Coronavirus Update 22 May 2020
22nd May 2020 - Letter to Parents
Follow this link to read a letter for parents and carers about our response as an Academy/Trust to the government’s announcement that, subject to their five tests, secondary schools and sixth forms will provide some face to face support for Year 10 and 12 students.
The document, entitled '22nd May Parent Letter' is also available to download at the foot of the page in PDF and DOCX versions.
18th May 2020 - Maltby Learning Trust Update - Week 8
Please take a moment to read the eighth edition of our Trust Update here. Previous editions of the Maltby Learning Trust Weekly Update can be found at www.maltbylearningtrust.com/coronavirusupdate.
Easter Activity Packs:
Attached to the bottom of this page are our Easter Activity Packs and Rotherham Council's Learning Support Pack . They contain an array of ideas, tasks, activities and projects which will keep you busy and engaged.
3rd April 2020 - Free School Meals Update
All students who receive free school meals are entitled to a free meal each school day (Monday to Friday). These meals are available even if your child isn't attending the current 'Key Worker/Vulnerable Student' provision. Packed lunch meals will be available for collection from 12:00 - 12:30, Monday to Friday, from Wath Academy reception. This provision has been extended by the Academy to provide meals to students over the Easter break, although not including weekends or public holidays.
Following the Easter holiday, all students entitled to a free school meal will be entitled to a £15 electronic voucher per week. The intention is to email this to parents at the start of each week. If you wish to check or update your email address with the Academy please email enquiries@wathacademy.com and place 'FSM Voucher' and your ‘child's name(s)’ in the ‘Subject’ of the email. Your email address will then be updated.
3rd April 2020 - Ofqual Update on Exams
Since the Secretary of State announced that the 2020 exam series in England would be cancelled to help fight the spread of coronavirus (COVID-19), Ofqual has developed a process which will fairly recognise students’ work and make sure that they get their grades in time to progress. Ofqual has today set out how GCSEs, AS and A levels will be awarded this summer and published further guidance for education staff, students, parents and carers.
For this summer’s awards, schools and colleges are being asked to provide centre assessment grades for their students. These should be objective and carefully considered judgements of the grades schools and colleges believe their students would have been most likely to achieve if they had sat their exams and should take into account the full range of available evidence.
Guidance from Ofqual on how qualifications will be graded and awarded in summer 2020 can be found here:
www.gov.uk/government/publications/gcses-as-and-a-level-awarding-summer-2020
Ofqual has published a message to students to reassure them that they, and exam boards, will do everything they can to make sure that, as far as possible, grades are fair and that students are not disadvantaged because of this unprecedented situation.
This letter is printed below and downloadable as a document at the bottom of the page:
A message for all GCSE, AS and A level students this summer
3 April 2020
I understand how unsettling the past weeks have been for you, since the announcement that exams have been cancelled this summer, and that you are urgently waiting for news. I wanted to let you know what we are doing to provide you with grades. Our over-riding aim in this is to be fair to students this summer and to make sure you are not disadvantaged in your progress to sixth form, college, university, apprenticeships, training or work because of these unprecedented conditions.
How will grades be calculated?
Your school or college will be asked to send exam boards two pieces of information for each of your subjects, based on what they know about your work and achievements:
- the grade they believe you were most likely to get if teaching, learning and exams had happened as planned
- within each subject, the order of students at your school or college, by performance, for each grade. This information will be used to standardise judgements – allowing fine tuning of the standard applied across schools and colleges.
Your school or college will consider a range of things like your classwork and homework; your results in assignments and any mock exams; any non-exam assessment or coursework you might have done; and your general progress during your course.
This information will allow us, with exam boards, to standardise grades across schools and colleges, to make sure that, as far as possible, results are fair and that students are not advantaged or disadvantaged because their schools or colleges are more generous or harsh than others when making those judgements. That means the final grade you get could be different from the one your school or college sends to the exam board.
Do I need to complete any new work for my school/college to submit a grade?
Your school or college is not required to set additional mock exams or homework for your centre assessment grade, and you won’t be disadvantaged if you were not set, or were unable to complete, any work given out after schools were closed.
Can I see the grades my school/college submits for me?
No, this information will be confidential. Please don’t ask your teachers, or anyone else at your school or college, to tell you the grades they will be sending to the exam boards or where they have placed you in the order of students; they will not be allowed to share this with you.
When will I get my results?
We’re working hard to get results out as soon as is possible – results won’t be delayed after the dates they were expected in August, and ideally they will be issued a little earlier, so you can have the certainty you need.
Can I take my exams another time?
We are working with exam boards to offer additional exams in the autumn term as soon as it is possible to do so. We’ll let you know about these in the coming weeks.
Please be reassured that the grades you get this summer will look exactly the same as in previous years, and they will have equal status with universities, colleges and employers, to help you move forward in your lives as planned.
Sally Collier
Chief Regulator, Ofqual
30th March 2020
Maltby Learning Trust have issued an update relating to the partial closure of schools across the trust. Read it here.
Additionally the coronavirus pandemic has resulted in some modifications to our child protection and safeguarding policy. These modifications can be found in the document 'Child Protection and Safeguarding Policy - MLT - Annex 1 relating to COVID-19' which can be found on the Policies, Finances & Privacy Notices page.
27th March 2020
This year’s summer exam series, including A levels, GCSEs and other qualifications, and all primary assessments, have been cancelled as part of the fight to stop the spread of coronavirus.
Ofqual has welcomed the further information the Department for Education has outlined recently to award students a calculated grade for their GCSEs, AS and A levels this summer, and to provide an exam option for those that wish it as soon as is reasonably possible after schools reopen.
Ofqual is working to develop a fair and consistent process. Work is already underway with exam boards to develop proposals and they will provide more detail in the coming weeks. The exam boards will award grades to students whose exams have been cancelled this summer.
Further information can be found in the document '27 March Statement on 2020 external examinations' which can be downloaded at the bottom of this page (Adobe Reader PDF Format).
23rd March 2020
Guidance on Key Workers
The situation nationally is becoming increasingly serious. Social distancing and protecting the NHS and key workers has placed teachers and schools in the front line. Few people will come into contact with others in the same way teachers and support staff will. If we close our doors, our health service and other critical services will quickly become over-stretched.
However, we need to take emergency steps to reduce the spread of the virus. We need as many people as possible to avoid sending their children into school. This will protect children and staff. NHS staff, emergency service staff, and other key workers, we are proud to stand shoulder to shoulder with you and will welcome your children into our schools, providing supervised education and meals.
To other parents, please support us and follow the government guidance around key workers.
NOTE - the message clearly states that every child who can be safely cared for at home should be. Parents should do everything they can to ensure that their children are not mixing socially in a way which can continue to spread the virus.
Examples of key workers include:
- NHS staff.
- Fire service, social care, police, care homes.
- Supermarkets, food warehouses or transport of food.
- Farm workers, vets.
- Delivery staff, postal workers, pharmacy staff.
- Utility staff: electric, gas, water.
NOTE – even those above may be able to look after their children if their shift patterns allow or their partner works from home or is not a key worker.
Examples of non-key workers:
- McDonalds, Costa takeaway, Greggs, etc. – not key workers. Takeaways are not essential, especially when we are asking as many people to stay at home as possible.
- Retail, not related to food – not a key worker.
- Builders, construction workers – not key workers unless directly working in critical areas above (eg building hospitals, repairing railways).
NOTE - we may be asking for confirmation from your employer that you are a key worker and possibly shift rota evidence. Also, we may be asking about partners or others in the home.
Please understand, this is emergency support. If we want to maintain this and reduce the spread of Covid-19, we need your help.
Teachers and staff are worried. They don’t have protective masks etc. so, if you, your child, or others in your house are ill – certainly stay at home. Isolate and follow medical advice. Do not under any circumstances send your child to school!
20th March 2020
Dear Parent/Carer
Arrangements from Monday 23 March onwards:
All our teachers will be setting their learning/lessons/activities via 'Show My Homework'. All our students have been using 'Show My Homework' on a weekly basis since September to complete their homework. 'Show My Homework' is an online and mobile app where students can receive resources, activities, homework, messages and notifications. Parents can also access this. Students/Parents can message teachers directly within the app if they have any homework-related questions. All our staff will be setting lessons and activities in line with student normal timetables. This should allow students to follow their normal timetable at home. This will also include tutor time activities around 'Character Education' and 'Votes for Schools'. Teachers will be setting activities which allow students to make progress in their normal curriculum subjects. Students should access 'Show My Homework' on a daily basis. From Monday hard copy packs of work will be available from reception, where students don't have Internet access.
We will be running the above system for two weeks until Easter. Throughout these two weeks we will seek and collate feedback to then inform our curriculum offer post-Easter.
Vulnerable Groups and Key Workers:
Starting next week, Wath Academy will be providing a provision for vulnerable groups and children of 'Key Workers'. This provision will include teaching staff, SEN staff and the safeguarding team. The school day will operate as normal, 8:30 - 14:40. Lunch will be available for students as normal, 13:05 - 13:40. Students who are attending school will be expected to wear uniform as normal. Staff will also be expected to follow the normal business dress code. This will allow us to ensure that the normal standard and expectations are in place.
Free School Meals:
All students who receive free school meals are entitled to a free meal each day (Monday to Friday). These meals are available even if your child isn't attending the 'Key Worker' provision. Packed lunch meals will be available for collection from midday, Monday to Friday, from Wath Academy reception. We are in communication with the DfE to see how the voucher system will work for any families who can't get into Wath Academy during this time.
Contacting us:
Below are some additional email addresses which will help direct your query to the relevant team:
| enquiries@wathacademy.com | All general enquiries that don’t fall into the categories below. |
| helpdesk@wathacademy.com | All school related ICT problems including Show My Homework (SMHW) and other ICT systems. Please note this is for parents and students to use. Staff should contact ICT Support using the usual e-mail address. |
| Services | |
| attendance@wathacademy.com | Attendance team |
| catering@wathacademy.com | Our 'Le Rendezvous' catering team |
| examinations@wathacademy.com | Examinations |
| finance@wathacademy.com | Finance team |
| pastoralteam@wathacademy.com | PYL Pastoral Year Leader team |
| safeguarding@wathacademy.com | Safeguarding Team |
| send@wathacademy.com | Any queries relating to special educational needs |
| sixthform@wathacademy.com | Sixth Form Team |
| staffabsence@wathacademy.com | |
| Subject Areas | |
| wa-art@wathacademy.com | Art department |
| wa-technology@wathacademy.com | Design Tech, Graphics and Food |
| wa-business@wathacademy.com | Business and Economics |
| wa-dance@wathacademy.com | Dance |
| wa-drama@wathacademy.com | Drama |
| wa-english@wathacademy.com | Including Media Studies |
| wa-geography@wathacademy.com | Geography |
| wa-history@wathacademy.com | History |
| wa-ict@wathacademy.com | Information Communication Technology |
| wa-maths@wathacademy.com | Maths |
| wa-music@wathacademy.com | Music |
| wa-mfl@wathacademy.com | French, Spanish, German |
| wa-pe@wathacademy.com | Physical Education |
| wa-rss@wathacademy.com | Sociology, psychology, health & social care, religious education, life skills |
| wa-science@wathacademy.com | Including Biology, Chemistry and Physics |
19th March 2020
Dear Parent/Carer
Partial School Opening - From Monday 23rd March 2020
Further to the government statement yesterday I can confirm that from the close of play on Friday 20th March we will close the school for the majority of students, only remaining open for those children of ‘key workers’, who would otherwise be forced to stay at home. In line with the Prime Minister’s announcement, we will also remain open for the ‘most vulnerable children’, those with an EHCP (Education, Health and Care Plan) in place, or those who have a social worker supporting them. The scientific advice shows that school settings are safe for this small number of children attending, but asking others to stay at home will just go towards helping us slow the spread of this virus.
The Government has now released a full list of ‘key workers’ deemed ‘essential’ to the COVID-19 response and whose children will continue to be cared for at school. Children with at least one parent identified as key workers by the government can send their children to school if required.
Click here to see the full list of Government selected 'Critial Key Workers'.
To support our planning over the coming days and weeks it would be useful if you could contact us as soon as possible if your family falls into any of the categories.
As I am sure you will appreciate the implications of this government decision are far reaching and there are still specific areas in the latest statements to which we do not yet have the full details. However, please be assured that we are in regular dialogue with Leaders within and beyond the Trust to ensure that we continue to provide some form of educational provision for all students, be that in their own home, local school or another location. Also, we are mindful about how we support those young people who were due to sit external examinations or tests in the summer term. It is clear from the latest communications that these tests will not be taking place as planned and we expect further guidance to be released over the coming days about how any teacher assessments will be agreed and validated nationally. We will keep you updated on these developments, but it is vital that the students in Y11 and 13 continue with their studies at home and prepare for any internal assessments that may be conducted in the summer term.
Our priority today is to ensure we can effectively support those students who will remain in school from Monday. To do this I would be grateful for the help of parents whose families fall into the critical or key workers category, the parents of students with an EHCP, and those families currently supported by a social worker. If you or your children are in any of these categories, we require you to contact the school, identifying yourselves and your intentions in terms of sending your children to school next week. This will enable the school to make appropriate arrangements for those children.
I would like to reassure you that staff have invested significant time preparing for this eventuality and plans are in place to ensure every student can access learning resources every day during the closure period. Most of these resources can be found on the school website or via specific learning platforms signposted from the website. I would ask you to work closely with your son/daughter over the coming days and weeks to structure their time during the day to support their continued studies. Please be assured that the leaders and staff in school will continue to be available for contact via specific group email addresses listed on the school website.
Finally, as a Trust we are concerned about the impact of coronavirus (COVID-19) on students who are currently eligible for benefits-related free school meals. At this time we are keen to continue to provide access to a meal for all those children who would normally benefit from this provision in school. Therefore, each school will provide these children with a ‘grab bag’ meal available for collection from their local school. Please see the academy website for more details.
I would like to thank you for your continued support at this time and remind you that we will do everything possible to support you and your family through this challenging period. Please note that the current situation is constantly changing and Leaders in the Trust will keep abreast of this and adapt our response accordingly. We will ensure that the communication lines remain open and we will provide regular updates via the website and Twitter feeds.
Best wishes, and I hope you all stay safe.
Yours sincerely
Mr D. Sutton
Chief Executive Officer
Maltby Learning Trust
Maltby Learning Trust also have a resource page for parents and carers to keep you updated about what we are doing across the Trust/Academy with regard to the Covid-19 Coronavirus and to answer your questions.
We will keep this page updated with current information about what we are doing to keep everyone healthy across the Trust/Academy. We will also post other helpful information as appropriate.
https://www.maltbylearningtrust.com/coronavirusupdate
