Rossett News Update - 15 January 2021

Free School Meals 

We continue to provide supermarket vouchers to all our eligible families.  From next week, we will resume using the national voucher scheme instead of the food parcel system some schools have adopted. We know that giving families the opportunity to choose their own food is preferable.  More information will be communicated to eligible families by email.  If you feel that you should be included in this scheme, please contact your child's SSO for further details.

Remote Form Time 

From Monday this week, all students will be sent an invitation on Microsoft Teams to join their Tutor Group in one 15-minute Form Time session each week on either a Monday or Tuesday.  The aim of these sessions is to provide: a pastoral base for all students, a welfare and accessibility check, a chance to celebrate their success through rewards and an opportunity to motivate them with their remote learning.  We know students will be looking forward to hearing from their Tutor again and catching up with their peers.  The same protocols the school uses for live lessons apply to these Form Time sessions. 

 

New Reward Certificates

Starting this week, teachers will be nominating students in their classes to receive a 'certificate of exceptional engagement', which will be posted out each Friday. We look forward to sending these much-deserved certificates to students in recognition of how hard they are working at home and the resilience they have shown to continue with their learning in these challenging times. 

Remote Learning Provision

Many thanks for all of the positive comments that we have received about the remote learning provision we have continued to put in place through all three lockdown periods.  Please continue to get in touch, both with positive feedback, and if you think there are any areas where we can improve our provision.  Please send these through to learning@rossettschool.co.uk.

This week we will be sending out a survey to both parents and students about our remote learning provision.  We would very much appreciate if you could spare the time to provide us with your own specific feedback.

 

Additional Mobile Data

We wrote to all parents last week regarding a government initiative to provide additional mobile data or 4G routers to families who do not have fixed broadband at home.  Please find details of this offer below.  Please note that O2 and Vodaphone have been recently added to the list of mobile phone providers.  4G routers are now also available to students in Year 12 and 13, as well as students in Years 7-11.

To support some students during this latest lockdown, the government have offered an increase of data allowances on their mobile devices.  This scheme temporarily increases data allowances for mobile phone users on certain networks. This is so that children and young people can access remote education if their face-to-face education is disrupted.  This scheme is available for students who:

• Do not have fixed broadband at home
• Cannot afford additional data
• Have access to a mobile device that uses a participating network
• Cannot access face-to-face education

This is currently on offer to mobile phone users on these networks:

• Three
• Smarty
• Virgin Mobile
• EE
• Tesco Mobile
• Sky mobile
• Vodaphone

• O2
• Other providers may join the scheme at a later stage.

Please see here for specific information about the provision from each network.

If you meet this criteria, and would like us to apply for this data increase on your behalf please review the government’s privacy notice found here.  Please then complete this form as soon as possible, but by 12pm on Wednesday 20^th January at the latest to provide us with the necessary information that we’ll need to do this.

If an increase in mobile data isn’t a suitable solution for your family, the government are also offering the opportunity for families to request a 4G router for those students who are eligible for free school meals or pupil premium funding, and who don’t have access to the internet.  If you would like us to apply for a 4G router on your behalf, please complete this form.

 

Graded Music Examinations - Fantastic Results

Despite the challenges of attending their music lessons with our peripatetic teachers by video remotely for much of the year, we are delighted with our talented music students and their results in their most recent graded music examinations.  Congratulations and well done to them all.

Sam Gilmartin	Grade 8 Clarinet	Distinction
George Papadopoullos	Grade 8 Clarinet	Distinction
Lauren Edwards	Grade 7 Saxophone	Distinction
Daisy Bielby	Grade 4 Clarinet	Merit
Charlotte Wormald	Grade 2 Piano	Pass
Beth Lyons	Grade 3 Piano	Pass
Amber Jamieson	Grade 3 Piano	Merit
Dan Golding	Grade 3 Piano	Distinction
Freddie Newton	Grade 8 Guitar	Distinction

Mathematics' Competition Winners

Well done to this week's Mathematics' Competition Winners:

Stay Active with the Rossett Sports' Department

In order to promote regular physical activity and support good mental well-being, our Sports' Faculty have introduced a daily activity for students to take part in.  Along with a daily challenge students can also choose extra weekly challenges where points will be awarded to contribute to Inter-form points for this half term. 

Students can complete these sessions whenever is convenient to them either throughout the day, either before school, at break time, lunchtime or after school.  this is an excellent way to have a break from their studies and 'screen time' whilst learning from home.  Although this is an optional activity, we encourage students to get involved if they can.

Students  can subscribe to 'Rossett School Team PE' YouTube channel to follow the daily sessions or visit their social media pages:

Instagram (@rossettsport) and Twitter (@rossettPE) pages.

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCiCoiUklDmfGwtCs2AwBPEw

Padlet

Mrs Huett, our Learning Resource Manager has been busy keeping our  'Padlet' up-to-date with all the latest reading resources in this easily accessible area.  Follow the link to 'Padlet' here for lots of links, reviews and recommendations including links to learning resources for use in lockdown, an virtual book festival and advice on how to join the public library and access e-books.  Remember to keep checking in on 'Padlet' as news and links will be updated regularly.

Wonderful Work

Well done to Masha Alexandrov in Year 7 who completed some excellent work in her first remote learning French lesson on how to describe photographs and pictures. Here she has done brilliantly to describe this painting by Gustave Caillebotte independently !

Tips for home learning

• Where possible have a quiet space away from distractions;
• Be organised - have a routine based around the school day including break and lunchtime;
• Leave your mobile phone in another room and turn off notifications while you are home learning;
• Stay safe on-line - only use trusted websites, follow the school's online protocols in our Acceptable Use Policy;
• Remember you can contact your teachers with any queries via Teams and the Network Team with any IT queries. at: studentIThelp@rossettschool.co.uk

Mental Health and Wellbeing

We would like to remind you of the support groups, websites and text-based helplines that exist to help students combat feelings of anxiety that may result from worrying about future examinations or the current national coverage of the pandemic.

The Go-To – www.thegoto.org.uk – is a portal or ‘single point of information’ for the wide range of mental health support services available to help children and young people in the county address their social and emotional health needs.

https://www.kooth.com/        https://www.minded.org.uk/

 

Covid-19: Reporting

For those students who remain in school we would like to remind you of the reporting procedures  and symptom checker before attending each day:

If your child has any of the symptoms described in the attached parental letter from Public Health England here, they must stay at home and arrangements need to be made to have a test.    You must call the school absence line (01423 564 444) and leave a voicemail informing us about the situation and the reason your child is not in school.

We would remind you that you should only book a test if your child has any of these three coronavirus symptoms:

• A high temperature: any new high temperature where your child feels hot to touch on their chest or back (you do not need to measure the temperature);
• A new continuous cough: coughing a lot for more than an hour, or 3 or more coughing episodes in 24 hours;
• A loss of, or change in, sense of smell or taste: a noticeable loss of smell or taste or things smell and taste different to normal.

If your child has been off school for a reason related to Covid-19, it is vital that you contact us  before they return and give us the reason they are returning e.g. a negative test result. 

• Public Health England has asked us to emphasise with our parents/carers that the NHS Track and Trace App is not applicable to students under the age of 16, and therefore should not be installed on the phones of students who are under 16. If any parent has to inform the school regarding a positive Covid case please email https://rossett.school/positive and complete the form.

Helen Woodcock

Headteacher