School Opening

(Posted on 05/06/20)

To all parents/guardians

I hope that you and your families are well.

You will no doubt have heard the announcement that the Welsh Government has decided to widen school participation from 29^th June until 24^th July. Whilst school will be a very different place over this period, with far fewer pupils on site each day and normal lessons and timetables suspended, we are really looking forward to seeing our pupils again.

The health and safety of our pupils and staff is an absolute priority, and we have made careful and extensive preparations to ensure a safe return for all.

All pupils will have the opportunity for some contact time before the end of the summer term. This will involve a ‘check in and catch up’ opportunity, on a given day of the week, for each pupil.

The ‘face-to-face’ opportunities with small groups of pupils will give us chance to re-focus all pupils on their home learning, check on their wellbeing and provide a programme of activities which will develop key skills.

We will follow this pattern of in-school provision throughout the four week period:

Mondays – year 7 pupils only

Tuesdays – year 8 pupils only

Wednesdays – year 9 pupils only

Thursdays – year 10 pupils only

Fridays – school closed to pupils – ‘deep clean’ and staff planning/review day

These ‘face-to-face’ days will support the pupils’ home learning. It is crucial that all pupils engage with their online and home learning. At present, we estimate that only a third of pupils are engaging in a meaningful way with their home learning.

Further details about timetables and new school safety procedures will be published to parents in due course, but these are some of the key points about the 4 week programme up to the summer holidays:

Groups of pupils will be no more than 8, in one classroom, with one designated member of staff for the full day
All classrooms will have social distancing layout & safety measures in place
Further details of all health & safety measures & procedures will be published to parents at a later date
Movement around the building will be strictly limited
Arrival, break, lunch and departure times will be staggered – details to follow
Pupils in years 7 & 8 will focus on an enterprise, cross-curricular project which develops key skills
Pupils in year 9 will focus on a similar enterprise project; option choice staff will have ‘face-to-face’ opportunities with pupils who have chosen their subjects
Pupils in year 10 will complete the WBQ individual project, which is worth 50% of their Skills GCSE; subject staff will have ‘face to face’ opportunities to re-engage pupils with their GCSE courses and distance learning
Any pupils who do not adhere to social distancing and safety rules will have the opportunity for ‘face-to-face’ meetings in school withdrawn, and will revert to home learning only. This is to ensure a safe environment for all.

On Monday 8th June, the admin team will make phone calls to all parents. A member of the team will ask if you intend to send your child into school for the four days which they have been allocated over the four week period. If you miss or do not receive a call, please contact the school on info@grango.co.uk to indicate your intention.

We completely understand that this may be a difficult decision, and we respect your right to decide the best course of action for your child. There will be no penalty for not sending your child into school over this period.

When we have the details of which pupils will be attending, we will publish individual timetables to each parent, indicating school start and finish times for your child.

Please do not hesitate to contact me with any queries or concerns that you have on info@grango.co.uk. You will undoubtedly have a range of questions and I will do my best to answer them.

I will issue further details in due course.

Please take care and stay safe.

Yours faithfully,

Mr S Garthwaite

Headteacher/Prifathro