Please read the information released by OFQUAL regarding GCSE and A Level grade awards.

Dear parents, carers and pupils,

Please find below the guidance we have just received from OFQUAL.

Please read through it so that you have an understanding of how this years grades are going to be calculated.

If you have any questions please feel free to contact the school directly.

We will be in touch when we have digested this and have a working model of how we will implement it.

Yours sincerely

James Gibson

Headteacher 

Letter to students

Full guidance

Please read the letter below for further updates regarding our educational provision in the upcoming weeks

We have dedicated our main page to give you up-to-date information regarding educational provision at Becton. Further information including the DfE and Sheffield Local Authority guidance can be found in our News section

Dear Parents and Carers,

Sorry for yet another communication, I am hoping that this one is the last for a day or two but I cannot promise anything at the moment. The purpose of this message four fold, firstly to try and make clear what the government and local authority are asking us to provide over the coming months. Secondly it is to give more specific guidance about how we intend to provide education for pupils who are not at school. Thirdly to update you with what is happening to support those pupils who would qualify for free school meals and lastly to pass on all the information that we have about the cancellation of exams and what is happening instead.

The closure of schools

Gavin Williamson, the Education Secretary has said that from the end of school today all schools will close indefinitely except to pupils who have a parent that is a Key Worker and to pupils considered Vulnerable. Just before midnight last night the Government issued two sets of advice about the closures and the ongoing offer for vulnerable children and key workers’ children. One is for professionals which can be seen here:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-maintaining-educational-provision/guidance-for-schools-colleges-and-local-authorities-on-maintaining-educational-provision

And one for parents which is here:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/closure-of-educational-settings-information-for-parents-and-carers/closure-of-educational-settings-information-for-parents-and-carers

I feel that it is important to state that the overarching principle is that if possible pupils should be kept home. This is to help stop the spread of Covid-19, protect the pupils themselves, protect parents and carers, the wider community, the staff in school and their families.  

As such, you should have had a call from us asking about your occupation and your requirement for education and I would like to stress we will be open for pupils who need us and to support those key workers helping to battle this disease. Our aim is to be able to keep this offer over Easter and the coming weeks/months as required.

Education offer for those not attending school

In anticipation of the impact on education of the Covid-19 pandemic, we have been developing a range of Remote Learning resources on our website. If you access www.becton.sheffield.sch.uk you can find  work that has been created by the teachers at Becton.

The work is first organised by site; Becton, Kenwood, Moncrieffe and SCH and then by class. We have also included links and videos that you can use to support your child with their mental health and wellbeing. We will be constantly adding work to these folders so please keep checking them for updates.

We have created a Becton email address for all young people. If your child has been attending the centre then they will have these details, if not then we will be calling to pass on the address. The email is very secure and cannot be used to email people outside of the organisation. We are also able to monitor emails that have been sent if necessary. This will be the main way that your child can contact their teacher and send and receive work.

In addition to this we will be offering Online Lessons through a program called Adobe Connect. These are very secure and will allow your child to access lessons and interact via a microphone or Instant Messenger. To access these lessons, you will need a laptop, desk-top computer, Ipad/tablet or a smart phone. You can download the Adobe Connect programme or an app for free. You can access the program through a web browser (Google Chrome or Opera work best) but it works best when using the app or dedicated program. Please note that this is very experimental technology for us so please bear with us and be patient. We will be starting slowly with the lessons next week and building them up as the pupils get more used to the platform.

On our Remote Learning page are 2 infographics. They will be tweeted @SchoolBecton and our Instagram @bectonschool One is for parents and carers, one is for the children. They explain all about what we are providing in more detail.

If you have any further queries about any of this information, please contact our Deputy Headteacher Mel Kilner (mel@becton.sheffield.sch.uk) and she will get back to you as soon as she can.

Free School Meals

As you may be aware, it is becoming increasingly difficult to provide a hot meal for those children who are eligible for free school meals. This is further compounded when we do not know, from day-to-day, which children will be attending and which will be self-isolating. To help ensure that we are supporting these children we have organised that the carers of children who are eligible for a free school meal to receive a weekly e-voucher by following the guidance attached in this letter. You can then choose whether you use it to make a packed lunch that your child can bring to school or make lunch for them at home if you are self-isolating. This will happen for all children who are fully on our role. For those children who are dual registered with another school, you should contact your child's main school.

Exams

At the time of writing I have still had no update on how the KS2 SATS, GCSE’s and A Levels will be calculated. As soon as I have this information I will pass it on and endeavour to provide more details about how it will work in our setting.

These are very testing times for all of us and I would like to thank you for the support that you have shown us as a school and I would also like you to pass on my thanks to your children who are coping with this situation in an incredibly mature and positive manner. If any of them or yourselves have any further questions, please do not hesitate to get in touch.

Yours sincerely

James Gibson