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Dr Ingate's Blog - week beginning 4 May

Dear Parents/ Carers / Students

I hope you are well and coping!  The longer this lock-down persists, two things seem to be ‘trending’.  Firstly, and positively, the NHS seem to not only have coped but managed the challenge of Covid-19 well.  The key worker children we have in school at the moment are mostly the sons and daughters of nurses, paramedics and doctors.   They say that their parents are tired but, in their eyes, the worst seems to be over for the time-being.   Secondly, more and more of us seem to be suffering from ‘cabin-fever’ – a desperate need to reconnect with friends and families and get back to some sense of normality.  This is, of course, a very natural thing as human beings are naturally social animals.

We are all aware that there will be a formal review of lockdown on Thursday and an announcement of measures to get the economy re-started on Sunday.  Within these measures will be some clarification about opening schools again.  It is difficult to speculate what this might look like but I must admit to some concerns about keeping over 1000 children at least 2m apart.  By next week, I should be clearer on what the DfE are stipulating and how this affects Birchwood.

With setting work to do at home, we have ensured that every class is being set work to do.  We can see which students are working hard and completing work.  Heads of Year and tutors are contacting students who have not had high completion rates – sometimes this is due to IT access issues – if you have any problems, please email   itstudentsupport@birchwoodhigh.org.uk and let us know if we can help you. We recognise that marking and assessing student work is more challenging than when we are all in school.  We have not seen our students for 4 school weeks, excluding Easter.  We have asked all our teachers to have made sure that they have sent feedback to students over the this week and next.  You can contact your teacher directly as well through Show My Homework or through the Contact-Us section  of the Website.

Staff continue to work on providing accurate and reliable GCSE / A-Level and BTEC grades. This is part of a long process including exam board and DfE moderation. It may seem a long time until 13th August (Year 13) and 20th August (Year 11) but rest-assured, this process will be done professionally and best reflect each students’ attainment in each subject.   We are continuing to phone each and every Year 11 and 13 student and have been able to offer support and guidance as required.  It was pleasing to note that virtually every Year 11 student applying for A-Levels has decided to stay at Birchwood and not travel further afield which is understandable in the current climate.  A-Level packs will go live this week to help any Year 11 student with taster lessons for their Sixth Form subjects.

Finally, Mr Connor wanted me to let you know that the Year 8 options process was continuing well and that the vast majority will be studying their subjects of choice next year.  I also met with staff today to look at how best to induct 240 Year 7 students for September.  We may have to resort to a two-day induction in September rather than the usual July day.  We shall have to wait and see the lie of the land.

Best regards and keep safe.

Dr Ingate

Principal

by Admin

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

by Admin

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

by Admin

Update - Tuesday 31 March

Dear Parents / Carers / Students

Another day of lock-down – I can’t believe it has only been a 10-days since such drastic measures were introduced in an attempt to curb the spread of Covid-19.  Abnormality has become normality as we all adjust to these strange times.  Having been in school yesterday, I have worked at home today whilst Mr Gilbank and a small team of dedicated staff looked after those children who need to come into school.  Hopefully like most of you, it is amazing what you can complete with a laptop or tablet at your fingers.  It is not the same, however, as seeing everyone face-to-face and the school seems a bit like a ghost ship at the moment.  

I enjoyed watching The Steph Show at lunchtime today featuring our very own Mr Stephens and Mr Newman along with their back-up team producing over 100 visors a day for the NHS.  If you have not seen it, it’s worth getting on catch-up (Channel 4).    I have also signed up as a NHS Volunteer and have been signed up to drive medical essentials in one of our Birchwood Minibuses.  I think that if we all do our bit – however small – it will help us overcome this health epidemic more quickly.

I have also heard from 2 of our alumni – qualified GPs working on the front line in London’s hospitals – re-directed from their usual roles to prioritise those being admitted with suspected corona-virus.  They are coping but it will rely on the rates of infection increasing arithmetically and not exponentially – which depends on us – socially isolating, self-isolating where necessary, and keeping our journeys to a minimum. Personally, I have not been to Tesco for 3 days and have managed to find a few quiet country lanes to  walk along and get some fresh air. 

I hope you and your families are all coping the best you can. Tomorrow, Mrs Jacobson will write a piece focussing on homework – what we have learnt so far, how we are adapting and responding to the feedback. 

Dr Chris Ingate

Principal

by Admin

Update - Monday 30 March

Dear Parents / Carers / Students

Having successfully navigated the first week of the school closure, this is the start of Week 2.  We continue to educate and look after the children of Key Workers and Vulnerable children.   This is going well, and I am indebted to the staff who have come in to help myself and other senior colleagues. 

We have had some very positive feedback from parents and students about their on-line ‘homework’ and we have also listened to suggestions to improve things further.  These include setting less frequent short-term tasks for more open-ended work with longer deadlines.  We have also noted that some parents with children who have Special Education Needs are finding some of the work challenging without having a teacher by their side.  So, we will try to set a variety of work with different levels of challenge.  Students can also communicate directly with their teacher through Show My Homework or by email. 

We are awaiting confirmation from the DfE about the timescale and methodology for awarding Year 11 and 13 students with the grades and levels they deserve, and I will write to you again when I am clear on this.  We are intending to be open over the Easter Holidays to ensure Key Worker children can come into school to allow their parents to help our excellent NHS who will need every help they can over the next few weeks.  We are also continuing to produce face visors for NHS staff in our local area and supporting schools elsewhere to do the same thing – so much so that the story is being covered on the Steph Show tomorrow (Channel 4 at 2pm) if you’re interested.

For our students,  we know that there will be a lot of things that you will miss by not coming to school – but hopefully there will be some new opportunities as well, being based at home.  I am uncertain as to when Birchwood will re-open and this will be dictated by the DfE – September is an obvious target – if we open sooner it will be because the curfew measures we are working under have worked.

We should know in the next 2-3 weeks whether these drastic measures are helping – current statistics are really a marker of where we were 2-3 weeks ago. By keeping apart, keeping hygienic and following guidelines, we will beat Covid-19.

Dr Ingate

Principal

by Admin