At the end of a long, surreal week in school, I would just like to thank parents for the messages of support we have received, either directly through email or on social media. Our whole school community has pulled together and we have tried to ensure that students have received an appropriate amount of work to complete and those students in school have been well cared for and have been provided with an as enjoyable school experience as possible given the unusual circumstances.
I would also like to thank parents of key workers who have followed the government advice and only used the school provision as a last resort. This has kept the numbers manageable and have made it much easier to ensure that we are able to socially distance effectively. For those families that have access to this provision, I would like to inform you that whilst we await advice on provision during the Easter holidays from the DfE, our school staff have willingly agreed that we will keep the school open throughout the Easter break including Good Friday and Bank Holiday Monday.
We have received a number of emails from parents asking about how much work their children should be doing. As you can appreciate, setting work in these circumstances is a very difficult task, bearing in mind that all students will work at different rates for a whole variety of reasons. The general expectation is that for students who are fit and well, they would complete the same amount of work as they would in a normal school week. What we definitely don’t want is students worrying that they are ‘getting behind with their work’. All members of staff are fully aware how difficult this is and will be very understanding if students are genuinely struggling. Going forward a number of subjects will set longer blocks of work so that students are able to work through this at their own pace. If any parent is genuinely concerned, then please email the Curriculum Leader rather than individual teachers.
I am aware that you may feel bombarded with the information I have provided, and so to support families we have set up an alternative home page which provides links to a variety of useful resources including letters to parents, direct access to Edulink and Show My Homework, local and national updates regarding Coronavirus, pastoral advice and a wide range of resources to enable our young people to continue with their learning. This page is currently under development and content will be added over the coming days. If there is anything you would like to see here that we haven’t already included, please email Justin Roper: jroper@haslingdenhigh.com
The situation regarding free school meals has been a very difficult one to manage in school. Some of the messages from Lancashire County Council were initially slow to get into schools, not surprising considering they have almost 600 schools to consider. I have written to all students who I believe are entitled to a free school meal, and those parents should have received an update both yesterday and today. If your child is eligible for a free school meal and you have not received these updates, please let me know via school@haslingdenhigh.com.
Your ongoing support throughout these difficult times is very much appreciated.