WLD Update for Parents & Carers - Tuesday 12th January 2021

Good afternoon, 

Free School Meals:  Mrs Eckersley has asked me to pass on the message that we will be issuing food parcels for this week and then the voucher system will start from next Monday (18th January);

Engagement:  As everyone knows, one of the biggest challenges in all of this is the engagement of young people with their learning.  It is tough for them, for us and for you trying to motivate them at home.  During the lockdown last year we issued periodic engagement reports.  This time we are going to use Classcharts as the means of communication with you about engagement. All parents & carers have access to it and have used it intensively since September. Students can also have access to it.  If you don't have access to Classcharts for some reason, please email classcharts@waltonledale.lancs.sch.uk for your login information - it has very quickly become an essential part of school life.

Each week every teacher will record on Classcharts whether a student has "Good engagement", "Some engagement" or "Lack of engagement".  Good engagement will be worth one positive Classcharts point, but the others will not give negative points - they are for information and action. We are well aware that some students cannot access lessons at the right time, for example when sharing a device, so engagement can mean work submitted or questions asked, not just attendance at the lessons.  We will also do a daily check on whether students have logged into Teams and put a note on Classcharts if we notice that students are not logging on.  (Note: This check has a 48 hour delay - not anything to do with us - the information isn't available in Teams until then!) 

So you should get plenty of information each week about whether your son or daughter is engaging with their learning.  Mentors will be in contact with each student via Teams and members of staff will be ringing parents and carers every week or so.  We want to do everything that we can to assist you in encouraging your son or daughter to engage with their learning.  We have noticed over the last week that the regular pattern of the timetable has helped many of our students and that there is a high level of engagement across the school, which is good to see!

Positives:  31 recommendations for Headteacher's Commendations have been sent to me today, which is amazing, and 940 positive Classcharts points have been awarded today!  Well done everyone.

Best wishes,

James Harris

Headteacher