Dear all pupils, parents and carers Once again,
I write to you during these very challenging times. I hope that you and your families are well, staying safe and remaining at home where possible to protect the NHS. I would like to thank you all for your continued adherence to the advice from the Government and also for practicing social distancing in the community. As we are now past the peak of the infection, there is light at the end of the tunnel. To reach the goal of returning to some form of normality, we will have to continue our efforts and community spirit that has got us this far. Kirsty Williams, Minister for Education announced last week that schools are not going to be opening fully at the start of June. When we receive further information on the details of any form of phased reopening, I will contact you immediately. In the meantime, the school will continue the current working practices that we have engaged in over the weeks since lockdown began. I have summarised all of the things we do below.
We will continue to:
• open every day for the registered children of keyworkers*
• open every day for registered pupils, identified as requiring further support by the pastoral teams and the local authority*
• provide online work for all learners via Microsoft Teams and other methods
• provide timely feedback on any work returned
• reward and recognise the excellent work and efforts of our amazing pupils
• track, monitor and encourage all learners to engage with our distance learning programme
• regularly make contact with you to ensure that all pupils and students are safe
• provide as much support we can for the community
• encourage pupils to do physical and creative tasks to broaden the scope of what we expect pupils to do
• provide mental health support via our pastoral teams and links on the website
*Please register online through the Denbighshire website if you qualify and have not yet taken a place for in school education.
We are delighted that so many pupils and students are engaging in distance learning and we hope that the introduction of a more structured timetable will help all learners manage their time whilst at home. We have included physical and creative tasks into our new way of setting work so that pupils enjoy and make the most of their time during this difficult lockdown.
A small but significant number of pupils and students are struggling to access online work due to a lack of hardware or connectivity issues. We have delivered many devices to the homes of our learners to assist with this and I am working closely with the Local Authority to ensure we can gain further hardware and 4G internet access for homes.
The school continues to provide vital PPE to local health settings, deliver food to local families and donate money and essentials to local food banks. I would like to say a special thanks to all staff and parents who have donated funds via ParentPay. The total collected and distributed so far is £1,500 and this has gone a long way in supporting the most vulnerable in our community. We would welcome any further contributions if you can spare it. If any parents or families are struggling, or if you know of anyone in the community that needs additional help, please contact the school and we will support in any way that we can.
On the issue of GCSE and A-level grades, teachers and Heads of Department are working hard to ensure that all pupils and students gain the qualifications they deserve this summer. I am in constant dialogue with WJEC and Qualifications Wales to ensure the process is fair, transparent and focused on what is best for our young people. Further information as we get it from Welsh Government will be placed on our website.
If any pupils wishing to apply to our 6th Form that have yet not done so, need to contact Mr. Vernon via school as soon as possible so that we can process your application and hopefully allocate you a place for September.
We know this will go on for a while longer, therefore it is essential that you continue to ensure our pupils are engaging in the work set by their teachers. This will minimise the impact of not being in school.
Stay home and please stay safe. Please contact the school if you have any questions or issues.
Warm regards
Following the disappointment of having to postpone the Denbighshire Eisteddfod 2020 until 2021, Eisteddfod T will be seen and heard on television, radio and internet between May 25 and 29 this year.
There are traditional competitions (singing, reciting, dancing) and some completely different (sports, cooking, comedy, family competition).
For more information and a full list of competitions follow this link http://s4c.urdd.cymru/en/
The deadline for entries is noon, May 11th.
The Eisteddfod, but not as you know it.
Turn your sofa into front row seats!
I hope that you and your families are staying safe and well at this extraordinary time. It has been around a month since I last wrote to you to introduce our new way of working. Can I take this opportunity to thank the many of you who have supported your children with logging in to teams and completing work. At this unprecedented time more is being asked of all parents with the education of their children. We know that this additional pressure is a challenge in already challenging times. We remain committed to providing the best education possible for students, and as this period continues we are adding more structure to what pupils are expected to do. We ask for your support in encouraging the learning of your children and supporting them to complete the work set.
To add structure to the learning we are providing a suggested timetable of work for students. Teachers will use this use when setting work. We do not expect pupils to be sat working all day, but to allow reasonable time for their learning. We suggest 60-90 minutes as a maximum on each subject’s work per day. Work will focus on enjoyment of learning as well as literacy and numeracy skills. All teachers will set work using Microsoft teams as before, and pupils will receive feedback on the work they have completed. If your son/daughter is struggling with the work please encourage them to contact their teacher.
Download the guide – Distance Learning V2
Equally important to learning is physical, emotional and personal wellbeing. This is why a cornerstone to our learning programme is to set aside time for both physical wellbeing, social wellbeing and creativity/enjoyment. There are suggested activities for this in the learning guidance, but pupils should be given the opportunity to lead their own learning in this regard. We are in the process of setting up a wellbeing page on the website with suggested activities for physical, creative and personal wellbeing, and links to helpful websites and sources of support.
As we have no clear indication of when schools will reopen it is important that pupils do complete work. This will support both their development educationally but most importantly has positive effects on their wellbeing and emotional development.
We thank you for your support in this difficult time.
Please continue to follow the government advice on regular hand washing and to stay at home in order to protect the NHS, yourselves and your loved ones, Stay safe.
Distance Learning V2 a helpful guide with structured pupil timetable
Student work Apr 2020-A copy of this original letter
We hope you enjoy these PE resources – they will be there for you as long as you need them through this difficult time.
General physical activity can also provide valuable, fun breaks in the day and support wider learning. Please adapt these activities to suit your home environment.
Read More..
Parents! @CareersWales are running a live Q&A session across their Facebook and Twitter channels on Thursday 23 April 2pm – 3pm to answer any concerns you may have around your child’s future opportunities.
Keep checking their social media channels for further information.
This is an important update on the status of trips.
Please read if you are involved in any school trip that was due to take place over the lockdown period.
Download the letter – Trip letter
Dear Parents and Carers
As I am sure you are well aware, all schools and therefore all school trips have been impacted by the outbreak of COVID-19. We are hugely disappointed that trips are not going ahead and our pupils are not getting these wonderful life changing experiences. The lockdown has resulted in all trips both within the UK and abroad to be either cancelled or postponed.
To keep you updated and informed, here is the latest information we have about the trips.
At this moment we can confirm the following:
Cancelled Trips.
Chateau De Broutel – 19th March – 23rd March 2020
Holland Trip – 26th May – 30th May 2020
New York – 20th Oct – 26th Oct 2020
Postponed Trips (new dates to be published as soon as possible).
Geneva – 30th June – 2nd July 2020
PGL (Y7) – 30th March – 1st April 2020
Anglesey (Biology) – 24th June – 26th June 2020
Trips still going ahead (provisionally) – we are taking payments from parents at this time.
Austria Ski Trip – 16th Dec – 23rd Dec 2020
Iceland Trip – March 2021
What is certain is this period of lockdown, school closures and social upheaval will end. As soon as it is safe to do so, our numerous and amazing school trip and experiences will resume.
We ask for your patience at this time as we are in discussion with several companies, holiday providers and insurers.
We will contact you as soon as we can with updates on refund details.
With kind regards
Neil Foley – B.Sc. MA.
Pennaeth Headteacher
Dear Yr11, 12 & 13
As you know the government issued guidance a few weeks back about how GCSE and A level results were going to be awarded this year. At the time they failed to mention what was going to happen with BTEC courses which are mainly coursework based. They have now issued information and I have summarised it below:
Yr11 and Yr13
How will vocational qualifications be awarded?
Some qualifications are usually taken alongside or instead of GCSEs, AS and A levels, and are principally used for progression to further or higher education. This group includes, for example, many BTEC courses. We consider that, as far as possible, such qualifications should be treated in the same way as GCSEs, AS and A levels, with learners receiving a calculated result. Calculated results will draw appropriately on a range of evidence, depending on the structure of the qualification. They may be based in part on teacher, trainer or tutor judgements of what result each learner would most likely have achieved had they been able to complete their assessments in summer 2020. Any centre assessment result will be based on a range of evidence held by the school, college or training provider.
Yr12 BTEC/WBQ
There has been no further information about Yr12 so you must continue to follow your teachers on Microsoft Teams where work is still being set for BTEC and the WBQ. As soon as we get any further details we will let you know.
Yr12 progression to A2:
If you are studying a BTEC course or the WBQ then as explained, for now, you need to continue working on the Yr12 elements. However over the coming weeks, for those of you studying any AS courses, staff will want to move onto the A2 elements of the course, some may already have done this. Please make sure that you are engaging with the work so that you are up to speed when we return. If you are doing four courses, then I want you to start thinking about the subject you may drop, as you go into Yr13. My advice is to continue with the three courses you are best at. I will email you again shortly to discuss how we might do this. All students should continue with all courses for now.
Yr11 progression to AS/BTEC:
I am sending all staff the names of students who have applied to study their courses in the 6th form from September. Yr11 students should continue to monitor teams over the coming weeks as staff will start to get in touch regarding work that can be done in preparation to start your AS courses next year. Please make sure you engage with this. If you haven’t applied to come to our 6th form but want to engage with your teachers through teams in the subjects you intend to study then please by all means access the work. If you haven’t applied to come to us but now want to, then please just email me and I will be in touch.
Yr12/13 GCSE resits:
Any GCSE resit grades will be calculated in the same way as any other GCSE grade awarded this year.
These are unprecedented times and I know that you have all worked extremely hard this year.
Keep safe.
Mr G Vernon
Deputy Headteacher
