Parents/Carers Update

Families Accessing Free School Meals

During this third national lockdown the government are not offering the national free school meal voucher scheme. Therefore, schools are offering out hampers to families who usually have free school meals.

We will be preparing hampers with enough food in for a fortnight. If you would like a hamper, or have a query regarding hampers, please email Kerry Alcock (kalcock@highfields.derbyshire.sch.uk).

Hampers will be available for collection in the Bowler Hall at Starkholmes on Tuesdays between 10am3pm. Please ensure you wear a suitable face mask and maintain social distancing when on the school site.

Free School Meal Criteria

Families could qualify for free school meals if meeting the following criteria:  Universal Credit, provided there is an annual net earned income not exceeding £7,400 (£616.67 per month)  Income Support  Income-based Jobseekers Allowance  Income-related Employment and Support Allowance  support under Part 6 of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999  the guarantee element of State Pension Credit  Child Tax Credit (provided you’re not also entitled to Working Tax Credit and have an annual gross income of no more than £16,190) as assessed by HMRC  Working Tax Credit run-on (paid for 4 weeks after you stop qualifying for Working Tax Credit)

Universal Credit has begun to be rolled out in Derbyshire and will affect all areas of Derbyshire by the end of 2022 - full details are available on Derbyshire County Council’s website https://www.derbyshire.gov.uk/social-health/adult-care-and-wellbeing/benefits-debt-and-legalmatters/welfare-benefits/universal-credit/universal-credit.aspx

Young people age 16 to 18 who receive the benefits or tax credits in their own right are also entitled to receive free school meals. Even if you meet any or all of the criteria, families will not be eligible if they are claiming Working Tax Credit. You can sign up for free school meals at any time of year. You or your partner can claim for your children, as long as you live at the same address. You do not have to fill in a separate form for each child, even if they go to different schools. For further information contact the free school meals team on 01629 536400 or 01629 536481.

Financial help from the ‘We Are Highfields Fund’

We have reopened the We Are Highfields fund that we set up during the last lockdown to support Highfields families affected by the Covid-19 outbreak to pay bills and get connectivity. Please pass these details on to anyone who may need help but does not access school emails or the newsletter.

Application forms for the We Are Highfields Fund can be requested from the finance office either by email (finance@highfields.derbyshire.sch.uk); can be completed over the phone where you will be asked few simple questions to check eligibility (01629 832325); through your child’s year manager or the school website:

https://www.highfields.derbyshire.sch.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/WeAreHighfieldsApplication.docx This is a hardship grant and is considered on a case by case basis. This grant scheme will be paid out until funds are exhausted. To be eligible you must be a parent/carer of a students at Highfields School and have savings of less than £1,000 per person or £2,000 for a family or couple (including rolling bank balance).

Free Microsoft Office for Students

Students at Highfields School can download Microsoft Office for free on up to five devices, for the duration of their time as a student at the school.

Microsoft Office can be installed on compatible desktop computers, tablets, and mobile phones. https://www.highfields.derbyshire.sch.uk/students/office-for-students/

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. Weduc allows notifications to be sent directly to your mobile with any messages from school.

Enrolment emails were sent out last term and will be sent again to parents/carers. Please look out for the registration email if you have not already downloaded the app or registered.

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

Using Video Conferencing for meetings and lessons Parents and Carers Guidance for safe use

During the period of school closure there are clear potential benefits of using video conference platforms such as Zoom or MS Teams. These include collaboration and educational interaction between students and teachers.

Students and staff have been issued with guidance to follow to ensure that video conference lessons are conducted safely. Your support for these guidelines is greatly appreciated:

Students will be provided with invitations to on-line lessons via Show my Homework or the school email system. Students must not post meeting details or invitations on social media. School staff have been instructed to ensure that any video conference account is linked to their school email account.

As far as possible please make a safe, appropriate and semi-supervised space available for the lesson to take place in. Students have been told that as far as possible they should take lessons in a room with an open door and that where possible a parent / carer or another trusted adult should be in the same premises while the lesson takes place.

There may be some cases where one to one work may be very beneficial to a student, for example in supporting learners with special educational needs to access their work, or to provide reading / literacy support. In such circumstances parental consent should be secured, and ideally a parent / carer should join some of the session, in addition to following all other guidelines in this document.

Students should not take video conferenced lessons from their bedroom if possible.

Students are asked to work against a ‘neutral background’ as far as possible – e.g. a plain wall.

Students are required to present themselves as they would if they were in a face-to-face lesson: They should dress appropriately for a school lesson and follow the behaviour expectations that we have in lessons.

Staff have the right to ask students to leave the lesson or to join with their video camera off.

The teacher will record the length, time, date and attendance of any sessions held, but will not record the lesson itself.

Your child’s teacher will contact the school’s Designated Safeguarding Lead (DSL) if they have any concerns about a student. Examples of potential concerns may include:

A staff member seeing, or hearing, a concern during an online lesson.

A disclosure made by a student in the course of a lesson.

Covid-19 testing for students and staff

We are working to keep our school as safe as possible. You may have heard that testing for those without coronavirus symptoms is beginning across the country using new, quicker COVID-19 tests known as ‘lateral flow tests’.

Along with the other protective measures we are taking, these tests will help staff and students to remain in school safely. Up to one third of people who have coronavirus experience no symptoms. By testing we will help to stop the virus spread and help to keep our school open as safely as possible. The test is voluntary, but we would encourage everyone to take it.

We will be testing all staff and students who want to participate when they return to school and full details will be issued to families next week along with a Covid-19 testing consent link for completion electronically.

Thank you to the staff and families who have already contacted us to volunteer to help with the lateral flow testing. If you are interested in volunteering to support the ‘rapid testing’ in school, and have not already done so, please email jwheatcroft@highfields.derbyshire.sch.uk including a little detail about how you may be able to help and we will be in touch with details. Full training will be given.

Covid-19 Update for DTP & Men ACWY Vaccinations Y9 student vaccinations – action required

The School Age Immunisation Service (SAIS) for Derbyshire and Derby City will be offering all year 9 students the Teenage Booster (Tetanus, Diphtheria and Polio) and Meningococcal ACWY (Men ACWY) vaccinations. Initially this was scheduled for 23 February 2021 and the NHS team are currently looking at alternative solutions to ensure vaccinations can continue. We will update year 9 parents/carers with details once available but in the meantime, please ensure that you have completed the consent form (see details below).

NHS staff will be vaccinating girls and boys in year 9 and an e-consent is required to be completed for the Teenage Booster, and Men ACWY vaccination programme.

Please visit https://www.derbyshireandcityimms.co.uk/Forms/DTP to complete the consent form. The option to consent or decline the vaccination is at the end of the questionnaire so please complete even if you do not want your child to have the vaccination.

The unique school code for Highfields School is DD112950

For more information about the vaccination please visit: http://www.derbyshireschoolnurses.org.uk/parents/immunisations

If you experience any problems, please call the School Age Immunisation Team.

Repton: 01283 707178 Clay Cross: 01246 252953 DCHST.immunisationteam@nhs.net

Highfields Emergency Childcare

If you wish your child to attend school because they meet the criteria below, please email lleverton@highfields.derbyshire.sch.uk by Friday of each week and specify the details of the days and times of the following week that emergency childcare is required. Any students attending should bring packed lunch/snacks and are required to wear a mask when on the school sites.

Criteria for children of critical workers and vulnerable children who can access school during lockdown

Vulnerable children and young people include those who:

 are assessed as being in need under section 17 of the Children Act 1989, including children and young people who have a child in need plan, a child protection plan or who are a looked-after child  have an education, health and care (EHC) plan  have been identified as otherwise vulnerable by educational providers or local authorities (including children's social care services), and who could therefore benefit from continued fulltime attendance, this might include: o children and young people on the edge of receiving support from children's social care services or in the process of being referred to children's services o adopted children or children on a special guardianship order o those at risk of becoming NEET ('not in employment, education or training') o those living in temporary accommodation o those who are young carers o those who may have difficulty engaging with remote education at home (for example, due to a lack of devices or quiet space to study) o care leavers o other children and young people at the provider and local authority's discretion including pupils who need to attend to receive support or manage risks to their mental health

Critical workers

Parents/carers whose work is critical to the coronavirus (COVID-19) and EU transition response include those who work in health and social care and in other key sectors outlined in the following sections.

Health and social care

This includes, but is not limited to, doctors, nurses, midwives, paramedics, social workers, care workers, and other frontline health and social care staff including volunteers; the support and specialist staff required to maintain the UK’s health and social care sector; those working as part of the health and social care supply chain, including producers and distributors of medicines and medical and personal protective equipment.

Education and childcare - this includes:  childcare  support and teaching staff  social workers  specialist education professionals who must remain active during the coronavirus (COVID-19) response to deliver this approach

Key public services - this includes:  those essential to the running of the justice system  religious staff

charities and workers delivering key frontline services those responsible for the management of the deceased journalists and broadcasters who are providing public service broadcasting

Local and national government

This only includes those administrative occupations essential to the effective delivery of:  the coronavirus (COVID-19) response, and the delivery of and response to EU transition  essential public services, such as the payment of benefits and the certification or checking of goods for import and export (including animal products, animals, plants and food), including in government agencies and arm’s length bodies

Food and other necessary goods

This includes those involved in food:  production  processing  distribution  sale and delivery  as well as those essential to the provision of other key goods (for example hygienic and veterinary medicines)

Public safety and national security - this includes:  police and support staff  Ministry of Defence civilians  contractor and armed forces personnel (those critical to the delivery of key defence and national security outputs and essential to the response to the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak and EU transition)  fire and rescue service employees (including support staff)  National Crime Agency staff  those maintaining border security, prison and probation staff and other national security roles, including those overseas

Transport and border

This includes those who will keep the air, water, road and rail passenger and freight transport modes operating during the coronavirus (COVID-19) response and EU transition, including those working on transport systems through which supply chains pass and those constructing or supporting the operation of critical transport and border infrastructure through which supply chains pass.

Utilities, communication and financial services - this includes:  staff needed for essential financial services provision (including but not limited to workers in banks, building societies and financial market infrastructure)  the oil, gas, electricity and water sectors (including sewerage)  information technology and data infrastructure sector and primary industry supplies to continue during the coronavirus (COVID-19) response  key staff working in the civil nuclear, chemicals, telecommunications (including but not limited to network operations, field engineering, call centre staff, IT and data infrastructure, 999 and 111 critical services)  postal services and delivery  payments providers  waste disposal sectors