Staying Connected

In the event of Partial or Full Lockdown, we have set up this page as a one-stop shop for the required links and information.

We will post any new information regarding the school’s status on this page, together with other useful updates.

See the section Working Online for more information on submitting assignments using Show My Homework and Microsoft Teams

Lateral Flow Tests – these need to continue to be done on Mondays and Thursdays until further notice.

Please can you make sure you complete a LFT on 31st October prior to returning to school. We have given students fresh supplies but if you are running out, these are freely available from pharmacies and supermarkets.

Update for January 2022 return to school

Vaccinations

Downloads

Vaccinations for students:  Sixth Form Students were offered vaccines during the July / August Period. Vaccine uptake was high with over 90% of our oldest students now fully vaccinated.

Vaccines were also offered to 12-15 year-olds on 5th October.  All Year 11, 10 and 9 students whose families had requested that they were vaccinated were completed that day. Unfortunately, we were unable to vaccinate Year 7 and 8 students due to being understaffed by NHS (SIAS) personnel.   We are, therefore, planning to run a second day on 17th November.  Students will come out of normal lessons that day so there is no need for a parent to accompany them providing permission has been granted.  Letters from the NHS along with instructions will be sent out WB 1st November.  There will also be an opportunity for anyone in older year groups who was unable to be vaccinated due to illness or following self-isolation to also take up this offer.

Anyone who does not want to be vaccinated for medical or personal reasons will have full access rights to their education unaffected.  Whilst the majority of parents have supported the vaccination process, this remains a personal choice.

We will continue to apply measures which help reduce or mitigate against the spread of Covid-19 or any other virus. These include one-way systems, separate social and recreation areas for different year groups, additional cleaning and hand sanitisation areas.  The wearing of face-makes remains optional for students and staff and we fully respect the right of someone to wear PPE if this makes them feel safe.   We have been very fortunate to have relatively low levels of positive Covid cases at Birchwood.  If infection rates do increase in November / December we will liaise with PHE who will advise us accordingly.  Equally, if the DfE change their regulations for schools, we will fully abide by these.

Our students have been  excellent this term – re-engaging with any lost learning and showing positive attitudes, keeping to the rules we have put in place to keep everyone safe.  The last thing anyone needs is a further lockdown or partial lockdown so we will work our utmost to keep focussed on providing high quality teaching and learning whilst maintain a healthy school environment.

Letter from Dr Ingate regarding the re-opening of school on 8 March

Dear Parents/Carers

I am sure that you will be aware that the Government have just announced a return of all schools in England on Monday 8 March. This is good news. A return to greater normality and routine as well as actually teaching in the classroom is well overdue. Students and staff have done their best with online learning but it is no substitute.

There is a more detailed DfE plan for schools, which has just been released, detailing arrangements including PPE and Lateral Flow Testing. We will spend this week formulating a plan that works for Birchwood. I will also liaise with the other local secondary schools to ensure that there is consistency across the town. I would hope to be in a position to give more details by Monday 1 March so I hope you don’t mind being patient this week.

For now, it is a continuation of business as usual for the next two weeks with remote learning and Key Worker Provision.

Yours sincerely

Dr Chris Ingate

Principal

Dr Ingate's Weekly Blog

Update: 7 January 2021

5 January 2021

Please note that, due to Government restrictions as a result of the Covid 19 Pandemic,  Birchwood High School is now closed to Students until Monday 22nd February.  Work is being set on-line for all our Students including Key Worker and Vulnerable Students who will work in school during this period of time.

Lateral Flow Testing

We will be testing students attending Birchwood during the lockdown, including Key Worker and Vulnerable Students and those attending examinations (BTEC and LiBF).

Key Worker testing will take place for the first time at 08:30 on Wednesday 6 January.  This will be a drive through and all registered Key Worker student/parents will be expected to attend. Also, on this occasion, parents are expected to wait with students for the result.  Thereafter; Key Worker School students will be tested weekly on a Tuesday at 08:30 or weekly on their first attendance of the week if they are not in on subsequent Tuesdays.

Testing for BTEC/LiBF examination students.  All students who are able to take part in these exams will be expected into school between 12:00 and 14:00 on Wednesday 6 January to undertake a test prior to them sitting the examinations.

Consent: We require parental consent (for students under 16 years of age) or the student’s consent (if aged 16 or over) to carry out these tests: https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/birchwoodcovidtestform

You will be able to accept or decline consent via this form. If you do decline please fill in the form declaring this so we have a completed record of data. Should you require a paper copy of this please contact maugustine@birchwoodhigh.org.uk . You can also see the Privacy Notice below explaining how we use and store the data.

For all other students the mass testing programme will be postponed and we will write to you in February when we know the Government’s intentions.

The following letter relates to the original testing timetable, but the information about the tests themselves and the procedure itself still applies:

Key Links

Some essential links for students

Other subject-specific websites used in school

Other websites recommended by staff

Websites recommended by our school counsellor

New Advice Lines

Healthy Minds Network (HMN) have launched a new early intervention and prevention helpline for children and young people aged 10-17 in Herts. The helpline will provide a safe , non-judgemental space to talk to a Young People Advisor or Mentor who will provide emotional support, advice and information, signposting and discuss coping strategies. For opening hours and more information please visit the website https://www.hertsmindnetwork.org/young-peoples-helpline.

The Helpline number is 01923 256391.

Opening times at the moment are:

  • Mon, Wed, Fri – 13:00 – 16:30
  • Tues, Thurs – 17:00 – 19:30
  • Sat – 10:00 – 13:00

The Schools and Families Advice Line (SFAL) is a new service established to provide emotional wellbeing advice and early help to children and young people, families and schools during the COVID-19 pandemic.

It can be really worrying when you or someone you know is going through a difficult time. If you feel this service could help, please call our Single Point of Access (SPA) who will take your details before passing them onto our call back service.

This service is open to self-referrals from families and young people, and education, health and other professionals involved in supporting young people and their families.

Contact details:

You will get a call back from a mental health practitioner between 8am-5pm, Monday-Friday. Support will be offered in a one-off, up to 1 hour phone call

How can the service help?

Supporting children, young people, their families and schools by providing early advice around:

  •  General concerns around mental well-being, coping strategies and self-care.
  • How to support children and young people in relation to the Covid-19 outbreak (e.g. understanding, frustration, anxiety etc).Supporting mental well-being during the transition back to school and the anxiety around this uncertainty.
  • Support for education staff around their own mental well-being and advice around how they can care for themselves.
  • ‘Whole school approaches’ to supporting mental well-being.
  • Specific anxieties (around COVID-19/self-isolating measures, transition between year groups, developing and maintaining relationships, fear of failure, low self-esteem or aspirations, trust issues, social anxiety, etc.)
  • Phobias (animals/insects, specific food stuffs, specific objects, modes of transport etc.)
  • Low mood
  • Emotional regulation difficulties
  • Mild obsessive compulsive difficulties that are starting to impact day to day activities.
  • Low-level behavioural concerns
  • Sleep difficulties
  • Signposting to services and resources that may be helpful for supporting mental wellbeing.

Past Papers and Exam Board Information

Please see the Main Exams Page for all information relating to the 2021 Summer Examinations

IT Student Support

If you have any problems accessing SMHW, TLC Live or Online Reporting

Please Note: Students MUST use their Office 365 e-mail accounts when using this service and not their personal e-mail accounts. If students are unable to log in to their Office 365 accounts, then we will ONLY use the e-mail address recorded in our School Information Management System (SIMS) to send the new login.

If students have technical problems when using Show My Homework, TLC Live or any other website used officially by the school for lessons, please contact ITStudentSupport@birchwoodhigh.org.uk

Working Online

How to submit your homework online and use Microsoft Teams and TLC Live classrooms

Using Office 365

A quick demonstration on how to log in to your Birchwood High School Office 365 account

Using Microsoft Teams

We are expanding our use of Microsoft Teams in the delivery of online learning. In this YouTube video, Mr Briscoe explains the basics of using Microsoft Teams.

Submitting your assignments using Show My Homework.

The YouTube video to the right shows you what you need to do!

Certain teaching groups are now using TLC Live for their lessons.

Troubleshooting

Please see the following document if you are having any problems using the online lesson system. If you cannot find the solution you need here, please e-mail IT Student Support on itstudentsupport@birchwoodhigh.org.uk

Updates and Announcements

Dr Ingate’s Blog – Week beginning 20 April

Dear Students/ Parents/ Carers

This morning felt weird!  I went into school this morning on what should have been the start of the summer term.  It took me 15 minutes to drive 15 miles from my home on the uncrowded A120.    I was met with an empty carpark at 8:15am.  I was soon joined by a small group of dedicated staff and children from key worker families who we have also looked after over the Easter Holiday. 

Today, there have been a number of virtual planning meetings by teachers – these meetings have primarily focussed on the setting of work for students and the initial preparation for calculating teacher assessed GCSE and A-Level grades.

 With homework, we will continue to set work for Year 7-10 and 12. We have listened to the positive feedback we have received so far and have also noted that younger students in particular prefer to have longer deadlines and focussed work that lasts no more than 30mins.  Teachers will also be looking at ways for their classes to complete on-line assessments so they can receive feedback.   You may well have seen this already but BBC Bitesize have just launched extra lessons to help with home learning and new lessons are being added every day - there might be something good you could use?

https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/dailylessons

If you are a Year 11 or 13 student, we will be writing to you on Friday with details regarding your next steps in terms of exam results and progression onto Post-16 or Post-18.  We will also be phoning every Year 11 and 13 student over the next 3 weeks to have a 1:1 conversation with you to offer support as well as answer any questions you may have. Ofqual have produced a video explaining how grades will be awarded this summer: Grading in 2020 - information for students - BSL signed

And then of course there is the big question - when will schools re-open?  There has certainly been a lot of speculation and rumour in the media.  At Birchwood, we will have to wait to be directed by the DfE and we will respond as soon as we know.  The good news is that new Covid-Cases are flat-lining and fatalities are beginning to slow. We will all need to continue to do our ‘bit’ and hope for better days. 

Thank you for your continuing support

Dr Ingate

Principal

End of Term Update – Friday 3 April

Dear Carers/ Parents/ Students

As we come to the end of two weeks of school closure, I hope you and your families are well and coping with social-distancing, self-isolation, working from home, exercising from home once a day and keeping your hands clean!  These terms seem so familiar to us now.  

With this Covid-19 pandemic, some people talk about being at ‘war’ with an invisible enemy.  I was talking to my elderly mother over the phone yesterday. She was born the year that World War 2 started, and she remembered how strange things were when the war ended in 1945. By the age of 6, she thought that normality was about war, rations and bombings.  Even though rationing continued into the 1950s’, she recalled how euphoric everyone was when peace was declared and how strange this was to her. 

Perhaps we will get used to this unfamiliar new world that we live in and will also find it hard to readjust when things eventually go back to how they used to be.  I have a feeling that we may not go back to ‘normality’ and may have learnt some important lessons about the importance of family, friends, neighbours, and particularly those who dedicate their lives to helping others. Moreover, there is no doubt that the natural world is benefiting from this global lock-down.   However, I do think that things will get tougher before they get better and my thoughts go out to any of you who have family members who have been made more seriously unwell by this virus.    

Thank you to all the support you have given us by doing on-line work using Show My Homework.  We have modified and tweaked homework as we have progressed, taking on board feedback from students and parents.  We will not be setting homework over Easter which will give you a chance to relax, look after your well-being and perhaps catch up if you have fallen behind.

Birchwood will be open over Easter for Key Worker children and we have had no indication of when schools in England will re-open so I would imagine a continuation of the current status quo throughout April and May. We are also still awaiting clarification from the DfE about GCSE and Post 16 qualifications, but we do know these are expected to be awarded to students in July.  We will also be writing to Sixth Form Applicants after Easter with next steps regarding induction.  

Parents in receipt of Free School Meals – we will continue to be using Sainsburys and Tesco vouchers from 20th April, but these are likely to be superseded by the government’s scheme and we will be informing you of this in due course. The main aim is to ensure that your child does not go without their entitlement.  

With the Easter Holidays looming, and hopefully some warmer weather, the main message is to follow the Government’s safety rules and keep healthy.  It will be difficult, but can you please remind your son or daughter that they need to keep away from meeting up with their friends as this would completely undo all the social isolation measures you and your family have been undertaking so far.  Children remain a low risk in terms of serious illness, but they have been found to be very good ‘spreaders’ of Covid-19.  Using social media to have group chats or video link-ups is a good solution.  

Thank you for all your support

Dr Ingate

Principal

Update – Wednesday 1 April

Dear Carers/ Parents/ Students

I hope that this finds you and your family well.  Today, Dr Ingate has asked me to focus on the work that students have been completing.  Working from home is a huge change for many of us and I am amazed by how parents, carers, students, and staff have risen to the challenge.

When schools closed 10 days ago, we had no notice, no preparation time, and no guidance. At Birchwood, we had introduced Show My Homework and Microsoft 365 earlier in the year, thereby providing the appropriate platforms to allow for high quality distance learning.

Some of you would have participated in the recent work survey put together by our very helpful parent council.  Overwhelmingly, the response has been positive and our teachers are very appreciative of the words of praise and thanks in acknowledgement of their hard work, in particular their speedy responses and the high quality of work provided.  Many of our staff are juggling work and their own family circumstances just as you are, and we are very impressed with their efforts in these difficult times.

Of course, the unprecedented nature of the current situation has resulted in some learning points for us.  Teachers, being passionate about their subjects, have shown their determination not to let their students fall behind and have been regularly setting and following up on work.  From some of the feedback, you have expressed that you would like more time to complete tasks.  This has been communicated to teachers and we have asked for work to be released in ‘chunks’ where possible to help students organise their workload.  With regards to the submission of work, this can be done via SMHW if the teacher has selected online submission.  Alternatives are via email or Teams (particularly for year 12) if a group has been created.  We just want to say to parents that the home is your domain.  If you feel that your child is under too much pressure, please adjust the load accordingly as you know the current circumstances in your home. Additionally, if you are struggling, let the relevant teacher/s know.  They are there to support you where possible. This is the most effective way of resolving any issues you may have.

Additionally, we have received some helpful tips from parents and students around organisation.  Some students have found it very helpful to follow their school timetable, while others have dedicated a few hours a day, where they focus on two or three subjects.  Whatever works for you is great, but we recommend that you devise a structure and routine to your day that works for you and your family.  Also, once a task is completed, make sure that you check it off on SMHW- this can help you keep track of what is still to be completed. Remember, you can still catch up on any work not completed over the Easter holidays.

Some parents have expressed a desire for online lessons. At present, this is focused on year 12.  I am aware that some teachers are offering live lessons, but this is only where their personal circumstances allow.   There has also been some discussion around work for option subjects in year 8.  Since we run a two- year KS3, we are committed to ensuring that students have access to a broad and balanced curriculum and will continue to provide work for all subjects.

It is clear that carers, parents, students, and staff are working incredibly hard at this time and are doing a fantastic job.  The past 10 days have certainly been a learning curve for us all. Stay home and keep safe.

Mrs Jolene Jacobson

Assistant Principal