Updates for Parents/Carers

Stakeholder survey reminder

Thank you to the families, students and staff who have already responded to our electronic survey issued on Friday 24 April 2020.

For those of you who have not taken the opportunity there is still chance. All surveys will close at

midnight tonight (Friday 1 May).

It is really helpful to school leaders to hear your feedback about the different aspects of our response as a school and views on how we might do things better as this 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.

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

Thank you in advance.

Free School Meals voucher update

Each week families who qualify for free school meals are eligible for £15 per child. We are aware there are issues nationally with the voucher scheme run by the government through Edenred.

School is in a similar situation and have limited means of contacting Edenred, but we are continuing to try on your behalf. If any families who are eligible for FSM are having problems with the vouchers please contact Miss Gresswell directly. Issues we are currently aware of are that vouchers are not arriving, codes are coming up as invalid or the website isn’t working.

Derbyshire County Council have started to offer the food hampers as an alternative to the vouchers. The hampers will be supplied every two weeks but there is a 10 day delay for the first hamper to be delivered. If you would like to swap the vouchers for a hamper please let Miss Gresswell know by Wednesday each week in order to ensure a hamper can be ordered and delivered by the end of the following week. Please understand that this deadline is fixed as the food needs to be ordered.

Please also remember the WEAREHIGHFIELDS fund is available to provide you with some support. If you need this support please contact Miss Gresswell, your child’s year manager or the finance team (finance@highfields.derbyshire.sch.uk) so we can process your application. If the application form is putting you off, don’t worry, we can get the information we need via telephone and talk about how we can help you. You can also call the finance office directly between 10am and 3pm on 01629 832325.

Use of video conferencing platforms for student learning

Feedback from students, parents/carers and staff who have experienced the use of video conference platforms to deliver lessons shows that this approach is greatly appreciated during the period of school closure. It has clear potential benefits for enabling educational interaction and sustaining student engagement.

The current responses to the surveys from parents/carers and students show that wider use of video conference lessons would be very welcome. Governors are extremely supportive of this approach and have approved use of Zoom (based on DCC advice and risk assessment) and Microsoft Teams.

We have issued guidance to parents/carers, students and staff today to follow to ensure that video conference lessons are conducted safely. Please look out for the information emailed - your support for these guidelines is greatly appreciated.

Virtual school musical permissions – Beauty and the Beast 2020

If your son/daughter was scheduled to participate in the school musical of ‘Beauty and the Beast’ please respond to the email issued earlier this week asking for permissions for them to take part in the ‘virtual musical’.

Students with permissions will receive a notification via Show My Homework by the end of the day on Monday 4 May with full details of their involvement in the virtual show.

We know this won’t replace the original show, but a virtual musical in your living room is the next best option for our talented Highfields students.

HPV Vaccination update

Students in year 8 (boys/girls) and year 9 (girls) were due to have their HVP vaccinations on 6 May. The NHS immunisation team are being re-deployed during this outbreak but will be in contact once schools reopen and provide a new date on when they can pick up the vaccination schedule again.

Qualifications and Exams Update: Years 11 and 13 students

We will keep families updated on any further Ofqual information published.

Exam results dates at present will take place as originally scheduled: Year 13 - 13 August 2020 Year 11 - 20 August 2020

Ofqual video – qualifications process: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VXuDOrtJY1Q&feature=youtu.be

Ofqual 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

The Ofqual consultation closed on 29 April 2020 to parties with an interest in the process for determining grade and qualifications this summer.

10 top tips from the Highfields Cluster family support team

Highfields family support team wanted to provide some helpful tips to help families during this current lockdown.

1. Try and stay in a routine.

2. Plan activities for yourself and for the children – Look at Hobbycraft for craft ideas, go for a walk, plan a long term project, read, listen to music.

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5. Try and look for the positives rather than the negatives in your children – praise as much as possible even if the praise is given to your child for getting out of bed – there are always positives to be found.

Look after your health and wellbeing – for parents/carers you can access QUELL, Mind and Derbyshire Federation for Mental Health (all can be found online). For young people and children they can access KOOTH and Relate SafeSpeak (can also be found online).

Keep in contact with the people around you, via phone calls and other electronic means, including friends and school.

6. If your child is out of their bedtime routine help them get back into it by turning the internet off, removing cables from xBox/TV and try waking your child up an hour earlier every week until they are back in their routine. For example if your child is waking at 1pm – wake them at 12pm and then make this earlier each week.

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9. Do as you say – if you tell your child you are turning the internet off at 10pm make sure you do it.

Be consistent with your parenting approach – be clear on your expectations.

Be mindful of your mood – if you are having a bad day it may change how you behave which then may impact your child.

10. Consider what behaviours you can ignore – it is essential that you only ignore behaviours if you are sure that your child will not come to harm by ignoring them.

If you are concerned about the safety of a child then please call Starting Point on 01629 533190.

Helping children and young people to manage anxiety

If a child is displaying signs of anxiety how can you support them?

A practical guide to supporting pupils and students during periods of disruption from the Anna Freud National Centre for Children and Families: https://www.annafreud.org/media/11465/helping-cyp-manage-anxiety-apr2020-v3.pdf

More top tips on how to support your child with dyslexia and other SEND conditions …

How do I manage my own (and help my children’s) anxieties during the Covid 19 crisis? – Part 1

As the lockdown continues, this is a very important question for us all.

This article is based on the work of Professor Amanda Kirby who is a GP, a professor of developmental disorders and CEO of ‘Do-IT’ Solutions, who support children and adults with SEND.

To begin with, it is important to point out that nearlyEVERYONE is feeling anxious for some of the time at the moment, and may feel overwhelmed with what they are allowed and not allowed to do. However… this could be a time for opportunities.

For those children who have difficulties with concentration and maintaining focus or who are fidgety and find it hard to sit still, they are now able to take frequent breaks and to move around. To space out their learning, which would be more difficult in a packed six lesson day at school.

Step 1

The first step to managing our own worries is to find out what caused us to worry and have anxieties before the Covid 19 lockdown.

For children it could be:

 Sitting down for too long  Not understanding something – getting embarrassed and frustrated by not understanding instructions can lead to poor behaviour and/or worries. Children with receptive language difficulties may struggle here.  Eating food they don’t like – especially children with sensory issues – lunchtimes in school can be really challenging. Worrying about whether sloppy food might touch their dry food for example. Or being given food with a texture they don’t like.  Too much noise in PE  Having to change at speed in the PE changing rooms  Changes in teachers – or other changes to school routines  Difficulties playing team games

Some children will have been anxious BEFORE the pandemic and it is their environment and other people that are triggering those anxieties.

Step 2

Let’s explore what is different about home and school a bit more…

How can you help your child/ren create a calm space for learning to take place?

Think about these questions:

 What do they like? to eat, music, games etc.  What do they hate?  What calms them and makes them feel more secure?  What irritates them? For example, for some children, the school uniform can feel itchy and scratchy but at home they can wear loose comfortable clothes of their own choice

Why do any of us feel anxious?

Imagine we all have a bucket which can only hold so much water. When our bucket becomes full, we can’t let it overflow… just one drip will make it overflow. This is when we start to feel that we are not really coping and we develop physical symptoms and signs of stress and anxiety. We all feel this differently and we all have various coping strategies that allow the pressure of water to be released from the bottom tap of our bucket for us to start feeling less anxious. For example, meeting with friends, exercise, reading, gardening, having a chat with friends, listening to music, yoga, watching films, swimming, walking…

So what flows into your bucket?

Drips Today events:

Losing your keys, getting stuck in traffic, forgetting an important file for work, leaving your shopping list…

Dribbles Everyday life occurrences:

Sickness, work related, home concerns, children…

Gushes Major life events:

Death, divorce, marriage, redundancy…

Drip s Dribble s

Gushes

Being able to release the amount of water in your bucket makes us feel calmer and happier

At the moment we seem to have lots of drips, dribbles and gushes filling up our buckets and the tap at the bottom is not fully operational as we are limited and constrained in our behaviours. Feeling really anxious and nervy in the ‘fight and flight’ mode can last a long time. We are no longer able to go to the gym, socialise with friends, or even be able to meet our extended families and give them a hug.

We need to reconfigure our bucket so that we can create some space for us and our children to be able to cope.

Step 3

What signs should I be looking for in my child/ren that show they may be feeling anxious?

Depending on the age of your child:  Your child may be more clingy  Having your parents around all the time is difficult for everyone. It is very unusual to be together 24 / 7 for most people  Some children display uncharacteristic negative behaviours which is telling us in a non-verbal way that, ‘I’m not coping’.  Some children may be worriers and want to talk about the Corona virus and worry about them or their loved ones catching it  Some children may have stomach pains, headaches, panic attacks, start grinding their teeth, having neck pain…  Waking up in the night when they are usually good sleepers

Think about how you, as a parent / carer feel and react to stress.  What symptoms and signs do you show?  What do you do?

Step 4

Start with YOU. If you can be less anxious then your children will be too.

Using the acronym F A C E might help:

F = Focus on what IS in your control – You can’t change the world but you can control your home and workspace, being a parent and working from home, you can choose things you enjoy, you can stay connected by phone and online, you can take exercise.

A = Acknowledge your thoughts and feelings –You will have emotional waves that feel out of control at times. Stop and acknowledge these feelings. Say to yourself that this is quite normal to feel like this at the moment. C = Come back into your body –Stand up if you can, press your feet on the floor, push your hands together or stretch up tall, shrug your shoulders and take slow deep breaths – becoming aware of your body. Don’t let the anxiety wash all over you and take control.

E = Engage in what you’re doing –Engage in what is around you… focus on what is in front of you, what you can see, what you can smell and what you can hear. Show your

children that you can enjoy yourself and can take pleasure in the things around you.

Hope this helps and there’s more practical suggestions in Part 2 next week.

And in the future… ‘How to prepare your child for success in life’

See you next week.

Mrs Finney SEND Teaching and Learning Coordinator & Specialist Teacher

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