WLD Update for Parents & Carers of Years 7 to 10 - start of term 2021

Good afternoon,

As you will be aware from my update on Friday, the government wants to minimise the number of students in secondary schools until the 11th January. To do this, we have been instructed that Years 7, 8, 9 & 10 will be taught remotely for the first week of the new term (from Monday 4th January).

Remote learning

Remote learning through Microsoft Teams has become familiar to all students across the past term. We are keenly aware that many students do not have individual access to a laptop or computer so

• Microsoft Teams is used because it is accessible on any internet-enabled device - laptop, tablet, games console, phone, smart TV..... The school's use of Microsoft Office 365 means that all documents can be accessed on any device without the need for specialist software.

• All work for all lessons is posted on Teams (the video showing how to access it is here) so that, if a student cannot access the lesson at the correct time (for example because of sharing access with a parent or sibling) all the resources are available for them.

• Almost all work can be completed in exercise books or on paper. The lesson can be followed on a phone, obtaining help from the teacher through the chat facility on the Teams app for example, and the work completed in the relevant exercise book.

For Years 7, 8, 9 & 10 for the week beginning the 4th Jan teachers will log into Teams at the normal timetabled time, post a message for their group and teach remotely. If students cannot access Teams at that time all the resources will available after the lesson on Teams. If a student needs assistance outside their timetabled lesson time the teacher will attempt to respond to messages as soon as they can. Homework will be signposted on Classcharts as usual.

If ICT support is needed please contact ICTSupport@waltonledale.lancs.sch.uk. If your child will not be able to access their work by any means then please email head@waltonledale.lancs.sch.uk to discuss possible options.

Provision for children of critical workers and students defined as vulnerable by the government

The government has said that. while the principle is to reduce the number of students in school, children of critical workers and students defined as vulnerable by the government may attend school if necessary. All teachers will be teaching remote lessons to their groups in Years 7 to 10 (and to Year 11 in person) so our provision for children of those who need to attend school will be in the form of "remote learning on site". We will endeavour to give these students access to a computer or laptop for the day, working around the pandemic requirements to keep year groups separate and the Year 11s need for computers for some lessons. Students will need to be able to work independently and safely.

This is going to be complicated to plan so there is an online form here. If you need your child to attend school and you fall into the relevant category please read the form carefully and complete it. If you are a critical worker you will need to send a picture of your id badge or critical worker letter to head@waltonledale.lancs.sch.uk to confirm your child's access to provision at school.

I know that many people in these categories will not know if they will need provision at school yet, and the situation with the pandemic is changing by the day at the moment, so please complete the form by the end of Thursday 31st December to give us a couple of days over New Year to finalise plans for Monday 4th.  If you find you do not need provision after all, having completed the form, please email head@waltonledale.lancs.sch.uk so that we do not make unnecessary provision.

Best wishes to everyone for a peaceful Christmas at this challenging time!  I will update you on plans for mass testing as soon as a clear picture emerges....

James Harris

Headteacher