Dear Parent/ Carer,
Once again, thank you all for your incredible support in the opening weeks of the Spring Term, it has been appreciated by us all as a team of staff. I hope you are all well and that your children continue to feel well supported by us.
As you know, in line with all Alternative Provision schools in the city, we remain physically open to all children of keyworkers and students classed as “vulnerable”, hours for this provision are our normal school hours of 9.15am-3.15pm Monday-Thursday and 9.15am-2pm on Friday with breakfast, break and lunch provided free of charge to all students as normal. We also remain open for new admissions from partner schools and baseline testing for students about to start with us.
Students attending our in-school provision have been a credit to us, but I would also like to thank students choosing to work from home at present for the commitment they have shown in embracing our “blended learning” programme. A reminder that the curriculum being followed by students at home is closely aligned to that being followed in school and consists of:
- The physical differentiated work packs for every subject we have delivered to all homes.
- Daily online You Tube lessons in every subject area.
- Access to a range of digital learning platforms featured on the “Home Learning” section of our website at: https://www.theedgeacademy.co.uk/learning-at-home/
- Continued access to personalised timetables where bespoke arrangements such as online music lessons have been put in place.
We have taken great care to ensure that this offer meets the needs of our students and the recommendations from the Department for Education’s guidance but if you have any questions or concerns at all regarding Teaching and Learning, please contact our Assistant Principal Claire Fairburn either by telephone or e-mail at [email protected]
Next week, we will again be visiting homes of all of our students with updated physical work packs; I would be grateful if you could ensure that all completed physical work from the first pack is ready for our staff to collect so that this can be marked. We continue to use a range of assessment methods to ensure that meaningful feedback is given to students working from home and we have appreciated the messages, pictures and electronic work you have been sending in to us so far. Don’t forget that the direct work e-mail addresses of every single subject teacher are fully listed at: https://www.theedgeacademy.co.uk/learning-at-home/ for any queries you may have and for any electronic work your child needs to submit.
Safety continues to be a top priority in all areas of our work and I am pleased to update that our Coronavirus “lateral flow” testing programme has started successfully in the last fortnight and is being quickly scaled up. All staff are now being tested on a weekly basis and the number of students attending school being tested has doubled this week. It is important that all parents/carers return the stamped addressed envelope we have delivered to homes to us with the completed consent from enclosed so that we can further expand our testing programme. An electronic copy of the form is available at: https://www.theedgeacademy.co.uk/coronavirus-lateral-flow-testing-documentation/ should you need one.
Our pastoral and safeguarding support remain as robust as ever; if there are any issues we can help with, including any around IT access, let us know. If your child is in receipt of Free School Meals and you have any questions about the government’s voucher scheme which has now been launched, please contact our Assistant Principal Charlotte Poynton at [email protected].
Finally, I would like to give you advance notice of two online events we are running in the coming weeks, one of which is our first ever “Virtual Parents’ Evening” on Thursday February 11th between 4-6pm. We will be contacting you imminently to confirm an active email address in order for a secure virtual meeting link to be sent out which will allow a short progress meeting with your child’s form tutor. We are of course happy to discuss the most suitable appointment slots between 4pm and 6pm to suit individual families.
In addition, we are running an online Cookery Masterclass on our YouTube channel on Thursday January 28th at 5pm. We will be showing the community how to make the perfect “Spaghetti Bolognese” and for any students who would like to cook along, we are happy to deliver the ingredients to homes free of charge to those who request them!
As always, please also feel free to contact me directly at [email protected] if there are any further questions I can assist with in any way regarding this letter.
Yours faithfully,
Andrew Wakefield
Principal