Headteacher’s Blog – Friday 22nd May

I hope this final blog of the half term finds you well and that you and your family are able to enjoy some of the sunshine during the half term break next week. I want to thank all of our families for their support over the last few weeks and for the messages of kindness. I know this has been a challenging time for many of us but we are all together and here for each other as a community. As I am writing it seems strange to only hear the noise of the diggers and dumper trucks outside my office, when the school would normally be full of noise and activity. Usually, in this week of May, Year 11 and 13 would be well into the exam season, we would be getting ready for all the events of the final half term. There are so many things that we would normally be doing that we cannot.

There is reason to be optimistic though as we look ahead to the future. The building work is almost complete, with The Wilson Block and the new plaza area due to be finished in a few weeks. We are fully staffed for September, with some fantastic new teachers and leaders joining us. The long term future is bright for our school community.

I want to set out what will be happening for remote learning next half term, as this will remain the normal mode of education for the vast majority of students, including most students in Year 10 and Year 12. We are waiting for the DFE guidance for secondary schools and will communicate further plans for Year 10 and 12 after half term.

Year 12

Year 12 tutors will be contacting their students for face to face discussion using MS TEAMs, or a phone call, during the first two weeks back. Year 12 students have been engaging well with their teachers through a variety of online methods. We will looking to put a more structured approach in place for students next half term, with an increased level of remote lessons through either live teaching, recorded lessons or surgery style drop in. There will be further communication for Year 12 families after half term.

Year 10

Every Year 10 student will have a face to face discussion using MS TEAMS, or a phone call, in the first two weeks back. Year 10 students will be beginning their second unit of work, set by their subject teachers via Go 4 Schools and using MSTEAMs to return work; please see Catherine Larkin’s letter from 15th Ma:, Mrs Larkin's Letter - Year 10 Remote Learning. Work packs are available if you do not have access to the internet.

Year 9

Year 9 students will be getting units of work from every subject from June 1st This will work in the same way as Year 10, so please see; Mrs Larkin's Letter - Year 10 Remote Learninig. Students will be set work to develop understanding and then asked to complete a piece of work and return via MSTEAMs for feedback. There are instructions on how to access as follows: How to Get Started with Microsoft Teams  . Work packs are available if you do not have access to the internet. Year 8 Year 8 students should initially continue to use Oak Academy for lessons in English, Maths, Science, History and Geography. Remember that if they login to TEAMs at the time the lessons are on as per the timetable below, there will be a teacher to support if needed.

Year 8

From the week beginning 22nd June Year 8 will be getting units of work from their teachers. This will look different from Year 9 and there will be further communication for Year 8 families nearer the time. Work packs are available if you do not have access to the internet.

Year 7

Year 7 should continue to use Oak Academy lessons, as set out above. There will also be some project based work from their other subjects. There will be further communication after half term. Work packs are available if you do not have access to the internet. Coleshill School You Tube Channel As well as our fabulous Twitter and Facebook pages we have now launched a You Tube channel! This will be used to post videos for students as well as having a training area for staff. On the channel today you can watch a video from the Year 7 tutor team for their students and the first of our weekly assemblies by Mrs Cornell. There is a fun challenge for students and families in the assembly so please take a look https://youtu.be/IMwdFSDZOZ0

Half term arrangements

Please note school is closed to students on Bank Holiday Monday, as no students have booked in. School is open Tuesday to Friday for those children of key workers who have booked in. If you are a key worker and you need your child to be in school please contact This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..  At this stage we would not anticipate extra students unless it is an emergency, as we have minimal staffing based on the students who are booked in. Families in receipt of free school meals should have received their vouchers last week, which cover four weeks. Staff and students should all have a rest over half term. Staff will not be setting any work and students are not expected to do any; staff will not be responding to emails. If there is a safeguarding emergency you can contact school reception and you will be put in touch with a designated safeguarding lead.

Take care and stay safe.

Ian Smith-Childs

Headteacher

Headteacher’s Blog  May 15th 2020     Personal development and well-being.

I hope you and your family are well.   The importance of well-being is the theme of today’s blog.  Following Boris Johnson’s announcement last Sunday night, we are acutely aware that many children will be worried about not returning to school in the near future.  It is therefore important that all of our children know that we are still there for them and our school community will still very much be a part of their lives in the weeks ahead, even if it is remotely for many of them.

Tutor Surveys

This week all tutors have emailed their students to remind them of what remote learning they should be engaging with and also to ask them to complete a survey, which is giving us valuable information about both students’ well-being and also engagement.  This feedback will be important in helping us plan the next phase of our remote learning, which I will communicate in next week’s blog.

Please can I ask you to check that your child has completed the survey and encourage them to do so if not.  Surveys should be completed by Wednesday of next week. We will make contact with you if you request it or if surveys are not returned so we can check that all is well and your child is accessing and engaging in activities, when well and able to do so.

Weekly assemblies and challenges

From next week there will be weekly assemblies, which will be posted on our website for students to view.  Next week the assembly will be posted by the end of the week for a fun challenge that students can take part in over half term.  From 1st June there will be a weekly assembly posted, which will have activities for that students can then complete during the week.

Coleshill’s got talent….

We know there are so many talented students in our school and I am sure many of them are polishing their skills during lockdown.  We would love students to share photos or videos or their talents with us, so we can post on our Twitter and Facebook pages, whether it be playing an instrument, baking a cake or practising skills in their chosen sport.  Please send photos and videos to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

PSHE activities

All students in Years 7, 8 and 9 are getting weekly activities to complete on a range of PSHE topics.  Over the coming weeks we will be sending you a range of personal development activities, using some of the excellent PIXL resources.  Look out for these and make the most of this time to develop those SPIRIT skills.

I hope this gives you a flavour of what we will be doing in the coming weeks to ensure that students still very much feel part of school.  Remember, we are here for you if you need us and we look forward to seeing your contributions and hearing any news.

Take care and stay safe.

Ian Smith-Childs

Headteacher

Poem by Tallulah – Year 8 

You are beautiful

Roses are red,

Violets are blue,

A feeling is kind,

And so are you.

Orchids are white,

Ghost ones are rare,

Boots are shiny,

And so is your hair.

Magnolia grows,

With buds like eggs,

Muscles are smooth,

And so are your legs.

Sunflowers reach,

Up to the skies,

Questions are intriguing,

And so are your eyes.

Foxgloves in hedges,

Surround the farms,

A cup is loving,

And so are your arms.

Daisies are pretty,

Daffies have style,

Your moonlight is illuminating,

And so is your smile.

A swan is beautiful,

Just like you.

11 May 2020: ATLP response to last night’s Ministerial speech

Many of you will have seen last night’s speech, by Boris Johnson, in which he outlines a number of stages, now that the virus appears to be past its peak. We know that as part of this, reference was made to education, albeit high level. It is important to recognise that the Prime Minister’s words were heavily caveated and conditional: “If we as a nation begin to fulfil the conditions I have set out, then in the next few weeks and months, we may be able to go further. In step two at the earliest by June 1st after half term, we believe we may be in a position to get primary pupils back into schools, in stages, beginning with reception, year 1 and year 6. Our ambition is that secondary pupils facing exams next year will get at least some time with their teachers before the holidays.”

We recognise that this will be causing angst for children, pupils, parents and staff. At this time all schools are awaiting further guidance from the Department for Education which we are expecting later this week. It would be remiss of us to speculate on the detail but assure you that we will be in touch once we are in receipt of more information.

Whatever decisions we take in our schools, we will be guided by the advice at the time. We are committed to supporting all of our children, staff and parents at this difficult time.