Dear Parents, Guardians and Friends
It is week 9 of Holt@home and we are excited to welcome Year 10 and 12 students on site next week.
Here is an update of things going on in the next couple of weeks
Year 12
- Mock exams next week – students have been revising for the last six weeks alongside coping with remote learning and they have showed great endurance in dealing with the current situation. The exam protocols will be sent out again on Friday as a reminder. We are proud of our Year 12 for their dedication and we wish them well for next week!
- Face to face lessons begin the week beginning 22 June, where students will be in for a two hour lesson per subject per day. This is in addition to live video lessons and remote lessons. Timetables have been emailed to students.
Year 10
- Year 10 will be in school from Monday for face-to-face lessons for their option subjects and will have ‘live’ video lessons for their core subjects and MFL. The year group has been organised into ‘bubbles’ by option choices to minimise community transmission of the virus.
- Timetables for the face-to-face lesson and ‘live’ core lessons went out to students on Tuesday. These lessons will supplement the remote learning that makes up most of the lessons for each subject.
Please can parents go through the information in the handbook with their son/daughter before they return to school next week to ensure they understand the protective measures put in place and expectations whilst on-site? https://www.holtschool.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/Letters_and_Announcements/Partial%20Re-opening%20Handbook%20June%202020%20-SLT.pdf
We will upload our partial reopening risk assessment at the end of the week on to the website.
Year 7-9
Our younger students are coping amazingly well and mostly seem to be in good routine with their home study.
- Staff will be setting daily lessons as per timetable but from next week teachers will be setting work in the morning or the afternoon/evening before as teachers are now on site teaching Year 10 and 12 when they would have had a lesson with your daughter.
- Teachers are working hard to offer some variety in the remote lessons and we are encouraging more audio lessons and ppts with voiceovers.
- Teachers have marked and given feedback on the assessments. The running of the assessments went very smoothly so thank you to parents, students and teachers for taking them seriously. Teachers have said they were definitely worthwhile and you will receive end of term reviews in July.
Registrations
- All tutors from Year 7-10 are delivering ‘live’ audio TEAMS registration sessions every week. it is a good chance for half of the tutor group to engage with each other and to discuss the topic of the week.
Tutor calls
- Tutors from all year groups are calling their tutees over the next two to three weeks….the number will come up as ‘No Caller ID’. Year 11 and 13 tutors will also check in with their tutees and chat through plans for next year.
House System
- Congratulations to all the Year 10 students who were successful in their applications and interviews just before half term.
- The Heads of Houses met this week and have a few plans to involve students from home in House activities, as are some departments. Houses have been set up on TEAMS so please encourage your daughter to contribute to the ‘chat’, which is being led by Year 12 and 10 House prefects. They are chatting to themselves right now and would love to engage with more students! The current competition is called ‘Up and Running’ and information is posted on the House Teams chat.
Trips
- We are working hard to secure refunds but it is a long process as travel and insurance companies find themselves in precarious situations. We cannot refund monies from government grant income so we have to wait for payments from the insurance companies. Thank you to everyone who expecting a refund for their patience – we are working on it and will keep you updated.
Mrs Pearce and I are really looking forward to having some staff and students in school for the next five weeks. We will start to think about September now……….that will be for another weekly update!
If you have any queries or thoughts please contact us at homestudy@holt.wokingham.sch.uk
Take care everyone and keep washing your hands frequently with soap and hot water for at least 20 seconds
Thanks
Anne Kennedy
Co-Headteacher