COVID Update Communication Hamilton

***Updates since communication was sent on 21st December***

22/12 New content - S1 Parents Evening information updated. Details in letter below

22/12 correction - S4 Prelim date corrected - Details in letter below

Dear Parents

Following the Government announcement on Saturday we have the following updates. The information we have at this time from the Government and/or Education Scotland is very limited, so please be aware that there may be further changes across the holiday period and as we progress into January 2021.

Remote Teaching

All pupils (J1-S6) will revert to remote teaching from Wednesday 6th January 2021 until Friday 15th January at the earliest.

Junior School Remote Learning

Teachers will operate a timetable that focuses on Literacy and Numeracy, similar to the remote learning timetable we had in place earlier this year. Pupils will receive invitations to join online meetings through their Office 365 account. Work will continue to be set online as usually done for Homework. If you have any IT problems, please contact [email protected].

Class teachers will be online for specific periods throughout the school day which will be communicated at a later date. Emails or messages on Teams will be responded to across the usual 24 hour period, out with normal school hours and weekends.

Senior School Remote Learning.

Pupils are expected to login and register by 10am each morning on the Senior School Team. Pupils are encouraged to do some physical exercise between 0930 – 1000 to prepare them ready for the day ahead. Ideas for this will be posted on the same Team each morning.

All staff and pupils will be engaged in online learning similar to the provision earlier in the year. You can access when teachers will be available online here.

Week beginning 6 – 8 January 2021 - As S4 – S6 will have prelim exams when the school physically re-opens, we have revision sessions planned for that week. At these times, teachers will be available online to answer pupil questions or to lead a live revision lesson. If pupils can please stick to their option columns this means that there should be no clashes to sessions. For example, the Wednesday morning session is for Higher English Set 1, 2 or 3 whereas the session on Thursday afternoon is for English Set 4 with Mr Mitchell.

For S1-S3, work will be posted online by teachers and they will be available on the team posts or on email for pupils to ask questions and receive feedback.

Week beginning 11 January - Online revision sessions will continue for S4-6. For S1- S3, work will continue to be posted and we have also allocated times for pupils to speak to teachers online should they wish. These are optional sessions to check in with staff and to ask any questions about the online work that will be posted. Do not worry if you cannot make these “live” times. Teachers will respond to questions on the posts too or by email during the school day.

In the event that the Government extend this period of lockdown into another week, we will repeat the timetable as for week beginning 11. We hope this is not the case and that we are able to go back to teaching pupils face to face very soon.

Please do not hesitate to contact us during this period of online learning. Staff will reply to emails during school hours as normal.

Guidance & Wellbeing

If any pupil is struggling please let us know. Mrs Hewitt and Mrs Clark-Hewitt (Guidance)are available to work with pupils and to check in with them to support their learning.

Mental Health and Wellbeing resources are on the Senior School Team too for pupils to refer to if required.

Prelim Exams

These will now run from Monday 25 January to 4 February for S5 and S6 pupils and for S4 pupils they will be Friday 29 January to Friday 5 Feb and then 15 February to 19 February (post the February break). Precise exam times on the original timetable will stand, just the weeks will change. Pupils will be issued with a new version when they return to school in January.

Nursery

At this time there has been no specific direction on Nursery provision. We will update parents as soon as details are provided. If the Nursery is to remain closed, fees will be refunded / credited to your account as appropriate.

Parents Evening – S1

Following on from the First Minister’s announcement at the weekend regarding the delayed return to school premises in January, I wish to inform you of a change of date for the forthcoming S1 Parents’ Evening. The event was due to take place on Thursday 7 January 2021 and will now commence on Thursday 28 January 2021 between 5.00pm and 7.00pm.

Key-worker Supervision

As in the previous school lockdown, we will be providing supervision for pupils whose parents are key workers. If this facility is required please e-mail [email protected] as soon as possible to allow for staffing to be put in place with details as regards days that this would be required.

Costs and Tuition Fees

There will be a credit to all accounts for lunches and bus costs for the days where there is remote teaching. Assuming that remote teaching is a short-term measure we are not proposing a reduction in tuition fees at this time. However, this will be reviewed once we have clarity as to the length of time remote teaching will be required.

SQA has confirmed that despite individual schools having to set their own exam papers, mark, assess and invigilate, full SQA fees will still apply. We will of course be appealing this decision.

We appreciate that there is a lot of information contained in this communication. Please let us know if you have any questions or concerns. Clearly, from a Government perspective, things are changing all the time and we will we updating you as the situation develops as we go through the holiday period and into early January.

Best wishes

Senior Leadership Team