Rossett News Update - 6 November 2020
Face Coverings- a change to national guidance for all school from Monday 9th November
As you will be aware, England began its second national lockdown yesterday. This will last until Wednesday 2nd December unless further changes are made by the Government.
We were pleased that the DfE's plans for this second lockdown did not include schools having to close and our aim is to ensure our students are safe whilst on the school site. A great deal has changed in the way our school functions since we returned in September and I am proud of how the students have demonstrated great responsibility and resilience in how they have adapted to those changes.
Face coverings are mandatory in busy indoor spaces
We now ask for parents and students' cooperation with a further change that the government have advised that we must make. From Monday 9th November it will be compulsory for students and staff to wear face coverings when moving around inside the school. This means that they must be worn in corridors, communal areas and anywhere where social distancing cannot be maintained. Students should not, however, wear a face covering in the classroom. When in the dining halls, students can remove their face covering when they are eating, but should wear it when queuing and when sat socialising in their groups, after eating.
Break and lunchtimes
If students spend their break or lunchtime in their dedicated outdoor space and they can socially distance from their friends, they can remove their face covering. If this isn't possible students are strongly recommended to wear their face covering. Additionally, some members of our school community will not be able to wear a face covering for a variety of reasons. If your child needs an exemption they must discuss this with their Year Team who will provide them with an exemption card, if appropriate.
Types of face covering/bus journeys
Face coverings should be surgical or made of plain fabric and should not bear words, slogans or images that may distress or offend.
Students who travel on school buses should continue to wear a face covering at all times during their journey. This has been an expectation since September.
All students attended a remote assembly this morning (Friday) with further advice and guidance about wearing their face coverings, how they should be removed and stored and a recommendation on how often they should be washed.
Accelerated Reader
During the last half term Year 7 students have been introduced to Accelerated Reading. This is a scheme which promotes an enjoyment in reading! It recognises students’ achievements through on-line quizzes and enables students to discover new interests and independence in their choice of genres. We actively encourage students to read on a daily basis at home and in addition 20 minutes of reading is included in one English lesson per week. Please encourage your child to bring a reading book to school with them each day to cement the importance of reading.
In addition, the students have also received training on how to access our school library on-line. The students can now order a book from our very well-stocked Learning Resource Centre. Their personalised order will then be delivered in form time each morning. Students are then asked to place the book they have finished in the collection box located outside J4 (for Year 7 students).
Overdue library books
Following last year’s school closure, we are catching up on reminders for outstanding overdue library books. Students are receiving reminder emails and there are Book Returns Boxes in each year group ‘bubble’ area to enable easy returning while the Learning Resource Centre is closed. We would be grateful of Parent/Carer support in locating books at home and reminding students to bring them back into school. Whilst the LRC is closed to students we are operating a ‘click and deliver service’ so students are still able to access our book stock.
https://library.rossettschool.co.uk/
Bookbuzz
Next week, our Year 7 students will be choosing their 'free' book as part of the Bookbuzz scheme from Booktrust. The programme encourages and inspires children to talk about books and reading, and we are delighted to take part. Students choose their own book to keep, from seventeen great titles, which we know they will enjoy. All the books will be delivered later in the term and the set of titles will be available from the LRC too. To find out more about Bookbuzz, visit booktrust.org.uk, which has blogs, videos, a book finder tool and fun reading activities. In a challenging year escaping into a book is more important than ever for wellbeing and relaxation.
Remembrance Day
On Wednesday 11 November the whole school will mark Armistice Day with an assembly from Ms Woodcock and the playing of the Last Post. All year groups and the school community will recognise and mark a two-minute silence.
The school recognises the importance of passing this annual message to the next generation to ensure all understand the significance of Remembrance, as we expect them to carry this responsibility into the future. On Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday next week, students will have the opportunity to buy poppies within their 'bubbles' raising funds for the Royal British Legion.
Uniform reminder
At Rossett School we believe that all students should attend school smartly dressed in a distinctive way. We expect all our students to wear the uniform specified properly as this communicates a sense of pride in our school community. We would like to remind you that students must wear the correct uniform at all times as specified here on our school website. As a further reminder any form of 'trainers' are not acceptable footwear to wear to school unless students have a PE lesson that day.
We would also remind you that your child should wear the specified Rossett School PE kit of plain black training pants and Rossett School PE hoodie over any shorts, skorts and t-shirts on these days.
PE Footwear
As our students are now wearing their PE kit to school two full days each week, we wanted to remind you of the importance of students wearing suitable footwear to minimise the risk of injury. Some of our students are attending school in 'fashion' trainers for example Converse style trainers. This type of footwear is not suitable for any physical education activities; they do very little to support the ankle, do not offer any grip, and can make movements such as turning and twisting hazardous. Students should wear well-supported and structured sports trainers to not only aid their performance in lessons, but also to significantly reduce injuries occurring such as sprained/twisted ankles. This advice will also help to prevent long-term damage to the joints of the lower leg as they offer more cushion and support when undertaking activities that have a higher degree of impact.
Inter-form PE Competition
During the last week of each half term in KS3 PE lessons our students take part in an Inter-form competition. Students compete in their forms groups in a number of different sports including dodgeball, benchball, hockey, football, handball, rugby, netball, rounders and softball.
Last half term saw the forms battle it out in games of dodgeball, benchball and football. All students really engaged with the competition and some great individual and team performances were displayed as well as great sportsmanship shown between all teams. Each half term the results will be collated and a prize will be awarded to the winning forms in Year 7, 8 and 9 at the end of the school year. the results for last half term:-
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Year 7 1st- ARZ 2nd- HGR 3rd- ECS 4th- LMA 5th- LRS 6th- LMQ
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Year 8 1st- SLG 2nd- RHF 3rd- RSN 4th- KMD 5th- THS 6th- MCT 7th- LGM 8th- IHK
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Year 9 1st- MWN 2nd- LAW 3rd- RSG 4th- VBR 5th- TPE 6th- MPS 7th- MET 8th- KTL
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Mental Health and Wellbeing
To further support our students' mental health, the pastoral teams continue to provide a high level of daily support, enhanced by the updated additional staff training they receive. The following links may be helpful in signposting your child to further support should they need it outside of school hours.
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/
Regular items/reminders:
Coronavirus: Attendance
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
Important Diary Dates
Please note: Timings for Parents' Evenings have changed to an earlier start due to the on-line 'remote' nature of these events.
Thursday 12th November
- Year 12 and Year 13 Parents' Evening (1), 4.30pm - 7.00pm - meetings will be held remotely and further information will be issued to parents/carers near the time.
Thursday 19th November
- Year 10 Parents' Evening, 4.30pm - 7.00pm - meetings will be held remotely and further information will be issued to parents/carers nearer the time.
Monday 23rd November
- Staff Training Day - school closed to all students.
Thursday 26th November
- Presentation Evening - details to be confirmed.
Thursday 3rd December
- Sixth Form Information Evening, 7.00pm-8.30pm - further details to be confirmed for this online event.
Friday 18th December
- School closes for the Christmas Holidays.
Monday 4th January 2021
- School re-opens for all students.
H Woodcock
Headteacher
