Newsletter 8 th January 2021

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1 Newsletter 8 th January 2021 Message from Mrs Reeves, Headteacher. Dear Parent/Carer Good afternoon and HAPPY NEW YEAR - what a week!!! Thank you for supporting fantastic attendance to on line lessons so far; I am so proud of the way in which our whole community has reacted so quickly and efficiently to this situation. At school we are responding to the ongoing guidance regarding on line and key worker provision, changes to examinations and testing! In our first week we have all lessons up and running, laptops out to families, whilst providing on site provision to some pupils. We have our testing station up and running and have conducted 75 tests, next week we will start testing pupils who are receiving their lessons on site. May I remind parents that from MONDAY we revert to the usual school days times. If you are a year 7 parent these will be new to you, they are attached for your reference. I am very proud of my staff team who have and continue to show flexibility and resilience throughout this chapter. I am very keen to receive feedback from parents and thank you to those who have provided some of this already. As this situation continues over the next few weeks I am very mindful of the amount of screen time for adults and pupils during the day; we will continue to refine our offer and be creative in our approach to ensure that your child s learning experiences are as rewarding as they can be during this time. Thank goodness it is the weekend, we have come so far since the announcement just 4 days ago. Stay safe and the warmest regards,

2 Helen Reeves Live Lesson times The School Day From Monday next week 11 January, we will revert to our normal school day from before this pandemic. Cycle 2 Week 7 Assessments Please check out the attached schedule of assessments which will be taking place next week. It is very important that your child logs into these lessons on time so that they complete the assessments to the best of their ability. Lower School From Mr Spicer (Head of Lower School) 2 P a g e Dear Lower School,

3 Can I firstly say a Happy New Year to you all and hope that you enjoyed the two week break. It feels like 2020 hasn t quite disappeared as we find ourselves back in lockdown however, we are now in a very different place and the online live lessons that I have witnessed this week have been amazing and show how engaged you are in your subjects and learning. Staff have been working tirelessly to ensure that the provision you are provided with is of the highest quality and I can certainly see that this is the case both in terms of the lesson content and the work you have been producing in these early stages. I encourage you all now to embed your new routine, school will continue as normal and as we return to everyone having 2 lessons, break, 2 lessons lunch and then your final lesson of the day (except on Monday s), routine is key. During this the well-being teams will be keeping in touch with you all, this could be a simple how are you getting on, help in developing a routine or recognising your fantastic effort and engagement with your work. Even though you are not in the building recognition and attendance is as important to us as ever. Postcards will still be arriving, either virtually or via the post, recognition points will still be being awarded by staff and we are still going to be celebrating this and attendance across all year groups both on a daily and weekly basis culminating in a weekly 10 minute live assembly that you will all be invited to through teams. Maintain your resilience, treat others with kindness and care and we will all be stronger when we return to school. Take care, stay safe From Ms Kassim (Head of Yr7) Happy New Year and I hope you all have had a lovely break. We welcome in 2021 with another Lockdown. I hope that you all now are feeling a lot more confident working remotely, as staff have worked extremely hard over the past week to make sure that everyone is up and running. I am so impressed with the engagement and the quality of the work that is taking place. I know some of you have struggled, but staff are making daily called to pupils who haven't to log into lesson to try and support you. The year 7 hub will be keeping in touch with regular weekly wellbeing calls. We hope to still keep up with recognition points and weekly star pupils and a few challenges that you can take part in. This will all be shared during our weekly assembly. For now keep up the amazing work and stay safe. From Mrs Coyles (Head of Yr8) and the Year 8 Team 3 P a g e

4 Year 8 have had a brilliant start to 2021 with adjusting to online learning, and we are very proud of them for their engagement in all lessons. From school, it has been great to see pupils doing active PE, practical DT activities, maths equations, and a whole range of other work. From next week, all families will be receiving weekly phone calls from the Wellbeing Hub staff team Mr Clarke, Ms Jones, Ms Barnes, Miss Pemberton and myself to check in with you, answer any questions about your lessons and make sure you are well. We will also be contacting you via Gmail with fun activities, challenges, quizzes and other information. I m really looking forward to our assemblies, which will be on Teams every Thursday at 2.35pm. During assembly we will focus on recognition, wellbeing and fun, so that will be great opportunity for all of us to be together every week. From Miss Dunleavy (Head of year 9 ) Hi Year 9 Happy New Year and a massive well done for the way you have adjusted to your first week of home learning. The feedback we have received from your teachers has been amazing and highlights how well you have been engaging in your online lessons. Please keep checking your frog mail as our wellbeing hub will be keeping in touch with you and sending you some daily challenges, so keep your eyes peeled! We are only ever an away so please either myself, Mr Kew, Ms Codling or Mr Mohammed if you have any problems at all or just need a chat. Stay positive Upper School From Mr Barlow (Head of Upper School) So here we are again! I want to start by thanking all pupils and parents for working so hard to keep going and support our online lessons. I am in no doubt how hard it is to sit in front of a screen and remain motivated but your efforts will be rewarded and it is so important to not miss out during this vital stage of your education. Should pupils have any issues or concerns they should not hesitate to Gmail their head of year and the relevant support will be offered. 4 P a g e

5 The attendance to live lessons has been fantastic! Make sure you keep organised, submit the work that is required on time and keep all other work and notes ready for your return. Have a restful and safe weekend! Miss Doras (Assistant Head of Upper School) Dear Year 11, The past week has been a lot to process as we have all been faced with another change to our lives. Here at school, your education is still our primary focus and so as teachers and pastoral staff we have been ing and calling you to ensure that you have as much support as we can offer. In terms of your final GCSE grades, what we thought might be a possibility is now a reality. While we await further clarification, please rest assured that we will communicate the plan as soon as the DfE present one. In the meantime, keep working and engaging with lessons, as so many of you are. Stay home and stay safe. Miss Powell & the Year 10 Wellbeing Team. Hi Year 10, I hope you are all well and safe. I feel so sad that I cannot see you all for chapter 1 of 2021, however, it is lovely to speak to you all by frogmail and over the phone (thank you for all your Netflix recommendations). Things may be a little different but I am so proud of how quickly you have adapted to the new way of working. Attendance to all lessons has been excellent! Keep up this fab work and please stay in touch with us. Stay safe, Mr Shaqur (Head of Year 11) I hope this message finds you all in the best of health. Your final year at Queensbridge is certainly one that you will remember for a long time to come! Your teacher s and the Year 11 Team continue to be amazed, humbled and full of pride for your 5 P a g e

6 resilience in getting on with learning despite so much disruption and challenge. For now we must all continue to work together in preparation for the remainder of this school year. May I remind you that your online lessons are compulsory. There are a very small number of you who are missing some or all classes and this will cost you in terms of achieving your highest possible grade as we enter this final chapter of your GCSE year. If you have any issues with logging in please the school IT team, myself/member of staff in Y11 Hub team who has been assigned to you for checking in each week (this info will be out to you by Monday at the latest), and your class teacher so we can resolve any issues as a matter of urgency. Careers Please refer to the website: A message to our year 11 pupils from Solihull Sixth Form College: We are still interviewing for next year's cohort so be reassured that we will do our best to advise and guide you to make the right choices. We are open for applications. We are interviewing over the phone or so apply, if you haven't already done so. We have an online open evening on the 18th January - presentations on each subject and Q&As with teachers and our other services. Upcoming College Open Events & Application Deadline BMET Applications Event: Thursday 14 th January 2021: pm Need help and advice applying to BMET? Book onto this event. Cadbury College: Open Event - Wednesday 13 th January 4-7pm. 6 P a g e

7 Joseph Chamberlain College: Virtual Open Event Tuesday 19 th January 2021 : pm. Solihull Sixth Form College Virtual Open Day on Monday 18 th January 2021 ( pm) Application Closing Date: 31 st March 2021 South & City College: Virtual Open Days: Wednesday 13 th January ( pm) Thursday 17 th June ( pm) Walsall College Open Event: Saturday 9 th January School Sixth Forms Camp Hill (Boys) Application Closing Date: Sunday 28th February 2021 Camp Hill (Girls) Applications Closing Date: TBC 7 P a g e

8 Kings Norton Girls School Applications Closing Date: Friday 22 nd January 2021 University of Birmingham School (UoB) Applications Closing Date: Sunday 31 st January 2021 Please refer to the website: Pupil page 8 P a g e

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10 Information Yr9 Vaccinations postponed. Year 9, 1 st HPV vaccines 14 th and 15 th January have been postponed. Updates Please refer to the website: Yr7-10 update letter bit.ly/qb_update_06_01 Yr 11 update letter bit.ly/qb_yr11_update_05_01 Remote Learning Please refer to the website: For all Home Learning information, visit our Remote Learning Page In line with government guidance we have communicated all the information that you will need if pupils are required to work from home. Remote learning procedure There are three possible reasons why your child may be accessing their work from home. 1. Enforced self-isolation when pupils are sent home. 2. A child is self-isolating from school because of showing symptoms. 3. A child is returning from foreign travel requiring quarantine. How does my child access school work in these different situations? 10 P a g e

11 Enforced self-isolation Pupils log onto Microsoft Teams and follow their visual timetable. All lessons will be recorded for safeguarding purposes. Microsoft Teams is safe and meets GDPR requirements, it is a secure option for all stakeholders. To use Microsoft Teams pupils will need to; 1. Logon to FROG 2. Click on Teams icon (just below the Gmail icon/frogmail) 3. Enter your username and password see below) 4. When you log in for the first time you must change your password For all Home Learning information, visit our Remote Learning Page If you have any issues with this login please the IT team at ITSupport@queensbridge.bham.sch.uk Keeping safe and wellbeing Please refer to the website: Keep your child safe online It is important to have regular conversations about staying safe online and to encourage children to speak to you if they come across something worrying online.these resources provide guidance for parents and carers to keep children safe online. They will, amongst other things, support you to talk to your child about a range of online safety issues, set up home filtering in a child-friendly way and set up age-appropriate parental controls on digital devices: Staying safe during the Coronavirus outbreak 11 P a g e

12 . Next newsletter Friday 16 th January P a g e

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