Dear Parents / Carers
I hope you and your families are safe and well, and that despite these strange times, you managed to enjoy the Easter break and especially the fantastic weather. I would like to thank our brilliant Alsager staff who have all continued to work over the Easter holiday in one form or another; be that supervising the children of key workers who came into school, contacting homes to check on vulnerable youngsters, working on and implementing the national free school meal vouchers scheme, helping source and provide PPE equipment for the NHS and of course all the work that is being done behind the scenes on calculating predicted grades for years 11 and 13. Can I once again, please remind parents / carers and students in years 11 and 13 not to contact staff about these predicted grades.
I know that everyone in the country is going through different experiences during this ‘lockdown’, depending upon the particular circumstances you and your family are in. My thoughts are with those families and individuals who have lost loved ones during this time (and there are several), other people are worried about elderly or sick family members, many people are very concerned about their livelihoods and have real financial worries, some families are enjoying some real quality time together and others are finding this whole experience of trying to restrict and yet entertain teenagers very difficult indeed. Whatever, your circumstances, as a school we are here for you and will help in any way that we can. Please feel free to contact us at any time with any concerns you might have, it is always best to go through your child’s Head of College or for 6th form students through Mrs Rowlands or Mrs Pass. Please keep checking our website, as we constantly update this any useful sources of support for parents / carers and students.
Today marks the start of the summer term and so your son / daughter will once again be receiving work from their class teachers for that day every morning. This applies to pupils in years 7 – 10 and year 12. There are new arrangements in place for years 11 and 13. As from today, there will be a fortnightly 6th From newsletter going to all current year 11, 12 and 13 students. This will contain work, activities and specific information for current years 11 – 13. It will be e mailed home every fortnight as well as being on the school website. It will help students enormously in terms of both post 16 and post 18 progression, containing invaluable information for all students from year 11 upwards, regardless of their plans. It does not matter if they are intending to come to Alsager 6th Form, go to a local college, go to university, or go onto an apprenticeship or employment.
In terms of other updates and news from central government regarding schools;
Despite what you might have read or heard in the media over recent days, I can assure you there are currently no dates set or a timetable in place for when schools will re-open or how that will be managed. As soon as we are given any details regarding this we will let you know.
The government have confirmed that A level results will be awarded on 13/8/20 and GCSE results on 20/8/20.
Years 11 & 13 – the DfE have also confirmed that all technical and vocational qualifications (eg. BTECs, Cambridge Technical Awards, Functional Skills etc) will be awarded using a calculated approach in the same way as for GCSEs and A levels. Again, further details will be made available to schools shortly, as each qualification is assessed slightly different.
·Year 10 GCSE RE – there has still been no decision made by the government about early entry GCSEs in 2020.
The national Free School Meals voucher scheme is now up and running, despite some initial teething issues. If your child / children are eligible for free school meals and have any concerns or issues with this scheme, please contact your Head of College or the 6th form team.
You might have seen some headlines in the press about additional laptops being made available to schools and those youngsters who do not have IT access. We don’t have any details about this as yet but when we do we will be in touch. If in the meantime, if your son / daughter is struggling access work please contact their Head of College or the 6th Form team and alternative arrangements can be made.
Many thanks for your continued support.
With best wishes to you and your families
Richard Middlebrook
