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Rossett News Update - 15 May 2020

Welcome to our weekly round-up of news and links to support the ongoing education of students and the wider Rossett community during this time.

I was pleased to have had a chance to catch up this week with our adult learners who have been accessing our adult education programmes on-line and who are enjoying a different type of ‘remote’ community interaction this spring and summer. Do click on the link below to see what our  classes have to offer.

 

In terms of our in-school provision for the children of key workers and those who qualify for extra support, we have seen our numbers increase for this week and next. We look forward to welcoming back more students whose parents are deemed key workers as they return to more settled schedules at work.

 

I  realise that foremost in everyone’s mind is the question of schools’ re-opening and what that will look like for firstly primary schools and latterly, schools like ours. The Senior Management and Governors are continuing to take advice from Public Health England (regarding the scientific guidance), North Yorkshire County Council (benchmarking our individual plans with the county response), and speaking to our local partnership schools in Harrogate and Leeds to ensure that we are collaborating and looking carefully at future planning.

 

Our intention at Rossett is that you, as parents, will see that whenever schools reopen in the surrounding areas of Harrogate and Leeds, we are part of a movement to ensure that there is a safe, proportionate and well-planned return to education for our Year 10 and Year 12 students, in the first instance.

 

Any ‘return’ for Years 10 and 12 will be phased and personalised, supplementing their continued online learning through to July, and will not involve any kind of normal or full timetable being run -  with the whole year group actually unlikely to be on site at the same time. Our aim is to evaluate their progress during lockdown and to give guidance and input that will allow them to prepare for the next stage of their learning in September. Years 7, 8 and 9 will continue with their online learning.

 

I must add at this very early stage of policy announcement however, that nothing is set in stone and there is currently a considerable amount of communication occurring between local authorities, the teaching and associate staff unions and other education related professional associations with the Department for Education, in order to seek greater clarification on these announcements and the guidance published so far.

 

As the advice and guidance is currently updated on a daily basis, I will be in touch again with further information for you in the near future. Whatever the final details do end up being, I would like to take the opportunity to remind you that our overriding priority at Rossett  continues to be the wellbeing and safety of our students and staff, and we will work with you to ensure that this remains the case over the coming weeks and months.

 

In these very challenging times, we will continue to refine and improve the online learning that our fantastic staff are providing to our students. Thank you for your ongoing support; we value and appreciate your continuing positive messages to staff, and your feedback on the pastoral contacts that take place each week.

 

With every best wish to all our Rossett students and families.

H Woodcock

Headteacher

Year 10 Update

Following information received from Ofqual, I have written to Year 10 parents today regarding examination outcomes for summer 2020 and remote learning changes from next week.  Please click here for further details.

 

Remote creativity at Rossett

We continue to receive examples of wonderful work produced by our students either working on school work from home, or filling their spare time with creative projects. Olivia Money in Year 8 has been hard at work creating crocheted animals to send to her Nan and Grandma, along with busily making hearts with her mum to send to the NHS - one heart is given to the family member who is poorly, the other is sent to the family who are not able to visit in person. We hope you enjoy the images of some of Olivia's creations in addition to some wonderful art and design work we have received which includes a hedgehog pencil holder, a Harry Potter film set made entirely of Lego and Iwan Jenkins (Year 7) menu for his dream restaurant which he completed for his Food Technology project.

New crochet 1New Crochet 2

Artwork 4Artwork 5GCSE Artwork

menuHedgehogLego set design




In addition to these wonderful artistic projects, our Year 7 English students have been creating some excellent poems about life in lockdown inspired by Grace Nichols' poem 'Island Man'.  We will feature one poem each week for the next few weeks, starting with Nina Myers:

English Poem

Year 7 Maths Stars this week...

Our Maths teachers have been really impressed with the negative number work from many of the Year 7s. Particular mention this week goes to Annabelle Gosper, Angharad Grabham, and Jemima Millar for some superb examples of Mathematics' reasoning.  Noted for excellent effort this week are Ethan Phelps and Uswa Imran. 

Rossett School Instrumental Tuition 

If your child is currently receiving instrumental tuition you will have received an email  with detailed information about the delivery of these on-line lessons during the on-going school closure.  We would however, like to remind parents that instrumental tuition fees for the final half term of this academic year are now available to pay on SCOPAY.   Please ensure that the fees are paid by Wednesday 27 May 2020 to ensure the continued efficient delivery of these lessons.

Rossett Adult Learning

All at Rossett Adult Learning have been extremely busy in recent weeks creating an extensive array of new on-line courses to keep you busy in this period of social distancing. Law, Yoga, art and music are all featured in their new programme which is launching next week click here to find out more - you can even access a free class with instructions on how to make your own protective face mask.

Wizards of oncePadlet

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.

This week, check out the Hay Festival On-line.  This renowned literary festival opens its doors 'virtually'  between 18-31 May and features lots of children's authors including Cressida Cowell author of 'The Wizards of Once' and 'How to Train Your Dragon'.

The event also features free live broadcasts and interactive Q&As from over 100 of the world's greatest writers and thinkers who share their insights and interrogate some of the biggest issues of our time, from Covid-19 and world health to the climate crisis and our future. The programme of events is online now.

A five-day Hay Festival Programme for Schools - free films for primary and secondary school children - will be broadcast 18–22 May. Aimed at inspiring creative reading, this programme has been developed for children to access with their parents. Each film will include a recommended activity to do at home. Hay Festival Programme for Schools will be broadcast on Hay Player.

EveryBodyWorries_thumb2Also new to Padlet this week is an online colourful storybook for those families with younger children.  Jon Burgeman's book  is designed to support children who may be feeling worried about the Coronavirus pandemic - even the bravest of brave and coolest of cool worry!

Mental Health and Wellbeing

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

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

And finally...

We are pleased to share with you some super photos taken  by Andrew Whewell in Year 8 while out on walks with his family over recent weeks.  If you know of a student who, like Andrew, has been getting creative with their camera don't forget our photography competition that we launched last week.  Please click here for full details.

 CowSunsetCow 2

H Woodcock

Headteacher