Rossett News - 24 April 2020

Dear Parents/Carers

 

I hope that you and your families had a restful Easter break. Welcome to our first ‘remote’ summer term bulletin.

 

I would like to start by thanking you for the fantastic job that you are doing at home in supporting your child/children’s well-being and learning during this unprecedented time. As many of the staff here are parents also, we empathise with you in meeting the challenges of answering questions about the unknown future, whilst trying to keep optimistic and focused on the remote learning packages from school. Each family is managing the ‘study at home’ programme slightly differently, but we know how hard you are working to keep your children motivated.

 

I suspect that there have been times this week where it has been difficult to move away from the holiday feeling of the two-week Easter break to a ‘return to school’ model. Without the changes to home routine that are usually provided by putting on a uniform, getting transport to school and you -  as parents - returning to work, there has been no discernible difference from one week to the next. I have also received emails from parents trying to work at home, or in key services, who have really specific problems that they have told us about. In some cases we can help directly; the school is open to students who have parents who are key workers; to some vulnerable students; and for some students whose families just need practical solutions to individual situations. If we can support you and your family in any other way – let us know. We have given advice, links to support services, listening ears and telephone welfare calls to many of you in the last few weeks and will continue to do so until schools return fully to delivering on-site education.

 

And so to the news from school. Over the Easter holidays we remained open to students every day, including over the Bank holiday weekend, providing a mixture of formal schooling every morning and also practical lessons for students who attended. Baking Easter cakes, making aprons, pizzas and spending time in the Sensory Garden were features of some of our typical afternoon activities onsite.

 

During the Easter holidays, the Senior Leadership team worked on preparations for this term’s remote learning for all students; plans for the collection of data to allow Year 11 and 13 grades to be allocated in the place of examinations; and carried out welfare support work and visits to ensure all families who qualified for Free School Meals received grocery vouchers from central government.

 

Please read the ‘Students: Welcome to the Summer Term’ letters that are being emailed out today for further details about remote learning and examinations’ updates for Years 10, 11, 12 and 13.

Sixth Form Applications 

The offer letters for current Year 11 students were sent out during the Easter holidays. If for any reason your child who has applied to Sixth Form has not received an offer letter please contact Mr. Foley (bfoley@rossettschool.co.uk). Year 11 students who have received an offer letter and have not yet replied, should email Miss Higgins phiggins@rossettschool.co.uk to confirm that they are accepting their place in Sixth Form next year.

Year 8 & Year 9 Vaccinations

The immunisations team are ready to resume the Year 8 HPV and Year 9 MenACWY vaccination programmes as soon as schools are reopened and the current lockdown has been lifted. Their overall  aim  is to have fully caught up on all outstanding immunisations by the end of the next school year. In the meantime, they will be starting to gather consents for the next school year.  Year 7 parents, please look out for information from school containing instructions on how to register consent online ready for September.

Rossett Adult Learning is going online

Rossett Adult Learning had been due to launch its Summer Programme on April 20, with sessions to be held in classrooms here at  school. But, in the light of coronavirus restrictions, it will now be offering online courses instead. 

Enrolment is now open for 75 of the planned Summer Programme courses, which will be held online for an initial trial period of five weeks. The sessions cover a range of subjects in art, culture, history, crafts, gardening, music, exercise and languages.

The virtual Summer Programme courses are available five days a week at various times, including daytime and evening classes.  To enrol for a course or for further information, visit www.rossettadultlearning.co.uk or email adultlearning.co.uk.

New Free School Meals criteria

We have been notified that Free School Meal eligibility has been temporarily extended to include anyone who is in the following categories:

• A Zambrano carer
• Has the right to remain in the UK under Article 8 of the ECHR
• Receiving support under Section 4 of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999
• Receiving support under Section 17 of the Children Act 1989 AND are subject to a NRPF condition

We would respectfully ask any parents who have had a change in personal circumstances over the past few weeks to consider whether they may now be entitled to Free School Meals.  Please click the link for further details:

https://www.rossettschool.co.uk/parents-carers/free-school-meals/

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 examinations or the current national coverage of the pandemic.

• Kooth – a free, online counselling service available at kooth.com
• Buzz Us – run by Compass Buzz and specific to young people from North Yorkshire; this is a text messaging service that connects students to a ‘well-being’ advisor on 07520631168 https://www.compass-uk.org/buzz-us/
• Young Minds - https://youngminds.org.uk/
• NHS Every Mind Matters - https://www.nhs.uk/oneyou/
• Give us a Shout - https://www.giveusashout.org/
• The Mix - https://www.themix.org.uk/
• Nightline - https://www.nightline.ac.uk/

Padlet

A reminder that Mrs Huett, our Learning Resource Manager, has been working hard  in putting all of our reading resources in one easily accessible area.  Follow the link to 'Padlet' here for lots of links, reviews and recommendations.  Remember to keep checking in on 'Padlet' as news and links will be updated regularly.

Each week we hope to highlight one area of Padlet - this week we feature MyOn which is a platform provided by Renaissance but it’s free and has a catalogue of 7000+ books for students to access at this time.  Click here for the user guide - happy reading!

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.
• Remember you can contact your teachers with any queries via Teams and the Network Team with any IT queries. at: studentIThelp@rossettschool.co.uk

GCSE Pod 

Our Year 9 and Year 10 students continue to access GCSE Pod to enhance their home learning. This week's  top GCSE Podders are:

Leila Buono, Jacob Norman, Roshan Mawji in Year 9 and Matthew Lowes,  Andrew Smart and Ethan Berry in Year 10 - well done!

If you would like to know more about GCSEPod and how your child can use it to develop their knowledge and understanding, then please see below or visit their website https://www.gcsepod.com. To sign up, students only need to enter  their name and date of birth. 

‘Easter Egg History Eggstravaganza’

Over the Easter break our History Department ran an Easter Egg Eggstravaganza competition.  The students were challenged to design a historical figure from an egg.  Competition was tough but the winners  (one chosen by each of our History teachers) were:

Elvis by Angharad Grabham , Neil Armstrong by Harry Rayner, Floregg Nightingale by Ruby Webster and John and Yolk-o by Ruby Cryer, all Year 7. Unfortunately Ruby Cryer's picture wouldn't upload but we will try and get another copy for next week.  Thank you for your wonderfully creative ideas!

Well done to....

Jack Garside and Matthew Holleran (both Year 9) who have 'stepped-up' and taken on extra deliveries for their paper delivery round in their village, reducing the need for local residents to leave their homes during the current lock down.

H Woodcock

Headteacher