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Posted on January 15th 2021
Head of Academy's Weekly Mailing- 15th January 2021
Dear Parents/Carers
As we draw the first full week of the Spring Term to a close, I wanted to make sure that I continue to keep you all informed with the many changes that are being made by Government, so quickly that it is sometimes difficult to keep up! As always, I will do my best to give you the key headlines with the Harris Garrard response so, as a community, we know what our response is and how we are continuing to support students as best we can.
COVID-19 Testing
I wrote to you all this week to detail the work we have done since the 4th January in order to get our testing centre set up at the Academy, and what you and our students can expect when we get to the time when we can return to the Academy. A heroic effort at the Academy saw one of our science labs converted into a clean testing area in less than 48 hours. The testing centre is now fully operational, and we are testing staff weekly. It is important to note that testing will not be compulsory, but I would encourage taking part to make the Academy as safe as possible for all students. If you are a secondary family and have not done so already, please complete the consent form by following the link; https://forms.office.com/Pages/ResponsePage.aspx?id=iSUtagbWmk-rU04hqmtEXlbPrfuZqoJGk9N_LXGoENdUQTBEUkg2N001T01MQ09DWFkyMDhZQ0VMNy4u
Summer Exams
I hosted a Year 11 assembly this week with Mr Munday and will be doing the same for the Sixth Form with Mr Whibley next week detailing our response to the Government announcement that full GCSE, AS and A – Level exams will be cancelled. We are not yet clear on exactly what will happen instead other than;
- Teachers will be asked to submit grades for students
- Ofqual and the Department for Education have opened a consultation to ensure a fair and just process.
The key message from HGA is that we will need as much evidence as we can, in order to give students a fair grade of their performance over the last two, very different, school years. Students must continue to engage fully in their learning ensuring they are attending their remote lessons so that they are taking every opportunity to show their teachers what they are capable of, so that we can allocate an outcome.
Remote Learning
As we have moved to a period of school closure once again, we have moved our timetables into the virtual world. I would like to extend a massive thank you to families across the HGA community for your continued support in getting students online and engaging and learning in their Live Lessons.
All lessons are conducted through Microsoft Teams which can be downloaded for free from the following website;
https://www.microsoft.com/en-gb/microsoft-teams/group-chat-software
If you find there are any issues with the online learning provision, or you are struggling to get online please do not hesitate to contact us at the Academy.
Free School Meals
Like me, I know many of you have been outraged by the images of the poor quality of free school meal provision across the country this week. This is a key area of support for families and one that I take very seriously.
I want to assure all families that, together with the Harris Federation, swift action has been taken and we will be moving to a voucher scheme from next week.
If you have any questions about the scheme or if you would like to apply for free school meals, please contact us at the Academy for a confidential discussion on how we can support.
Please continue to stay safe in what are challenging times. As an Academy we are here for you and as the HGA community we will stand strongest together. Please contact us at info@harrisgarrard.org.uk or on 0208 320 4800 if you feel we can help in any way.
Yours faithfully
Steve West
Head of Academy
