Academy update on Closure and Examinations

The government has taken the decision to close schools across England from Friday 20th March. In accordance with this our school will close at 2.55pm on Friday.

In a written statement on Wednesday 18th March the Secretary of State for Education, Gavin Williamson, has said: “We will not go ahead with primary school assessments or secondary exams this summer…We will work with the sector and Ofqual to ensure children get the qualifications they need.”

However, it is important that Year 11 and 13 pupils continue with their studies during this time. Work will be uploaded to Show My Homework and pupils will be expected to submit work regularly for assessment. We do not yet know how pupils will be formally assessed, but the work produced during this time will contribute to their final outcome. Pupils may be assessed at a later date and they must be prepared for this, so revision and coursework should be completed as normal. It will be important for you to ensure your child maintains their normal academic routine as much as possible; this will be beneficial not only for their academic prospects, but also for their general wellbeing. If your child has questions about post-16 or university places, they should contact the individual institution directly.

This will clearly impact on Y11 and Y13 pupils and we will update you as soon as further government advice is received.

All pupils in all years should be working and we will continue to upload work via Show My Homework. Any pupil unable to access the online material should contact their Head of Year by email and arrange to collect the relevant workbooks as soon as possible.

From next week, schools in England will be expected to play a new role in the support of vulnerable learners and key workers. This will involve the Academy remaining open for some pupils. We will directly contact families of pupils who we expect to be in schools in the first group and a survey for key worker completion will be issued shortly, details to follow.

For those that have contacted the Academy about free school meal entitlement, we will update you as soon as we have further news about how this will operate.

My thanks to all parents and pupils for their patience and calmness during these challenging times. Our thoughts are with all of you in our community.

Please be aware that this is a fast-evolving situation and we will continue to update any new advice on this website. Please do contact the school if you have any specific queries that aren’t addressed elsewhere.