m sure you will be aware, the Government have taken the difficult decision to close schools for most children. The school will remain open for key groups of students for supervision purposes, although parents are not obliged to use this service. From Monday, the school will continue to be open for children whose parents are frontline workers and for students classified by the Secretary of State as ‘vulnerable children’ plus those with EHCPs. We have sent out information on which families meet this criteria this morning. Please do note that the Government guidelines stress that the safest place for your children is at home and you should only access this, even as a keyworker, if there is no safe alternative. Students on site from Monday who meet this criteria will be supervised to complete online work set for all students in the school. Throughout this period for students at home we will continue to provide home learning resources for your child through Show My Homework. For more detail see my letter dated 18th March 2020. We will also be providing a packed free school meal lunch each day for students who receive free school meals and these will be available for collection and takeaway from 12.10 each day from the front reception for all relevant students, not just those receiving supervision next week. In addition to working hard to communicate to you through letters, emails and texts, we have created a section on our website called ‘Closure Updates’. We are placing key information here on a regular basis, including sent letters, advice and guidance, as well as links to other sites. Do please have a look. It has been very difficult to hear the news about students’ qualifications. For children and young people, who have worked so hard to prepare for their GCSEs, A levels and other examined qualifications, this will be upsetting and we sympathise with them. At the same time, we understand, and are reassured that, children’s grades in GCSEs and A levels will be awarded on the basis of moderated assessment, in collaboration with the exam boards and Ofqual (the exam board regulator). This means that the hard work students have done will be rewarded. It may not feel the same, and nor is it, but they will receive grades that will progress them to the next stage of their lives. We will remember our student celebratory goodbyes – held for Yr11 yesterday and Yr13 today, as dearly in our hearts and memories as we have in any other year and look forward to being able to see these year groups again later in the year. If we are able to mark their leaving in the near future we will endeavour to do so and we look forward to seeing the huge majority of our Year 11s return to us in the sixth form. Mr Sanchez-Brown, our Head of Sixth Form, will be staying in close contact with all students who have applied for our sixth form throughout the coming months; all our students are very important parts of our Cowes family and community including students from these year groups.
I would once again like to take this opportunity to thank you wholeheartedly for your understanding and ongoing support in helping us to manage this unprecedented situation. Stay safe at this difficult time, Rachel Kitley Click the arrows or swipe to turn pages