Headteacher's Update
January 2021
YEAR 11 AND 13 EXAMINATIONS
It is important to note to parents and carers that the school will not be merely providing predicted grades to students. There will be a rigorous process required based on the school's previous performance and the overall ability of our current cohorts based on their performance in SATs exams for Year 11 and GCSEs for Year 13. More information relating to this will follow.
Pre Public Examinations (PPEs) for Yr11/13 Students
Myself and the rest of the school staff believe it is vitally important to continue with assessments for our students despite them not being in school. They have worked so hard to prepare and it would not be fair to merely move on to new content without giving them the opportunity to show what they have learnt and what they can do. We also want to complete this assessment point to provide us with additional information that allows us to provide them with a fair grade in the Summer that reflects their hard work, effort and application.
Therefore, on Friday 15th January we will be commencing a formal online PPE assessment programme for all students in Year 11, with Year 13 commencing on Monday 18th (However, Year 13 Computer Science students will have some assessments next week). Students will have an exam schedule provided and all assessments will be completed online. We will be ensuring that our assessments predominantly test students understanding and ability to apply their knowledge; assessments will be open book. This is a tried and tested method used at University level since the start of the lockdown and we believe it is the best way to allow us to provide students with the opportunity to close the loop in their learning, show us what they can do and give us a checkpoint in time.
There will be more detailed information sent to you over the next few days. I am sorry for a further delay in exams for the students, however, adapting in school paper exams to be completed online effectively is not a quick task. All assessments will be completed by students at the same time with a strict time limit to ensure their work is their own. If any teacher believes a student's work is not their own, they will be required to attend school and will complete a paper based assessment under exam conditions.
Lessons will continue next week to consolidate students learning in preparation for the assessments.
Online Learning for all Students
I wanted to give you an update on what you should expect to see in lessons moving forwards. In September I sent parents a document relating to remote learning, which stated Year 13 and 11 would be receiving 100% live lessons, Year 10 and 12 - 50% and KS3 would all be pre-recorded lessons. Since then we have been able to train and support our staff and are far more experienced at delivering lessons online than we were 5 months ago.
I have therefore requested that every lesson should be delivered by a teacher for all year groups. Each lesson should be recorded so that students who are unable to attend the lesson have access to it later on - this will appear in their Class Team. However, there are a couple of caveats I need to make you aware of:
- Teachers have been told they must directly teach at least half of their lessons each week, many have decided to deliver all of them this way but departments do have some flexibility.
- If the lesson is not being taught traditionally for the hour, the teacher may create the class and take a register, set them the work and then be available in the Team Area for the duration of the lesson to support individuals, check understanding and answer any questions students have.
- On some occasions teachers will not be available at that time to deliver the lesson, for example they may be required to attend a meeting. In this instance the teacher will upload the work to their Team prior to the start of the lesson and students will work independently without teacher input. Students should still use the chat function to ask any questions they have about the work and their teacher will respond in due course.
- On a daily basis we may have some staff absence - teachers will continue to be unwell or unavailable for other reasons as they would outside of lockdown. I have asked my Cover Manager to email parents every day to inform them of teachers who are not available. Our aim is to provide students with lessons set by Heads of Department in these instances but this will not always be possible.
The feedback I received to date from parents who have been listening in on lessons has been very positive. There will always be teething problems and please let your child's Head of House know if you have any concerns. Please do not merely believe your child if they say they have no work and teachers aren't doing lessons, I really don't believe this is the case.
I have asked Mrs Schaefer to pull together tutorial videos for parents and students explaining how to use Microsoft Teams and these will be distributed shortly. My experience so far has been that where students say teachers are not in lessons, they have not understood how to log on in the correct area rather than the teacher not doing what has been asked of them.
Have you got an X-Box or PS4?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CiNzN8QxIRI&feature=youtu.be
Our Planned INSET Day
Progress Checks and Parents Evenings
Homework
I'm sure you are aware, many of you having worked from home for sometime now, how relentless staring at a screen can be all day. We need to look after the wellbeing of our students as well as their educational progress and I do not believe at the current time setting additional work beyond the expectations within lessons is beneficial.
The School Day
Lesson 1: begins 8.50am
Lesson 2: begins 9.50am
Break: 10.50-11.05am
Lesson 3: begins 11.05am
Lesson 4: begins 12.05pm
Lunch: 1.05- 2.05pm
Lesson 5: 2.05pm-3.05pm
Form Time
Non Attendance in Lessons
I am aware that some of our students are unable to access lessons at their timetabled time for a number of reasons, for example they share a device with their siblings. Please do not be offended if you still receive a text message. They are sent automatically and their purpose is to inform you that your child has not been attending. If you already know the reason for this that's not a problem.
At the end of the week our Heads of House will be analysing the information and contacting parents whose children are seemingly not engaging. This is an opportunity for you to seek support or to inform us of any reasons they are not able to do so. We are passionate about supporting parents to overcome barriers to their child's learning. I want to make it very clear that as a parent myself I understand the trials and tribulations of home schooling and our only aim is to support, not to criticise; I know you are all doing the very best you can for your children under extremely difficult circumstances.
Phone Calls Home
Supporting your Digital Needs
In September I ensured all students completed a survey outlining whether they had computer access at home. As a result of this we have this week begun contacting parents and offering them a school laptop for the duration of the lockdown. We will distribute every laptop we have available based on the information we have obtained from our students.
I will continue to push Essex County Council to provide us with additional devices that I am allowed to provide to families who do not receive the Pupil Premium but do not have adequate computer access.
I know there are families who do not have adequate Wi-Fi at home and this is causing issues with their child's online learning. If this is the case please contact the school via the admin@westhatch.net email and we will apply to the Department of Education for support on your behalf.
Disadvantaged families may be able to benefit from free increases to their mobile data if they’re a customer of either:
· EE
· Three
· Sky Mobile
· SMARTY
· Tesco Mobile
· Virgin Mobile
The amount of data available to families will vary by provider. Data will be increased until the end of July 2021. Once again please contact the school if you wish us to pursue this, for each request we will be expected to provide:
- the name of the account holder
- the number of the mobile device
- the mobile network of that device (for example Three)
Passwords
This email must be sent from the email address we hold for the Student's Priority 1 Contact otherwise we will be unable to provide the information requested.
Staying Sane
In all of this, remember that maintaining healthy relationships and healthy minds is the most important thing we can all do. As part of keeping healthy minds the following advice might be useful:
Maintain regular hours where possible and have clear guidelines for when to work and when to call it a day, to maintain work-life balance.
Create a morning routine to signify the start of the learning day, e.g. getting dressed and preparing the working environment.
Keep a dedicated workspace with a table, where possible, to separate work and leisure time.
Set ground rules with the family about what they can and cannot do during working time, e.g. when meal times are, respecting quiet space etc. and delete the distractions when working, e.g. social media alerts.
Schedule breaks during the day away from the workspace and make sure you take the time you agree.
Regularly review the schedule if adjustments are needed, but try to stick with your agreed plan.
Foster a reading culture within your family with a dedicated time to read and reading aloud together, discussing its content, whether it be a novel, a newspaper or a magazine.
Build in time for your children to socialise with friends and family, e.g. Skype, Face Time etc.
Connect with the environment and ensure you allow as much natural light and air into the working area and build in time for children to get some fresh air and exercise.
End the day with a routine to separate work and leisure time, e.g. tidying away books, getting some fresh air, watching a television programme together etc.
And Finally
Please do keep in touch; we know we will not always get things right and it helps to know where there are any issues we can address.
I hope that you are all coping under the new restrictions. I also know that many within our community will have suffered loss during this time, not only as a result of the increased prevalence of Covid-19. Our thoughts and love are with you all and I hope that it will not be too long before we can once again open our doors to you all and welcome you back into our school.
With Kindest Regards
Daniel Leonard
Headteacher