Rossett News Update - 16th April 2021

We started the week with welcome back assemblies for both upper and lower school from myself, Mr Stone, Mr Royles and Mr Saunders.

As part of the planned tutor programme this week students have reflected on the national news of the death of HRH the Duke of Edinburgh, looking specifically at his life and his contribution to society.  His charitable works and his leadership of community contribution as part of the Duke of Edinburgh Award Scheme have impacted greatly on our students both past and present.  We are proud to continue to offer the Duke of Edinburgh Bronze, Silver and Gold Award Schemes here at Rossett.

The short film watched by all students in Years 7-11 provided a focus for discussion about the Duke's life and on a personal note reminded me of the pride that I felt in attending Buckingham Palace on behalf of our school.  The event was a Duke of Edinburgh Award Scheme afternoon where we were introduced to Sophie, Countess of Wessex, and presented with a plaque to mark our years of successfully running the DofE Award.  The plaque is proudly displayed in Rossett School as a constant reminder of our students' individual achievements and our continuing support of the scheme.  

Following the Easter break all our students have returned to lessons that have been planned to focus on rapid progress this term. Each year group is still taught in discrete areas and we have included greater elements of practical lessons for everyone in the next seven weeks.

This week has seen Year 8 parents meeting virtually with staff to receive updates on students’ attitudes to learning; completion of class and homework; and progress data. Please see the school calendar and the newsletter for details of other parents’ events.

The programme of lateral flow testing at home for staff and students is continuing; thank you for your help in maintaining the pattern of Sunday and Wednesday evening ‘test and report’ to the NHS and school. Students will be coming home with further supplies at the end of this month.

Despite the many challenges faced this year, our consistent message has been for all students to value their learning and work hard. Our GCSE, BTEC and A level students embarked on their revision programmes before Easter and will be assessed in the coming weeks, prior to the marking, moderation and award of TAGs, or teacher-assessed grades in June. Students in Years 7, 8, 9, 10 and 12 have also been working towards the completion of classroom tests to show their progress: this will be a busy and focussed half term.

I would ask that parents support the school’s ambition to ensure that all students are prepared for school and for learning in the weeks that follow. The completion of homework, the observance of rules and concentration in class are all vital elements in making sure that all students hit their personal targets for progression this year.

H Woodcock

Headteacher

Welcome to the Summer Term

We were delighted to welcome our students back to school on Monday and we have had a really positive start to the Summer Term.  We will be focusing on our 'Rossett Basics' during Form Time over the coming weeks and will reinforce our core routines that support our effective learning environment.  Your support as parents/carers is vital to ensure that all students arrive at school in the correct uniform, with the right equipment and on time is very much appreciated.

Testing

Thank you to all of our students and parents/carers for your support in continuing with the Lateral Flow Tests  over the Easter break.  This home-testing regime will continue for the foreseeable future and further testing kits will be issued shortly to students.

As a reminder, staff and students are undertaking their home tests each Sunday and Wednesday evening. Advice on how to report the results of these tests to the NHS and the school is contained in our previous letter - a copy of which is available again HERE.  We very much appreciate your support in continuing to report your child's results to our school and know that these reported results help the NHS and the school manage the wider safety of our local community.

Year 9 Options

Students in Year 9 have been completing their Key Stage 4 Option choices this week.  Many thanks to all of the students and parents/carers involved in this process.  We will be e-mailing confirmation of final option subjects in the next few weeks.

 

2021 Grading Information

During the Easter break, Ofqual and JCQ released further guidance around how GCSE, BTEC, and A' level and other subject grades will be generated this year, in the absence of external examinations.  The individual exam boards are also releasing further subject specific information on Monday 19th April.  We will be in touch with students and parents/carers again next week with further clarification and details around the processes involved.

KS4  (GCSE, BTEC and other assessments) Revision Sessions Reminder:

We informed you in our 12 March Rossett News about  after school grade booster sessions for Year 11 (and Year 10 students - final year options subjects). In order for your child to attend these sessions, you will need to confirm permission by completing the following form here. Permission only needs to be granted once to attend all or any of the various sessions available after school. For more information regarding specific days and location of sessions, please liaise directly with your child's class teacher.  Please see below for a timetable for sessions that commenced on 15th April 2021.

We would also like to remind you that further information on this subject, issued before Easter is in our letter to parents/carers regarding Assessments for Years 10, 11 12 and 13 can be found on our website here.

Practical Lessons

We are very pleased to be able to inform you that practical lessons will be re-starting for students in Years 7, 8 and 9 on Monday 19^th April in Design Technology, Food, Art, Music and Drama. Students will be accessing these lessons in our specialist rooms and we are sure that they will enjoy the further opportunity to return to these activities.

A great deal of care and attention has gone in to the planning for the re-start of these practical lessons to ensure that everyone remains safe and that COVID safety requirements are met. Students will be asked to sanitise their hands before and after accessing these rooms as usual, as well as using extra anti-viral wipes to clean their workspaces as necessary.

Relationships and Sex Education (RSE)

The Relationships and Sex Education Policy has now been ratified by the Governing Body and has been uploaded to the website here.  I would like to thank the students, parents and staff who took part in the consultation process.  We were very impressed by the insightful comments made by the student body during this process.  A small number of changes have been made and agreed by Governors in response to the feedback from the consultation process.  The RSE curriculum will continue to evolve to reflect the changes happening in society, so that our students grow in their knowledge and understanding of how to live healthy and happy lives.  

 

  

Year 11 Photographs, Wednesday 28th April 2021

We would like to remind parents/carers of our Year 11 students that we have arranged for photographers to be in school on  Wednesday 28 April to take both individual and year group photographs in their 'bubble'.  We hope this notice allows plenty of time to get those post-lockdown haircuts!

Year 9 Vaccinations

On Wednesday  14th April our  Year 9 students received their second immunisations for HPV. Those who missed the first immunisation last year were also contacted as part of the programme.  Well done, once again, to our students who took this activity in their stride and thanks to our local visiting vaccination team.

Rossett First Aid Team to the Rescue!

Members of our First Aid team jumped into action over the Easter weekend and volunteered at the Knaresborough Covid vaccination site.  The site in Knaresborough was expecting to vaccinate over 1500 people on Good Friday but were short-staffed due to illness. Our First Aid and Health Manager, Mrs Rogers, stepped in to offer the support of volunteers from our Rossett School First Aid team.  Mrs Rogers, along with Deborah Stockhill, Oliver Kirkby and Olivia Money,  helped direct patients; took part in the 'meet and greet'; made refreshments for the vaccination team; checked patient lists, and helped to manage  car parking.  The team reported that it was a really busy day and everyone on site pulled together to ensure the smooth running of the day.  Well done to our team for supporting this important event.

Sixth Form Revision Sessions

In order for students in Year 13 to prepare for their forthcoming assessments, we have arranged a number of revision sessions which will take place after school (Period 6). We have also included a revision session for Year 12 students in Core Maths and EPQ.  These are drop-in sessions  starting from this week and continuing until the assessments take place. Please ask your child to speak to a member of the Sixth Form Team if they would like information further to the timetable below:-

Read at Rossett

Thursday 23rd April  is Earth Day 2021 and our  Learning Resource Centre has lots of books about saving the environment.  If you would like to find out more, see what action you can personally take, or just read a work of fiction  with an ecological theme, Mrs Huett has compiled some suggestions for further reading.

Fashion Conscious is a new  book about how our clothing choices impact on the planet and how we can all take action to reduce our 'footprint'. See the rest of our recommendations and how to borrow here.

Fundraising Challenges

Many of our students set themselves personal goals for fitness or charitable giving, through all three lockdown periods.  This week we are pleased and proud to introduce one of our younger student's efforts in response to personal knowledge of the impact of a lesser-known but devastating condition.

Year 8 student, Callum Handley has  set himself  a fantastic challenge of  running 100 kilometres in a month - that's five, 5k runs a week! Callum is  raising money for the Motor Neurone Disease Association and has set-up a Just Giving page. If you would like to support him - he has raised over £500 so far -please click on the link below:

https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/callum-handley. 

Well done Callum!

 

Mental Health and Wellbeing

We would like to remind you of the support groups, websites and text-based helplines that exist to help our students combat any feelings of anxiety. We know that many students continue to have some concerns about their future,  or the continuing 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

As we return from the Easter break 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.