Monday 18th May 2020
Dear Parents and Carers
As you know, and as set out in my email last week, the government hopes that schools may begin to offer wider provision for a selected intake of pupils from June 1st.
The realisation of this aspiration will require much planning. We are aware of the conversations being held in households across the region. We are also taking account of ongoing updates of medical opinion.
To this end we are exploring the possibility of a phased and partial return of a limited number of primary school pupils from Monday June 8th, a week later than initially considered. This would be for Year 6 pupils only. A further week later, Monday June 15th, would see our Year 1 pupils returning.
This would end the current phase of wider opening – no provision for nursery or reception will be considered in our planning at this point, as we fully understand the educational issues surrounding any return to school for these children. I have also sent in a separate document an outline of the planned return of the limited number of pupils.
Our Year 10 and Year 12 students will begin one to one consultations with secondary teachers from Monday 15th June. Secondary headteachers will communicate directly with you on how this will be managed over the next two weeks.
During the planning period ahead of us we will consult with teachers and support staff, parents, professional bodies and the Department for Education. This time will also see the rollout to headteachers of a range of NPCAT risk assessments, consideration toolkits and planning frameworks, which we have developed with reference to national guidance and following advice from professional bodies.
I look forward to us all working collaboratively over the coming days and weeks to plan effectively towards providing initially for those Year 6 children who wish to return to school, along with those most vulnerable and key workers’ children.
We will do so while taking every possible precaution to ensure the safety of all of our children and staff, adapting our environments where necessary to allow for social distancing and hygiene considerations.
I appreciate that so many of you will have reservations on this issue and I understand some may decide not to take this opportunity to return your children to school.
Please be assured that as a Trust we will continue to do our very best to support your children over the coming weeks, whether this is through school-based learning or via our remote learning platforms.
Yours sincerely
Hugh Hegarty CEO
NPQH | M.Sc. | PGCCGC | B.Ed. Hons.| CTC
Nicholas Postgate Catholic Academy Trust
Friday 15th May 2020
Dear Parents and Carers,
You will be aware of the guidance issued by the DfE on Monday 11th May setting out its anticipation to encourage pupils to attend school from 01st June 2020 which is subject to change. We will update you in respect of any such modification.
As a Trust we have commenced our planning following the government announcement. This will reference the government guidance allied to detailed risk assessments and consultation with teachers,parents and Trade unions.
We will ensure that any proposals to offer school opening from June 1st will take account of the necessity to offer a safe and secure environment for pupils, staff and naturally parents in respect of drop off and collection of your children. We will issue comprehensive guidance on the trust wide model of school return for June 1st onwards by Friday 22nd May 2020.
Kind Regards
Hugh Hegarty CEO
NPQH | M.Sc. | PGCCGC | B.Ed. Hons.| CTC
Nicholas Postgate Catholic Academy Trust
02 April 2020
Dear Parents and Carers,
As you are acutely aware all 26 schools within Nicholas Postgate Catholic Academy Trust –NPCAT remain open across Teesside and North Yorkshire providing continuous provision for the children of our Key Workers and all those identified by the government when the partial closure of schools was announced.
As a Trust we feel that it is vital that we maintain in contact with you throughout these challenging times and I hope you are appreciative of the ongoing communication from schools both to you as parents and also with all your children. Our websites and social media platforms are alive with wonderful examples of pupils work and uplifting messages of support for each other and respect for our NHS and all Key Workers fighting this pandemic.
The NPCAT term ends next Thursday 9th April and starts on Monday 20th April. We will however continue to keep all schools open over this period and provide Free School Meals (FSM) to all eligible pupils during this time. After the Easter break the Trust will be participating in the government’s national FSM voucher scheme and further information will be sent out by each school in respect of this before then. Those pupils not attending school will naturally have no lessons set for them from 9th April until Monday 20th April. Those pupils who will attend during the holiday period will access a more creative programme of activities.
I want to pay my total respect for all our staff who continue to work so tirelessly for every child and this commitment is magnified at this time with so many giving up their holiday entitlement to ensure our children are safe.
We are rightly proud of our long, rich and unbroken tradition with over 150 years of Catholic education in Teesside and North Yorkshire built on generations of community determination, with everyone in the Parishes, parents, and teachers doing their best and improve life chances for young people. I am reassured that this is evident even more so today and thank you for your support of our wonderful school community.
As we begin Holy Week in a few short days the message of Hope that we associate with Easter is very much to the fore.
Blessed Nicholas Postgate Pray for Us
Regards
Hugh Hegarty
NPQH| MSc |PGCCGC |B.Ed. Hons |CTC
Friday 27th March
Dear Parents/Carers,
As we come to the end of our first week of school closures, I wanted to communicate to you my thanks and appreciation for all of the support you have given in these unprecedented times. As a father myself, I know how hard it is to juggle everyday life as well as ‘home school’ children. I have to say that I am in awe of my own staff, who continue to work so hard for the school, alongside considerations about their own health and that of their families and the longer-term effects of this crisis on the young people they care for and educate every single day.
With that in mind, I wanted to give a few reminders about how to access the work that is being set, structure and communication with school.
Available Platforms
Class Charts (this is where most of your child’s work is set by their class teacher) – All pupils have been issued with a Class Charts log in; these were hand delivered or posted home last week (week beginning 16th march). Work is set as ‘homework’ using the calendar on class charts (start and due date). The start date should be the date your child has that class, this will reduce the ‘homework’ load viewed on the pupil portal for that date (resulting in five homeworks for the five lessons in a day). This should help ease the confusion previously with all the pupils work just display in one big list.
Our online platforms to enhance learning:
Hegarty Maths (pupils have all log in information with the original pack for all online platforms) – Pupils will be set specific tasks by the maths department if appropriate. If this is not the case, pupils can still work through the lists of assessments. All assessments have teaching videos to help pupils and instant assessment and feedback is given.
Tassomi.com Pupils learn through quizzes and short videos, using the mobile app or other online devices. Content is broken down into ‘bite sized’ chunks and tailored to each user, the intelligent algorithm works out what pupils know and where they need to focus their efforts.
Gcsepod.com full of pedagogical content knowledge for our pupils, GCSEPod makes it easy to learn and revise from wherever you are, on any device and is particularly suited to remote learning. The ability to build knowledge in sequence through its unique pods, enables retention and recall when it is most needed. Teach, assess, monitor, manage and engage with resources that puts evidence and progress at the heart of everything we do.
School and teacher communication
If you need to get in touch with school about any learning enquiry, you should email [email protected]. A member of the senior leadership team will endeavour to get back to you. If you are a pupil, you can email your teacher directly (during the hours of 9:00am and 2:00pm only) using your school email address only. All emails will be monitored by our senior leadership team, this is part of our safeguarding protocols.
Structure of the day
While there is not an enforced structure by us, it is important that pupils complete the set work for them each day. I have had a number of enquiries around exact times pupils should be working. I recommend sitting down with your child and coming up with a challenging yet realistic timetable. Routine is vital and it can be easy to slip out of a routine if it is not consistently monitored. I have given a template below but this is just a suggestion, please feel free to manage this based on your home situation.
Suggested routine
8:00 Breakfast, wash, teeth and get dressed
9:00 Physical activity to get the blood flowing to your brain (try the Joe Wicks workout)
9:30 English or maths work
10:30 Break, snack and drink (free time)
11:00 English or maths work
12:00 Lunch
12:30 Period 3 work allocation
1:30 Period 4 allocation
2:30 period 5 allocation
3:30 End of the school day
Free school meals
If you are entitled to a free school meal, they are available at the canteen carpark at the entrance next to the sport centre. The pickup time is 12:00pm – 1:00pm.
Easter holidays
We have to plan for every site to be open 5 days a week for the foreseeable future, this is inclusive of Bank Holidays and Good Friday. However, during the Easter holidays work will not be set for pupils. The Trust has an expectation that all pupils, either attending or not attending school, throughout our one week designated Easter Holidays will not be expected to have work set.
As we approach the weekend can I please ask that you and your families refrain from making any unnecessary trips out to the surrounding areas. Please adhere to the government guidelines, stay home and stay safe. I will keep you all in my prayers and I ask you to do the same for our key workers. The spirt and bravery of our community still amazes me every day and the only way to get through these difficult times is by working together.
God bless, St Patrick pray for us.
Yours Faithfully,
Mr M. Burns
Headteacher
Free School Meals: If your child is entitled to a free school meal can you phone (01642 613327) and let the school know if you would like one prepared. Meals (sandwiches one per student), are available to be collected from school between 12pm and 1pm each day from the back gate.
20th March 2020
Dear Parents and Carers,
Coronavirus update – School closure to most pupils
At this difficult time we want to thank you for your continued support and reassure you that, as a Catholic Trust, we are doing our utmost to support all of our children and families. As you will be aware, the government has instructed schools throughout the country to close the school to almost all children after this Friday until further notice. Over the coming days, the Trust phase 1 response plan will be rolled out and this initial phase will see all 26 school sites open to the students identified by Mr Williamson on Wednesday 18th March.
Government guidelines
As advised by the government, we will do all we can to stay open for the children of key workers and children with particular needs, however the government has asked parents to keep children at home wherever possible to minimise the spread of this virus. Their advice is that the safest place for your children is at home.
The government has defined the key workers and vulnerable students as follows:
Vulnerable children
Children who are supported by social care, those with safeguarding and welfare needs, including child in need plans, on child protection plans, ‘looked after’ children, young carers, disabled children and those with education, health and care (EHC) plans.
Key workers
- health and social care
- education and childcare
- key public services e.g. the justice system, charities
- local and national government
- food and other necessary goods e.g. those involved in food production, processing, distribution and sale
- public safety and national security
- transport
- utilities, communication and financial services
All other children will need to stay at home, so we ask that you do not send your child into school from Monday onwards Please note that this is a national closure – as you may have heard in the news – so while it is a challenging situation, we are not alone. We will re-open fully as soon as we are directed to do so by the Government.
Setting work
All schools within Nicholas Postgate Catholic Academy Trusty (NPCAT) have detailed plans in place to ensure that your child’s education is disrupted as little as possible while they are unable to attend their usual lessons.
Teachers will continue to set work and maintain communication with students through the school’s electronic platform. As a school, we are using the following means to set work and communicate with pupils.
Class charts
Work will be set for your child through classcharts on a daily basis, from subjects as their individual timetable states. Full instructions on how to access this and other resources have been provided in a previous letter and work should be completed in the provided exercise books, unless it is an online tool. Students should have an access code to enable them to log on to classcharts and the other resources, however we have sent these in the pack provided should they be required. Work set may be in the form of powerpoints that students should work through completing indicated tasks and/or worksheets to complete. In addition work may be set using online resources.
The online resources available to students are as outlined below:
- https://hegartymaths.com
- https://www.tassomai.com
- https://www.gcsepod.com
If there any issues accessing any of these resources or you have another query regarding the work please contact the school using the [email protected] and state the reason in the subject. Alternatively do not hesitate to contact the school via telephone on 01642 613327.
We will also provide printed work for those children who do not have access to the internet.
If your child usually receives free school meals we will also be in touch with more information about how we will continue to provide this, with support from a scheme that the government has just announced.
We understand that parents and pupils who were due to sit examinations this summer will be particularly concerned about the measures the Government has taken. We will update you when we have more information from the Department for Education about this.
Please continue to monitor our school website www.stpatricks.npcat.org.uk, where we will be posting regular updates. You as parents please be assured that we will provide weekly telephone communication and a dedicated teacher will be in touch with you in addition to the online learning resources and distance learning being delivered by your school.
The coronavirus outbreak is an unprecedented situation that is affecting so many aspects of our everyday lives and we know that closing the school will cause considerable difficulties. Please be assured that we are doing everything we can to assist you and your family. Our thoughts and prayers are with you and your family during this difficult time.
Yours faithfully,
Mr M. Burns
Although school will be open for key worker children, most of our students will be working from home. This information should give you guidance as to how we can keep your children safe whilst School is closed.
Dear Parents/Carers,
As you will be aware, the government announced yesterday that at the end of Friday 20th March, schools will close, except for looking after vulnerable children and children of key workers. As we receive further clarification regarding this we will of course update you however, we wanted to keep you all informed of how we will be setting work from Monday.
All students at school have been provided with two exercise books and during this week we have worked with students to ensure they have access to five key online resources that staff will use. All passwords and codes have been issued to pupils individually. If your child has not received these resources or information, the school will contact you to ensure your child has access to the relevant resources and receives the exercise books.
If you have any general enquiries or need to contact a particular member of staff email will be the most effective way to communicate with the school. Please use [email protected] stating in the subject line which member of staff you are trying to contact. Staff will also use the school text service to contact parents as needed so you can also reply to texts that you receive.
Plan for staff setting work
Work will be set for your child through classcharts on a daily basis. Full instructions and resources will be provided and work should be completed in the provided exercise books, unless it is an online tool. Students should have an access code to enable them to log on to classcharts. If they do not have this code please contact the school using the [email protected] email placing classcharts in the subject line.
How to log in to classcharts, https://www.classcharts.com/ using provided code.
Work set may be in the form of powerpoints that students should work through completing indicated tasks and/or worksheets to complete. In addition work may be set using online resources.
Online resources that may be used
Hegarty Maths, https://hegartymaths.com/ is a resource that all students are already familiar with. It provides videos explaining how to solve Maths problems and questions for students to complete, which are then marked, and feedback is provided. Students can complete tasks set by staff but can also access other topics to work on.
If your child has forgotten their password, please contact the school using the [email protected] email placing Hegarty maths in the subject line.
Tassomai, https://www.tassomai.com/ for Science is a resource that all students are already familiar with. Students should aim to complete four daily goals and a bonus goal 4 times a week, this is in addition to work that Science staff will set using classcharts. If your child has forgotten their log in details, they can create a new account using the access code
GHKTRSIJ
GCSEpod , https://www.gcsepod.com/ – this resource covers many of the subjects that we teach. It is aimed at KS4 students but is a useful resource for all students. This resource provides videos about key content and staff can set assignments for students to complete. Staff can then monitor completion and provide feedback. For students who have not previously created an account follow these instructions to create an account.
If your child has accessed this resource previously but has forgotten their login details, check if they have used the app on their phone. Are their login details stored on their phone? If they are unable to access their account, they should contact the school using the [email protected] email placing GCSEpod in the subject line.
As a school, our main aim during this unprecedented time is to ensure the health, safety of our pupils and staff and to do everything we possibly can in the event of a closure to ensure pupils, and staff are able to work from home.
Yours Faithfully,
Mr M. Burns
Headteacher
16th March 2020
Dear Parent/Carers,
I am writing to update you on the current situation regarding COVID-19 as it applies to St Patrick’s Catholic College. We continue to follow Public Health England advice closely and receive regular updates from the Department of Education. This includes very specific advice for educational settings based on a variety of scenarios.
Currently at school it is business as usual, however, we are encouraging pupils and staff to follow the personal hygiene advice promoted by the Public Health England. We have placed the relevant poster in prominent positions around the school.
As you will be aware, there has been some discussion by the government, which has been reported in the media, about the potential for widespread school closures. I hope this possibility is remote but it would be unwise for us not to prepare for such an eventuality. Therefore, staff are currently collating work and uploading online resources for all year groups. This will ensure pupils can continue to work from home should this be necessary. Pupils will be receiving information and login details so they can access resources as appropriate.
In addition, we have been carrying out audits to ascertain access to the internet and devices at home. For those who do not have such resources we will ensure paper-based resources are available. We will use our school website and social media accounts to keep pupils and parents updated should there be any change to the guidance we receive so please check this regularly.
As you will appreciate it is difficult to predict what will happen moving forward, but we are taking steps to plan for future eventualities. I know you will be monitoring your own and your child’s health and, whilst trying to avoid an over-reaction, we ask that you follow advice from NHS 111 and Public Health England.
As a school, our main aim during this unprecedented time is to ensure the health and safety of our Pupils and staff and do everything we possibly can in the event of a closure to ensure that pupils and staff are able to work from home.
Yours faithfully
Mr M. Burns
