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Parent/Carer Update

November stakeholder survey feedback

How are we doing? This is what you told us in our recent surveys

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Thanks very much for your responses to our recent surveys. Students, parents/carers and staff were all asked for their views around similar themes: the return to school, our approach to putting in place risk measures in a school context, quality of teaching, learning and catch up, standards of behaviour, quality of leadership and sense of ‘Highfields community’.

Feedback overall was very positive, with some strong endorsement of all that we are doing to provide a high standard of education whilst keeping students safe during Covid times. As ever we received some very useful comments about what we could be doing better and will use this to improve.

Parent and Carer Survey responses

We had 317 responses to the parent/carer survey.

Parents/carers are very positive about a number of crucial aspects - 75% agree / strongly agree that:

 The return to school going well  We are doing a good job reducing risk in a school context  Behaviour of students is good

Parents/carers are even more positive about the following aspects - 85%+ agree / strongly agree that:

 Quality of teaching is good  Taking COVID out the equation, children are safe  Quality of leadership of good  There is a strong sense of Highfields community

We had a huge amount of positive feedback about things that we are doing well, and this is greatly appreciated by all staff. The following are typical examples:

‘Communication has never been better. We feel closer to the school and protective of the school and staff. You are doing an amazing job’

‘The school is succeeding in delivering teaching in extremely challenging times and we are very grateful for all the efforts of staff and leadership team’

Parents/ carers were less certain about:

How well their children are catching up with any lost learning from lockdown. Whilst 61% agreed that their child was catching up, 24% reported no strong opinion and 15% disagreed. Catch up is, and will continue to be, a huge focus for us – both in class, via wider support and through our emphasis on the need for outstanding approaches to learning from students in the current context. Our central Catch Up strategy is enshrined within our Big 3. It is all about delivering an excellent quality of education through lessons day in day out, and keeping children feeling safe, valued, included and happy.

Feedback on what we could do better covered a wide range of areas, many of them relating to the decisions we have to make on a daily basis about managing school life and risk in a pandemic. As one parent noted ‘you are faced with difficult decisions and people won’t always agree with them’. We learn as we go and whilst most parents and carers clearly endorse our approaches some are less certain. We have collated some frequently asked questions and points and responses to these are provided below

Comment / question Response

Face masks should be worn by teaching staff and pupils all the time except in lessons.

Can the number of children in school at any one time be reduced as children cannot socially distance from their peers if school working at

Children mix forms at break and lunch – can you give clarification on how this actually is being managed?

Can you keep to class bubbles as Year bubbles are so large?

Can you make online learning accessible for children and families whose preference is to do so (rather than attending school)?

Can you reduce the amount of mixing of forms and teachers at school? We comply with government guidance on face coverings: to be used when moving through communal areas. Not advised for use in classrooms – make communication, interaction and relationships essential for education very difficult (and impossible for a number of staff and students who have hearing impairment). Students can wear if deemed appropriate by staff. Staff are maintaining social distance.

full capacity of students. No, we are expected to be open for all students every day in order to provide education. We would be breaking the law if we did not comply with this requirement. We do not have choice in this matter.

Students are divided into year group bubbles with designated social areas. We stagger lunch times to avoid any mixing. We have explained in previous newsletters that being a split site limits our ability to stagger timetables as there needs to be a common period when staff change sites. We do not have the budget or staff coverage to form two teams of teaching staff, one for each site.

Working in class bubbles would make it impossible to deliver the broad, balanced curriculum that we think it is important to deliver, and which we are encouraged to provide. Schools that have tried to operate in class bubbles have found this difficult to sustain and local schools who adopted this stance in September have recently reverted to year bubbles. We do not feel it is practical, enforceable or emotionally healthy to silo children into set social groups in break/ lunchtime and feel that this would affect motivation and attendance.

The government has been clear that students should attend school if they are well enough to do so. Attendance is important for students’ educational and emotional wellbeing.

We have reduced mixing during the school day by implementing year group bubbles, one way systems, 100 minute lessons and staggered lunchtimes. To keep children in one form group throughout the week would make all GCSE options, practical lessons and support groups in key subjects impossible.

Comment / question Response

Will children be penalised if selfisolating and work is not completed due to me not being at home to supervise school work? No. We were delighted that 94% of Y7and 8 students engaged with school work every day during the recent selfisolation. We understand that there are many pressures on families. If we notice that there is no engagement with work calls home will be made to check that everything is OK and to offer support. We appreciate all support parents can give in ensuring that students do not fall behind if they are asked to self-isolate.

Are we sure all students keep their masks covering their nose AND mouth at all times on transport to and from school as this is an enclosed non-ventilated space with a high chance of different year groups and site cross contamination? We check that students are wearing face coverings properly as they get on school buses. We have reinforced the importance of this in messaging to parents and students. We cannot enforce wearing once the buses leave school premises; students need to act responsibly.

Could a text message system be used for informing parents of emergency alerts, such as about the need for a year group to isolate? We have invested in Weduc and hope that families have now downloaded this app. Apart from that we use email, text, Twitter and Instagram to message families, along with updates on our website. Our experience is that, thanks to students’ use of social media, messaging is more effective than ever before but we appreciate that in isolated cases information can be missed.

Student Survey responses

We had 167 responses to the student survey.

Students are broadly positive (65% agree / strongly agree) about:

 Our return to school going well  Catching up with missed learning from lockdown  Our efforts to reduce COVID risk in a school setting

Students were even more positive (75%+ agree / strongly agree) about:

 Teaching being good and helping learning – 40% strongly agreed with this statement  Feeling safe in school (COVID aside) and knowing who to speak to with any concerns

A couple of comments about what we are doing well:

‘Keeping our spirits up, teaching us, keeping us safe, separating year groups. I get a great education’ ‘Making it feel as normal as possible even though we’re in a global pandemic’

Students were less certain about:

Behaviour being good – 41% had ‘no strong opinion about this’. In our recent Behaviour and Attitudes ‘deep dive’ we explored this further with interviews with students, to supplement the multiple visits we make to classrooms each week. Students explained that most students behave very well, but there are ‘the odd one or two who don’t’. Older students said that behaviour had improved in the last couple of years and reported that it was very rare to have a lesson disrupted.

Answers to the behaviour question also seem to be linked to another area where students expressed less certainty: ‘Students are good at following new systems to keep us safe’ - a theme in the responses to the ‘what could we do better’ question relate to concerns about some peers not following new Covid rules as well as them.

We continue to learn. All of us are adapting to very different circumstances. We will continue to review how we are doing and look at ways in which we can focus on staying safe whilst ensuring that students learn effectively.

Thanks again to all who responded to the survey and to everyone who continues to support our school through such challenging times.

We Are Highfields.

P Cole Deputy Head

Exams in 2021

We now have a bit more certainty about the nature of exams and assessment in 2021.

We now know:  Exams will take place in summer 2021 (stated consistently by the UK government over many months)  They will take place about 3 weeks later than in most years, starting in early June and finishing in early July (announced earlier in the autumn)  They will be graded generously – in line with the overall grading of summer 2020  We will be told some of the topics to be covered in exams. We don’t know any more about this yet, but expect to hear more in the new year.  Students may be allowed to take some extra support materials such as formula sheets into the exam

This news comes as our Y11 and 13 students complete mock exams. They have tackled this challenge brilliantly and we are very proud of their efforts. Their committed, positive approaches to learning, our carefully planned teaching and caring support are crucial to our ‘catch up’ strategy. They are in a good position to show what they know, understand and can do in exams later in the year.

For more information on decisions about exams, and some of the thinking that has surrounded these decisions please see DFE guidance on summer exams and the short Times Education Supplement (TES) article below on 5 ways in which exams will be different this summer.

TES article: https://www.tes.com/news/coronavirus-gcses-2021-5-ways-exams-will-be-different-next-summer

DFE guidance on summer exams: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/guidance-to-support-the-summer-2021-exams/guidance-tosupport-the-summer-2021-exams#students-who-miss-all-exams-including-the-contingencypaper?utm_source=3%20December%202020%20C19&utm_medium=Daily%20Email%20C19&utm_campaign =DfE%20C19

School snow closures – early notice regarding school strategy/risk assessment

We have now reached the time of year when we alert you to the steps we take if we are forced to close the school in an emergency, ie due to extreme weather conditions or equipment failures associated with the change in the weather. We should stress at the outset that this is something we only do with great reluctance, but our overriding concern is the health and safety of our students and sometimes such action is unavoidable.

Feedback from parents/carers, students and staff suggests that communication over snow closures needs to be clear and timely. The handling of snow closures will always create discussion within a school community. I hope that this at least explains our approach in advance of any snow closure.

Current challenges around making the school site and approaches clear after snow or heavy ice:

Derbyshire County Council prioritises main routes and will not guarantee early clearance and gritting. A local business has agreed to clear both sites but cannot grit. Other companies will not grit because of a perceived fear of litigation. Clearing both sites takes longer than schools who have to clear only one site. We have investigated the purchase of a mini tractor/snowplough/gritter but cannot justify a significant expense for equipment that is needed for only a few days a year. Ice is just as big a risk to opening as snow and is as hard to clear with current resources. There have been a number of accidents on our sites caused by ice and this has resulted in injury to staff and students with resultant absences from work/school.

Risks of opening when heavy snow or ice is expected/forecast:

Snow and ice increases risk of road traffic accidents for student and staff. Bus services are often cancelled which results in some students being stranded with parents/carers being forced to make arrangements. Student numbers will be high (many are local) but staff numbers may be very low (our staff travel in from locations such as Sheffield, Stoke and Buxton). This can result in students being unsupervised on site. Usually when school is open following heavy snow, lessons are adversely affected and staff can find themselves supervising very large numbers of students with a consequent impact on learning. The sites are surrounded by steep hills and this provides further risk to motorists and pedestrians following heavy snow/ice. Where late notice is given that school is opening (as leaders seek to assess the situation until the last possible moment), parents/carers have reported that pressure is put on them to revise childcare arrangements. Early clearance cannot be guaranteed. Accidents on school sites following snow or ice have resulted in injury, sustained absence and costly litigation in the recent past. Staff/student time which can be used for productive work from home can be wasted on long and hazardous journeys to the school sites only to find lessons being badly disrupted or cancelled due to staff and student absence.

Risk of NOT opening when heavy snow or ice is expected/forecast:

Parents/carers are caused inconvenience by having to adapt childcare arrangements Learning time is lost, even when students and staff work from home (teachers will issue work to complete via Show My Homework to undertake at home) The leadership of the school will incur criticism if forecast heavy snow does not arrive despite school being closed.

School strategy regarding snow closure:

1. The school will seek to communicate clearly with parents/carers and local cluster primary schools when heavy snow or ice is forecast or expected.

2. To minimise the risk to students and staff, and to facilitate childcare adaptations for parents and carers, the school will aim to close as soon as heavy overnight snowfall is probable.

3. The school will seek to announce closure before midnight and definitely before 6.00am. The school accepts that this may result in widespread criticism if heavy snow does not fall or does but doesn’t settle.

School emergency closure procedure

Snow – during school hours:

If there is a heavy snowfall during the day while students are already in school, and it becomes clear that getting home at the normal time may be difficult or dangerous, we may decide to close early. If we do close, the following instructions are given to students before they are allowed to leave the premises:

If students know for sure that they have a safe destination with someone to look after them (such as their own home or a relative, neighbour or friend’s home) and provided they are sure they can reach this destination, they may leave when asked to do so.

If students are uncertain whether there is someone at home, they need to check before departure and should telephone to make sure of their arrangements. The school will make its telephones available free of charge to those who do not have a mobile phone, but obviously this may delay departure as we only have three external lines. Students should only leave once they are certain of their arrangements.

It would be helpful if you can discuss at home what you want your son/daughter to do in the event of school closing early so that they know of arrangements in advance.

If students cannot make arrangements and are not sure what to do and where to go, they must remain in school in the care of the staff of the school until suitable arrangements have been made. A member of staff will always remain in school with students until everyone has been collected.

Snow – overnight:

In the event of heavy snow overnight we would ask parents/carers to use their discretion in deciding if it is safe for their child to set off for school. Emergency closures happen perhaps once or twice a year.

The school will inform you of closure as soon as the decision is made to close the school, by various means: the school website; BBC Radio Derby, by text and/or email and by the Weduc App. Once students have been sent home, students and parents/carers should listen to local radio or check our website for further instructions about our plans for the following day. This information is usually posted on the school website by 7.30am each morning.

Breakdown of equipment:

If, as happens very occasionally, we suffer a complete breakdown of equipment, depriving the school of its basic services, such as electricity or water, we may be forced to send students home for their own safety. The same procedure will be followed as for a snow closure.

Reminder: Weduc

A reminder to parents/carers to download the Weduc App or register via the Weduc website to begin to receive communications from school. Enrolment emails have been sent out over previous weeks to email accounts we hold for parents/carers.

Initially are using Weduc for direct communication only of any Covid-19 updates and emergency alerts to families, before we fully launch the system later in the year.

Covid-19 - Updated school transport guidance from the DfE

The Department for Education has updated their guidance on home to school transport, in accordance with advice from Public Health England. The guidance requires that face coverings must be worn on transport to secondary school or college. This change is in response to local authorities reporting that non-compliance remains sketchy across England. This guidance change clarifies the DfE’s message that face coverings are an important measure in reducing the transmission of coronavirus, particularly in enclosed spaces where social distancing is difficult to maintain. The guidance is clear that, where ‘must’ is used, something is essential for public health reasons.

Guidance will make clear that face coverings must be worn by children and young people aged 11 and over across all transport to secondary school or college, whether public transport or dedicated school transport. This does not apply to those who are exempt from wearing a face covering on public transport, and children and young people who may not be able to handle them properly should not wear face coverings.

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/transport-to-school-and-other-places-of-educationautumn-term-2020/transport-to-school-and-other-places-of-education-autumn-term-2020

Covid-19 – clarification on self-isolation

As per Public Health England advice, if a member of your household develops symptoms of Covid19, all household members should not go to work, school or public areas and exercise should be taken at home.

Students should not attend school if any member of the household has shown symptoms and/or is awaiting a Covid test.

If the test result received is positive, students need to remain at home and not leave the house for 14 days of self-isolation (starting from the day when the first person in the house became ill). If a negative test result is received students can return to school as long as they are symptom free.

The most common symptoms of coronavirus (Covid-19) are:  new continuous cough and/or  high temperature and/or  a loss of, or change in, normal sense of taste or smell Tests can be arranged via https://www.nhs.uk/ask-for-a-coronavirus-test or by calling 119. People who do not have symptoms should not request a test unless this has been specifically requested by Public Health England or the local authority.

Please see the link to the PHE ‘Stay at Home’ Guidance: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/covid-19-stay-at-home-guidance/stay-at-homeguidance-for-households-with-possible-coronavirus-covid-19-infection

All-weather sports pitch update

I wanted to update you on the all-weather sports pitch which has been long awaited at Lumsdale site.

The local authority wrote to governors on 26 November to raise ‘concerns about the liabilities that fall to both the council and the school when accepting Football Foundation grants’. You may remember that the Football Foundation was contributing a significant amount of money to augment section 106 monies received as a result of a local housing development.

The local authority accepted that the school was very disappointed that these concerns had been raised relatively late in the process and that this would mean a further delay to the completion of this project. In recognition of this, the local authority made a significant contribution to allow an allweather sports pitch to be built without the involvement of the Football Foundation.

Governors are now exploring the options open to them, but want to assure all Highfields community members that a) the funds for this project are secure and b) the project will go ahead. We need to plan carefully to ensure that this sort of setback is not allowed to slow the process again. We have also been advised that Covid-19 has affected pricings and supply chains and this may or may not affect the speed of progress. When further plans have been agreed I will update you again.

We feel disappointed that this project has been delayed but we are very confident that this resource will, when completed, offer brilliant opportunities both to Highfields students and the wider community.

Angeline Ellson Chair of Governors

Christmas hamper appeal

Sports Leaders News Mrs Allen (School Sports Co-ordinator)

Our sports leaders are usually extremely busy supporting sporting activities not only in school, but also within our partner primary schools and across the wider community. This year for the start of the year initially we are looking at alternative ways for our sports leaders to work and we will update you in our newsletter.

Further information on sports leadership can be found on the school website: http://www.highfields.derbyshire.sch.uk/students/sports-leadership/

Sports Leaders Update

On Friday 27 November our year 13 sports leaders, Jayden, Sophie, Matt and James, received their awards for outstanding leadership during the last academic year. These awards would have been given out at the sports leaders annual awards evening in April that was cancelled due to lockdown. They led activities for our year 7 and 8 ‘active in mind’ project group at Starkholmes on Monday lunchtimes alongside Mr Molyneaux.

Sports leaders awards were also given to Libby for Female Leader, Reece for Male Leader and Courtney and Emily for Girls Active leader.

REMINDER: Level 1, 2 and 3 Sports Leaders

Level 1, 2 or 3 sports leaders should register their details on the skills tracker as per Mrs Allen’s email.

Sports webinar

Mrs Allen continues to keep up to date with training and support for sports in school and attended the Well Schools webinar on Thursday 3 December covering issues associated with ‘leading in a time of crisis’.

Youth Sport Trust - The Big Give

Youth Sport Trust’s aim is to support front line teacher and school staff wellbeing following the Covid19 crisis. YST’s Well Schools Movement aims to help schools embed a wellbeing strategy that will impact of staff and young people to transform their health and wellbeing using sport and physical activity.

Thank you to sports leaders who donated a total of £60 to the Youth Support Big Give last week. All donations are match funded by the Monday Charitable Trust and Sky Sports, resulting in a total of £120 raised.

Whole school extra-curricular sports clubs

The PE department are running the following clubs for students across both sites. These are much reduced to what would usually be on offer but are compliant with the latest Covid-19 guidance. Full details are available from the PE department.

Monday

Tuesday

Wednesday

Thursday Week A Y9 table tennis/ badminton Mr Shirtcliffe Y7 netball Miss Tabbenor

Y11 table tennis / badminton Mr Shirtcliffe

Y9 Leaders Mrs Turner/Mrs Allen Y7 table tennis Mr Shirtcliffe Y10 football Mr Roberts

Friday Y12/13 Leaders Mrs Turner/Mrs Allen Y12/13 table tennis / badminton Mr Shirtcliffe Y7 Leaders Mr Molyneux Week B Y8 netball Miss Tabbenor Week C

Y11 table tennis / badminton Mr Shirtcliffe

Y10 Leaders Y11 Leaders Mrs Turner/Mrs Allen JST/JA Y8 table tennis Mr Shirtcliffe

Y10 table tennis / badminton Mr Shirtcliffe

Y12/13 Leaders JST/JA Y12/13 table tennis / badminton Mr Shirtcliffe Y8 Leaders Mr Molyneux Weekly

Y9 netball Miss Tabbenor Sports leaders - primary Mrs Allen/ Mrs Turner/ Mr Molyneux

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