Principal's Letter, 12 February 2021

Half Term
A reminder that the DfE has confirmed that schools will close as usual over February half term and are not expected to remain open to vulnerable children and children of critical workers next week. This will give staff, who have been working exceptionally hard whilst also managing their own family commitments and challenges during this difficult time, a well-earned rest.

The academy will reopen to vulnerable children and the children of keyworkers on Monday 22nd February, at which time remote learning will also resume in line with national lockdown measures to help minimise the spread of the virus and respond quickly to the new variants. 15th February is a date suggested for more information from the government, with a hope for wider opening of school of at least 8th March, although the nature and speed of return is still to be discussed. I will, of course, write to you again when details are forthcoming.

Safeguarding during half term

If you or your child have any concerns about any safeguarding issues during half term, please refer to the safeguarding page on our website https://ormistonsixvillagesacademy.co.uk/key-info/safeguarding and in an emergency please contact the academy via [email protected].

Satchel One – How to monitor your child’s submissions and quality of work on Satchel One

Please view the following Loom video which answers questions raised in our recent parent voice survey. https://www.loom.com/share/a2b4729d3ae3429ba3f670afe9737371?sharedAppSource=personal_library

Year 9 Parents’ Consultation – Thursday 25th February

A reminder that the Year 9 parents’ consultation will be held virtually providing parents, carers and students with an opportunity to meet with each subject teacher. If you have not already booked your appointments please do so via https://ormistonsixvillagesacademy.schoolcloud.co.uk/. If you have any difficulty booking your appointments, please contact [email protected] who will be happy to assist.

Free School Meals Vouchers – February half term
Following the implementation of the WSCC scheme to issue supermarket vouchers to parents and carers of children in receipt of Free School Meals (FSM) over the Christmas Holiday, this approach is being replicated for the February half term. Families who are in receipt of FSM will receive their vouchers in the usual way.

Technology
The Covid-19 pandemic has had a substantial impact on education over the last year, as I’m sure you are all too keenly aware. Technology has become a key tool to facilitate the continuation of education for our pupils throughout national and regional lockdowns and with widespread pupil absence due to Covid-19.

This reliance on technology-enhanced education has led the Trust to reflect on the its wider technology strategy and as part of the process of reviewing the strategy, we would like your child to provide their view on technology use to support their learning.

To this end, please could we ask that you support your child in completing the following short survey. This will contribute to shaping the direction we take with technology as a trust. The survey can be found at https://bit.ly/2MUkMmE or you can scan this QR code in your mobile device to access it. Thank you in advance for your support.

Year 9 students – Duke of Edinburgh Award

Further information will be available at the start of the summer term on what the award entails and how to apply to participate in Year 10.

Letter from Sussex Police

Please read the letter below which provides important advice and guidance to parents and carers.

Covid 19

Please be reminded that the academy has an obligation to track and trace students and staff that contract Covid 19 during the first 48 hours of the half term break. This only applies to those who attended school this week. If your child attended school this week and tests positive within 48 hours of being in school, please provide the date of onset of any symptoms, the test date and result to [email protected] immediately.

As you will see from the graph and chart below, positive cases of Covid 19 remain a concern in our area among teens compared to West Sussex and England as a whole. Please remind your child of the lockdown restrictions in place and encourage them to resist the temptation to meet up with friends.

7-day rate of COVID-19 cases among under 20s in West Sussex by age (from 01 Sep 2020 up to 03 Feb 2021)

As you will see from the graph below, positive cases of Covid 19 remain a concern in our area among teens compared to West Sussex and England as a whole. Please remind your child of the lockdown restrictions in place and encourage them to resist the temptation to meet up with friends.

Newsletter
Our most recent newsletter will be available on the website later today. Please click https://ormistonsixvillagesacademy.co.uk/six-villages-newsletter/ to read it.

Year 9 Options Information Evening

We were delighted to welcome parents, carers and students to yesterday evening’s Options Information Evening. If you wish to revisit the presentation, or if you weren’t able to join the meeting, the video is available here.

Finally, as the half term draws to a close, may I take this opportunity to wish you all a restful half term break. I hope you all keep safe and well. We are receiving many positive messages from parents and carers and I thank you for your continued support

Mr P Slaughter, Principal