Updates for Parents/Carers

Qualifications and Exams Update: Years 11 and 13 students

Further to the update on qualifications issued on 3 April (below) the exam regulator Ofqual have published a video that helps to explain the process. They have also announced that grades will be made available to students on 13 August (for Y13) and 20 August (for Y11). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VXuDOrtJY1Q&feature=youtu.be

Ofqual are consulting all parties with an interest in the process for determining grade and qualifications this summer. The full consultation documents and the opportunity to respond by completing an online response form can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/exceptional-arrangements-for-exam-grading-andassessment-in-2020

Ofqual have also published a letter for students about grading and qualifications this summer: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/ 878854/Letter_to_students_-_Summer_2020_grading.pdf

Qualifications update: 3 April 2020:

Following our earlier communications on the cancellation of public exams this summer on Friday 3 April the Exams regulator Ofqual published further detailed guidance about how qualifications will be awarded to students.

We have been told that Schools will be asked to provide, no earlier than 29 May

1. A ‘centre assessment grade’ for every student in each of their subjects: that is, the grade they would be most likely to have achieved if they had sat their exams and completed any nonexam assessment. These should be fair, objective and carefully considered judgements. In making these Teachers will carefully balance different sources of evidence such as classwork, bookwork and any participation in performances in subjects such as music, drama or PE; any nonexam assessment – whether or not complete; the results of any assignments or mock exams / previous examination results

2. The ‘rank order’ of students within each grade for each subject – for example, for all those students with a centre assessment grade of 5 in GCSE maths, a rank order where 1 is the most secure/highest attaining student, and so on. This information will be used in the standardisation of centres’ judgements – allowing fine tuning of the standard applied across all schools and colleges.

Schools will not be able to share this information with students. We are awaiting information from the Exam Boards detailing further guidance.

Students will also have the opportunity to sit exams at the earliest reasonable opportunity in the new academic year. Ofqual is working across the education sector to plan for how and when these additional exams will take place. We know that many students are desperately disappointed that they have been deprived of the opportunity to prove themselves due to cancelled exams. Autumn exams may well provide the opportunity that they have had taken away from them in the summer.

Year 10 internal exams

As you will be aware the Y10 exams were scheduled for the end of April but due to school closure the exams will not be happening in their current timetabled slot. However, year 10 exams will happen before the summer holidays and will cover all aspects of GCSE's covered so far. At the moment we do not know when school will reopen and under what circumstances we will return to school.

Further information will be sent out as things become clearer, but we recommend that students continue to work hard on all the work set by their teachers including any revision tasks and will provide students with notice so they have the opportunity to prepare fully once the exams have been rescheduled.

Keeping in touch

Our primary concern at Highfields is making sure all members of our school community are safe, well and able to access their work. In these unusual times we are trying to find ways of staying in direct contact with as many people as possible. We are in regular contact with many of you, but we are looking for ways to do more.

So, students - keep an eye on your school email account as your tutors might well be emailing you to see how you are getting on! Your tutors or another member of staff might also contact home to see what amazing things you are getting up to and if there is anything else we can help with.

It really matters to us that we can stay in touch because we are a community. We are Highfields.

Stakeholder surveys

Thank you very much for all the support you have given the school during the current COVID-19 crisis to date. It is likely that this is going to continue for some time so it is very important to us that we do the right things for our students.

It would really help us to get some feedback on how you are feeling about different aspects of our response as a school, and your views on how we might do things better as the crisis continues. Our aims have been to keep you and your children safe, to communicate with you clearly, to ensure a strong sense of community and to help students to continue to learn. A link to our electronic survey has been emailed out to parents/carers and we ask that you spare a few minutes of your time to provide us with your valuable feedback.

Students have also received a link to their electronic survey via their school email accounts. We would really appreciate it if you could encourage them to complete this too. We feel it is important to gain feedback to see how students are feeling about things and what school may be able to do better during the school closure.

The closing date for the survey responses is midnight on Friday 1 May 2020. All surveys are

anonymous unless you choose to include your name for a response.

Thank you in advance.

Beauty and the Beast school musical cancellation

In light of the current lockdown and closure of school we wanted to inform you officially that the scheduled school summer musical of Beauty and the Beast will unfortunately be cancelled.

Students have worked hard over the previous months in their rehearsals and so we are looking into the possibility of a virtual performance by video. If we are able to do this we would require parental permission from the students who wish to be involved – further information will be sent to students through Show My Homework.

Important Junior Mathematical Challenge 2020 Update

This year’s Junior Mathematical Challenge (JMC) was originally due to be held on 30 April. We have been contacted and informed by the UK Mathematics Trust (UKMT) that this year's JMC has not been cancelled, and has instead been postponed. This means that students who were already hoping to participate will be able to, and we will again offer this opportunity to students, on the new date when it is confirmed. We are delighted that our students will still have this fantastic opportunity.

UKMT are waiting until the Government provides further guidance on schools reopening before setting a new date. In the meantime, UKMT now made all of the previous JMC papers free to download from their online shop, along with a whole host of other past Challenge papers which we highly recommend (https://www.ukmt.org.uk/shop). We're doing everything we can to make sure students don't miss out on this year's JMC, and will be in touch with a further update as soon as possible.

If you have any other questions about the JMC postponement or accessing past paper resources, please don't hesitate to contact Miss C Hall.

Term dates for the 2020-21 academic year

The start of the 2020-21 academic year is as follows:

Tuesday 1 September 2020 Wednesday 2 September 2020 Thursday 3 September 2020

INSET day (no students in school) Only students in years 7 and 9 return to school

All students return to school

The 2020-21 term dates are as follows:

Autumn term:

 1 September 2020* to 23 October 2020  2 November 2020 to 17 December 2020*

Spring term:

 4 January 2021 to 12 February 2021  22 February 2021 to 1 April 2021

Summer term:

 19 April 2021 to 28 May 2021  7 June 2021 to 22 July 2021

* From 2015 schools have been able to consider variations to term dates provided they meet the statutory requirements. With this in mind we have taken the decision to return to school one day earlier for the start of the new academic year (Tuesday 1 September 2020) and finish the autumn term one day earlier (Thursday 17 December 2020). This is to ensure a smooth start to the academic year rather than students starting back with a staggered start on Thursday or Friday.

INSET days (no students in school):

 Tuesday 1 September 2020

The remaining four dates are to be confirmed

Governor Vacancies - Highfields School Governing Board

Are you passionate about future generations? Do you want to make a difference to young people? Would you like to develop your own skills? Do you have some time to give to our community? Have you ever thought about becoming a school governor?

Highfields School is currently seeking new individuals to join our Governing Board as a co-opted or local authority member.

A co-opted governor is appointed by the Governing Board if they match the skill set required to contribute to the effective governance and success of the school.

Local authority governors are nominated by Derbyshire County Council and appointed by the Governing Board. The local authority can nominate any eligible person as a local authority governor. Anyone interested in applying for the post of LA governor would be required to submit an application form for nomination by Derbyshire County Council.

To be a school governor you need:  An interest in the performance of the school  A desire to contribute to and represent the community  An open and enquiring mind  The ability to look at issues objectively  The confidence to ask questions and join in debate  A willingness to listen and make informed judgements

A Governing Board provides strategic leadership and accountability to the school. It has three main functions:  Ensuring clarity of vision, ethos and strategic direction  Holding executive leaders to account for the educational performance of the organisation and its students and the performance management of staff  Overseeing the financial performance of the organisation and making sure its money is well spent.

There is training and support for the role including access to external governor training.

As a governor you will be able to:  Use your own experience of education and life beyond school to inform conversations  Develop and utilise your skills in a board-level environment  Make a valuable contribution to education and your community  Support and challenge the school so that it improves for students and staff  Bring your unique experiences, perspectives and insights to decision-making in the interests of the school community

The skills the Governing Board are particularly looking for are in finance, HR, health & safety, property & estate management or curriculum development.

If you are interested or would like to learn more please click this link Governor vacancies, please get in touch with Angeline Ellson (Chair of Governors) at chair@highfields.derbyshire.sch.uk