Author: Danielle Bramald

Please follow this link to read the latest communication regarding re-opening to Year 10 students: Trust Parental letter (2b) – 25-05-20

 

Download the latest communication from the CEO here: Parental letter – MAT com 20-5-20

FAO Year 7 Parents/Carers – Wakefield Immunisation Team will be contacting you to gain verbal consent for your child to have the HPV vaccination due next academic year. You can also call them on 01924 310133 to give your consent.

I am sure that you will be aware of the unprecedented impact that the COVID-19 epidemic is having on the nation. Unfortunately, following the strategy from the government, we will close the academy to virtually all students from Friday 20^th March at 2:40pm.

I want to assure parents that there are a significant amount of resources available to you and your child to help support their education over the coming period.  The resources can be accessed via our website, teachers have provided work for every lesson that your child would normally attend. If the closure is longer than expected, teachers will continue to upload resources for students to access from home to try and minimise the impact of the closure.

Most students have been shown how to access their work for each lesson and have been told about the expectations of what they should be doing. This has been communicated through sessions this week. Year 10 may have found this more difficult due to the partial closure earlier in the week. However, many have been in touch and all year 10 students will receive a telephone call next week to discuss their progress with this. The academy has also provided an exercise book for those students who attended today in order to complete their work. For students that are not in and haven’t collected a book, they can complete work on paper or on a word processor if they have the facilities to do so.

Earlier in the week we set out expectations for Year 11 students. However, these priorities have clearly changed as we now know that exams are cancelled. Of course, government officials are working with exam boards to ensure that children “get the qualifications that they need”, a plan for how grades will be awarded is yet to be confirmed. Therefore, year 11 students need to remain contactable by checking their e-mails in case of any updates. For now, we strongly recommend that they continue to keep their minds active, utilising the resources provided online and considering the subjects they are intending to study next year. We know that for year 11 this has been abrupt end and not what anyone wanted and as soon as we are able we will be arranging a celebratory end of year event.

Should students be concerned about the work or unsure of how to progress, they are able to contact their teachers via email for support. How to do this has been explained to students and is covered by one of our ‘help’ videos.

The academy fully supports the government’s desire to keep schools open for the most vulnerable and the children of key workers. Thank you to those key workers who have been in touch, completing the online form, as per the earlier communications to ensure they have a place for their child in the coming weeks. We have now collated the numbers and staffed this accordingly.  Please do not send your child to school next week unless you have been in touch to confirm a place with us.  If you have, then school starts at 8.30am on Monday and runs until 2.40pm. If for some reason you are a key worker and you have been unable to inform us, please contact us urgently. As far as possible, lessons will continue as normal for students who are still attending.

The decision to close has not been taken lightly and is a government directive.  The health of staff, students and their families is of paramount importance and we hope that this step serves to keep our community safe and healthy.

Thank you for your continued support. I hope you and your families stay safe during these turbulent times.

Rob Marsh

Principal

The government has now published the list of key workers who can continue to send their children to school from Monday 23^rd March.  It can be found here:  https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-maintaining-educational-provision/guidance-for-schools-colleges-and-local-authorities-on-maintaining-educational-provision

In summary the guidance states that there are eight sectors of key workers – health and social care; education and childcare; key public services; local and national government; food and other necessary goods; public safety and national security; transport; utilities, communication and financial services.  Further details and examples of each category is available at the link above.

The guiding principles remain as follows:

1. If it is at all possible for children to be at home, then they should be.
2. If a child needs specialist support, is vulnerable or has a parent who is a critical worker, then educational provision will be available for them.
3. Parents should not rely for childcare upon those who are advised to be in the stringent social distancing category such as grandparents, friends, or family members with underlying conditions.
4. Parents should also do everything they can to ensure children are not mixing socially in a way which can continue to spread the virus. They should observe the same social distancing principles as adults.
5. Residential special schools, boarding schools and special settings continue to care for children wherever possible.

If you feel you meet the published criteria, please complete the questionnaire following the link on the front page of the website (https://cathedral.trinitymat.org/key-info/coronavirus/) as soon as possible, certainly no later than 2pm today (Friday 20^th March).  If you have a specific query regarding the provision, or your eligibility to qualify for it, please contact the school and we will do our best to advise you.

Once we have a clearer picture of how many children will be attending on Monday, we will communicate with the parents of those children in as timely a manner as possible.  In the meantime, please be assured that we are well placed and prepared to ensure a safe and orderly educational environment; pupils should arrive at school on Monday with the same expectations (uniform, behaviour, approach to learning etc.), that they left with on Friday.

Thank you for your continuing support of the academy in these challenging times.

Rob Marsh

Principal

 

19th March 2020

Dear Parent/Carer,

As you will be aware, the Prime Minister announced yesterday that a decision had been made to close schools to further slow the spread of the coronavirus. He did however state that schools must remain open for the most vulnerable students and the children of key workers, to ensure that the NHS and other fundamental support functions are able to continue wherever possible.

The academy fully supports this decision and as such will be open on Monday to the following students:

• Students who are the most vulnerable (those with social care involvement)
• Students who have an Education Health Care Plan (EHCP)
• Students whose parents are both classed as ‘key workers’, or where a single parent is a key worker. Examples of this are emergency services workers, all NHS staff, social workers, care workers, staff who work in schools and food distribution workers.

Note:  Full guidance will be issued later today by the government on who exactly is classed as a key worker.

More information will follow about the more detailed logistics but, as far as possible, lessons will continue as normal for students who are still attending.

If you fall into the key worker category, and you need your child to continue to attend school from Monday 23rd March, please could you go to our website and complete the Key Worker form, via the dedicated coronavirus page: https://cathedral.trinitymat.org/key-info/coronavirus/.

Please complete this form as soon as possible, certainly by the end of the academy day tomorrow (Friday 20th March).

Rob Marsh – Principal

Download full letter – Coronavirus – key updates 18.3.20

Coronavirus – key updates for parents and students

Working from home in the event of closure or self-isolation

As you are aware we are dealing with an unprecedented situation which is largely beyond our control. We have already had to act on a partial closure for year 10 and we will review the academy’s ability to run on a daily basis. Although we hope to remain open, we are putting measures in place to support students should we be forced to close. Staff have spent time preparing resources for all year groups to access online.

Today we have held sessions with students in year groups 7, 8, 9, and 11 to explain to them what resources are available and how to access them. We know that some students are absent through self-isolation and of course, year 10 are not in school. Therefore, we want to emphasise to all how to access the resources. Please note that these instructions have been updated since the letter yesterday. Some minor glitches have been fixed.

The quickest way is to go to the Cathedral Academy website https://cathedral.trinitymat.org and click on the red ‘School Closure Information’ bar at the top of the page. From there, you should see links to Office 365, SharePoint, training videos and other online resources.

We are fully aware that some students may not have access to ICT facilities at home. Therefore, we have asked students in this position to let a member of staff know so that we can send a printed pack with them. If your child is currently off and you are in this position please contact reception and we will post some resources to you.

The expectation of students in any period of closure would be to work on each subject for the same number of hours as they are timetabled. Therefore, students should be working for 5 timetabled hours per day. If any closure is extended, the resources will be added to week by week.

Additional measures for year 11 students

As year 11 are nearing their final exams, there are some additional things in place to support learning as follows:

• A revision pack will be provided, with revision supplies and an exercise book for any work done over the period of closure.
• A parental tracker to sign for each day of learning.
• Staff will e-mail students regularly to give them information, pointers, reminders and updates.
• Students will be able to e-mail questions to their teachers and will get a response wherever possible.
• Weekly phone-call from a member of staff to the household – we will ask to speak with the student, to discuss how learning is going and if any further support is needed.
• The possibility for year 11 students who do not have ICT access at home to loan a laptop.

Our aim is to ensure that in any period of closure or self-isolation, that students have some level of continuity of learning at this important time. Of course, there may be some breaks in service if staff are not well, but we hope to continue this for year 11 throughout a period of closure. Also, should there be any further information about examinations we will endeavour to keep you updated regarding this.

 Overseas school trips

It is understandable parents/carers will have questions regarding any upcoming overseas school trips.  Currently, the government advises against any overseas trips.

We continue to liaise with our insurance companies and the travel companies and will continue to follow future government advice as this is subject to review on an on-going basis.  As such our overseas trips in June and September are not cancelled but are looking unlikely. At this stage however, we are not able to access refunds although this may change over time and we will keep parents informed as any potential trip date draws closer.

Other school trips, enrichment and performances

In light of the current situation all school performances, enrichment sessions and domestic trips are postponed until further notice. This includes Monday and Friday Performing Arts enrichment sessions – please note that we have had to cancel these with immediate effect until further notice. Of course any monies paid by parents for these sessions will be able to be refunded or carried over in due course.

Updates for parents

In the event of a school closure we would endeavour to keep parents/carers informed of any key information and potential dates for re-opening.  Thanks to all parents/carers for their support at this difficult time, we will keep you informed of any updates or changes as they happen.

17th March 2020 – The below information has been texted to all parents today. Download the full letter here: Coronavirus update to parents 17.3.20

I am writing to you to update you on the academy’s position regarding the Coronavirus. The spread of the virus and government advice on self-isolation is having a significant impact on staffing levels, meaning that the academy is unable to operate at full capacity.  As a result, we have to consider how we can continue to deliver the very highest standards of both education and health and safety for students and staff.

Therefore, I have taken the decision to carry out a partial school closure just for year 10 students from tomorrow. This means that the academy will be open only to year groups 7, 8, 9 and 11 for the remainder of this week. We will be reviewing the situation daily and we will contact you if there are any changes to this position.

Staff used the time on Monday afternoon in order to make some key learning resources available for students in all year groups in the event of closure. These learning resources can be accessed online by following the instructions provided on the attached document Accessing Office 365 and Sharepoint. We expect that year 10 students will now access and follow these to give some continuity of learning.

I would like to stress to all parents that this is not a decision I have taken lightly and not a decision I want to make. However, in these unique and testing times we are having to make some very difficult decisions. We hope you can support us at this time.

Rob Marsh – Principal