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Rossett News Update - 26 March 2021

bunting 2

As we end the Spring Term and look forward to a well-earned Easter Break, I would like parents and carers to be aware of the celebrations that have taken place in school this week to mark our appreciation of the mature way in which all of our students have returned to learning .

Our students, in all years, have been busy earning positive ClassCharts points – in lockdown and since we have returned to school. We were delighted to reward excellent work, effort and attitude with appropriately quarantined Easter treats for those students nominated by the pastoral teams here at Rossett.

Attendance in both remote classrooms and in school have been excellent in this last term and we look forward to welcoming everyone back to school on Monday 12th April.

For clarity, all students are expected back in full Rossett uniform, after Easter; we ask parents to use the Easter break to address any final outstanding issues of non-uniform clothes, sports kit, footwear and non-regulation hair and jewellery before we come back to school. Thank you, in anticipation for your support with this. Public Health England have confirmed that face-coverings should be worn to, and in school, from 12th April until further notice.

Please read carefully the sections of the newsletter that relate to the planned assessment programme for next term. If you are a parent or carer of a child or children in Years 10, 11, 12 or 13 who has still to read Mr Stone’s letter issued this Thursday, I would urge you to follow the link below for a second chance to look at the areas for revision over Easter.

The school will be open in the next two weeks for some targeted support for a cohort of our Year 11 students. These students have been invited personally, by letter, to access this provision.

The LTF (lateral flow testing) programme continues throughout the Easter break and the Senior Team will be monitoring staff and student ‘reported results’ during this time. Please see below for further details.

Finally, the end of the Easter break will see an increase in our provision of practical lessons with further areas of the school opening in Drama, Technology, Science and P.E. and a phased return to after-school clubs and homework provision. These latter changes will be supported by the running of a late bus. Further details will be confirmed by Mr Royles and Mr Saunders in April.

With every best wish for a peaceful Easter holiday – away from screens and remote meetings! We look forward to seeing everyone back to school on Monday 12th April.

Helen Woodcock

Headteacher.

covid testing boxContinuation of Testing

As we approach the Easter holidays I would remind you that following the success of the asymptomatic testing programme on the re-opening of schools the Government have announced the continuation of home testing of students and staff should continue throughout the Easter holidays and into the summer term.   

Students and staff have been provided with the self-test kits and are asked to  test twice a week (Sunday and Wednesday evenings). Following the receipt of the results– whether positive, negative or void – reporting should be made to NHS Test and Trace, via the self-report option. The site for the NHS and school reporting can be found at https://www.gov.uk/report-covid19-result  and: https://rossett.school/studentcovidreport

An email with more detailed information was sent to all parents/carers this week and can be found here as a reminder.

marie curieNational Day of Reflection

On Tuesday 23rd March we came together as a school community to show support for the millions of people who have been affected by the pandemic. At 12.00pm the whole school paused for a minute's silence to reflect on the past year, in support the cancer charity Marie Curie's Day of Reflection.

The charity  also asked people across the UK to take a moment to reach out to someone who is grieving. Ways of supporting families and friends  by having a chat, sending a card or message, or by giving someone spring flowers - were discussed and recommended as ways to brighten someone's day.

OptionsYear 9 Options

Throughout this week Year 9 students have had the opportunity to meet with  members of the Senior Leadership Team to discuss their options and receive advice.  All students have now received their final online Options' forms which should be completed and submitted by Wednesday 10th April.  

Confirmation of students' final option choices will then be sent to students and their parents/carers by Friday 30th April.

Revision and Final Grades Summer 2021 

On 6th January 2021, the Government confirmed that in Summer 2021, students taking GCSE, AS and A levels will be awarded teacher-assessed grades. For Vocational Technical Qualifications (VTQs) such as BTECs or OCR Certificates, the arrangements for awarding grades this summer will be similar - any differences will be advised by the specific Exam Board and communicated to parents and students.

On Thursday parents/carers of students in Years 10, 11, 12 and 13, received a detailed letter with full guidance and information in relation to this process.  Further details of each year group's assessments were also communicated; the letter laid out topics for each year group to revise for specific assignments.  We would ask that all parents/carers of children in these year groups read the schedule for revision, carefully.

The relevant letters and assessment information for each year group can be found on our website  here. Please contact your child's Student Support Officer in the first instance if you need additional information.

PTA collection pointUniform Recycling

Last year our hardworking PTA launched their uniform recycling scheme with the aim of supporting the school's recycling and waste reduction policies. In addition to helping parents recycle uniform the aim was to provide all parents with a cost-effective way of purchasing uniform for their children.

Details of their  current stock can be found on the PTA Website – www.rossettpta.co.uk under the section “Uniform Recycling”, just click on this heading to see the list of items currently available, you can then click on individual items and request for them to be reserved. Please complete the reservation page and a member of the PTA will contact you in order to arrange how best to get the items of uniform to you in a socially-distanced manner.

Please contact the PTA on uniform@rossettpta.co.uk with your name and contact details and they can  advise  the best location available for parents/carers to drop off items they are able to donate.  These items will then be appropriately 'quarantined' and treated prior to being passed on.

CensusNational Census 2021

In Geography Year 7 students have been learning about what the national Census is and why it is important. This has provided an interesting source of discussion in relation to their current topic on Population and Settlement, where students have studied how the national demographics change over time. 

Year 12 Geography students have been comparing Census data from 2001 and 2011 to look at economic change in Harrogate and Hornsea (place studies within the Changing Places topic). The students also studied the importance of Census data and the limitations of using quantitative data such as this. They have also been analysing census data using GIS to look for patterns of social inequality.

In History, Year 7 and 8 students students enjoyed looking at the historic gathering of census data. They considered how family history researchers of the future might look back at our lives based on the details of the 2021 census, the impact of the pandemic, and also how the gathering of census data has influenced the decisions made by the prevailing government through history.

The reason I jumpRossett Reading

This week's book recommendations from our Learning Resource Manager, Mrs Huett and our English Department, feature the inclusion of characters and authors  where autism has been celebrated, discussed and explained in advance of Autism Awareness Day on 2nd April.  

The book titles this week range from 'Smart' by Kim Slater featuring Kieran who is solving a real-life murder mystery and  'The reason I Jump' by Naoki Higashida, the account of a thirteen year old boy with autism.  Click here to read the rest of our Rossett Reading recommendations.

 

A level enrichmentA Level Literature Enrichment Session

To support them in their study of unseen prose from the Fin de Sieclé period, the Year 12 English Literature A Level class enjoyed a valuable enrichment session with the University of Liverpool’s Professor Jill Rudd. The students certainly impressed our guest, and Miss Collins was very pleased to receive glowing feedback about the session:  ‘A fabulous session. What a nice bunch! I hope to see Rossett students joining us at Liverpool on an English degree.’ We very much hope to invite Professor Rudd to join us again in the future.

 

HPV Vaccinations

Year 8 students with parental consent communicated to the NHS, received their HPV vaccinations yesterday administered by the North Yorkshire, NHS immunisations' team.  The vaccinations were held in the gym this year and the nurses commented on how pleasant and well-behaved our students were as they waited in socially-distanced conditions for the injections.

The NHS and local GPs keep records of all standard vaccinations.  If any parent feels that they would like to apply for a missed opportunity 'catch-up' on a vaccination round, we would respectfully remind them to contact their family GP.

wellbeingMental 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 have some concerns about their 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 Symptom Checker

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.   

We would remind you that you should only book a test if your child has any of these three coronavirus symptoms or has a positive Lateral Flow Test result:

  • 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.

Happy Easter banner