UPDATE: We are now closed under the national lockdown. See latest post.
Following the update from the Department for Education yesterday, we have made changes to the start of the new school term.
Our spring term will begin at home for all students with Remote Learning from Tuesday 5 January. Students in Years 11 and 13 only will return in the week commencing Monday 11 January (exact date to be confirmed next week). All other year groups will return on Monday 18 January. This will enable us to run a (voluntary) testing programme for all students returning to school, and give us the safest possible start to the new year at school.
Children of critical workers and our most vulnerable children can attend from Tuesday 5 January. Please register if you require this, if you have not already done so.
We will be running a programme of remote learning and live lessons during the closure, so we hope to minimise the impact on students’ education. Please read the details of this below carefully to ensure that your child can access it.
We appreciate the difficulty presented to many parents by this late change, however, the timing of the government announcements and the practical requirements of the testing programme make it unavoidable.
Remote Learning Programme
Our programme for remote learning for the period of Tuesday 5 January until Friday 15 January will be as follows:
Years 7 to 9 – live lessons will run in all subjects except PE, Technology, Art and Music
Years 10 to 13 – live lessons will run in all examined subjects
These lessons will last approximately 50 minutes each and will follow your child’s normal school timetable, however the lesson times may change - please see below for details.
We will email parents information on how to access live lessons via Microsoft Teams. Please look out for that email.
All students will need to be able to access their school email account. If your child has forgotten their login or password please email helpdesk@rvhschool.co.uk for support on Monday 4 January.
For any student who does not have access to a smart device (eg. phone, tablet or laptop) or who has issues accessing a wi-fi connection please email the following members of staff for support:
Years 7 to 9 : Mr Grimes – m.grimes@rvhschool.co.uk
Years 10 to 11 : Mr Virot – l.virot@rvhschool.co.uk
Years 12 to 13 : Mrs Brenchley – r.brenchley@rvhschool.co.uk
For the next two weeks all students will follow the same school day timing, this will reduce the requirement for any split lessons.
Remote learning timetable
(These are the updated times from 1 February)
| Start | Finish | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Period 1 | 9.15am | 10.05am | |
| Break | 10.05am | 10.15am | 10 minutes |
| Period 2 | 10.15am | 11.05am | |
| Break | 11.05am | 11.45am | 40 minutes |
| Period 3 | 11.45am | 12.35pm | |
| Lunch | 12.35pm | 1.25pm | 50 minutes |
| Period 4 | 1.25pm | 2.15pm | |
| Break | 2.15pm | 2.25pm | 10 minutes |
| Period 5 | 2.25pm | 3.15pm |
Where a member of staff is absent or unavailable, students will be informed via email and appropriate work set by the Head of Department.
If a live lesson is not running students will be set work via the home learning grid and staff will email students at the start of the lesson to confirm the work set and any arrangements for submitting the work.
Attendance registers will be taken for all live lessons so please could we ask you to support the school in ensuring your child’s attendance at all lessons as well as ensuring they complete and submit any work set from the home learning grid.
If your child is due to take an exam in the next two weeks the Head of Department will email to confirm the arrangements for the exam, including any additional revision sessions where appropriate. All exams will be continuing as previously scheduled.
Critical Worker and Vulnerable Student Provision
If you work in one of the identified critical worker areas, then we will be able to offer your child(ren) a place in our provision for the first two weeks of term.
Students will work in a designated area and complete the same work as students working remotely from home. Additional support will be available for students who have additional needs.
If you have not yet completed the form and would now like to apply for a place in this provision, please complete the link below. If you have any questions regarding this provision, please email a.mitchell@rvhschool.co.uk.
Rapid Flow Testing
The government has announced this delay to the start of term to implement rapid flow testing for all and has now issued new guidance to schools regarding the rollout. This is expected to start the week commencing 11 January and we will email parents with more details next week.
Following the initial mass testing of students, it is proposed that students who are identified as a close contact of a positive case in school will be offered daily rapid tests, which will remove their requirement to self-isolate for 10 days. Any student identified as a close contact and who does not wish to take part in testing will be required to self-isolate and follow our remote learning provision.
The tests are voluntary, and are self-administered by students as a nasal swab. Please make sure you let us know whether you consent to your child(ren) taking part in the rapid flow tests by completing our form. Many of you have already done so - thank you.
As school is now closed for the Christmas holidays, please again be aware that a response to any emails will be delayed until we open for our INSET day on Monday 4 January.
Thank you for your ongoing support. We wish you all a Happy New Year.