Year 6 pupils starting in September…

We have sent an email message to all year 6 pupils that are coming up to Hastings High School next year, please check your emails, if you have not received the message please contact the school so that they can re-send the email to you!

Miss Bradley and Mr Shipman

Home Learning Guidelines

Key Worker Information Request

*****Please complete as soon as possible, by 1 pm today at the latest*****

https://forms.gle/1oFsgCKtAbabAKCX7

Dear Parent / Carer,

We have now received the list of who the government considers a key worker and for whom the school will be open for. In order to ensure that we have appropriate staffing levels we are trying to ascertain the number of pupils we are expecting on Monday.

Please check the guidance below and give the information at the bottom as required.

Government advice is that “every child that can be safely cared for at home should be” with the following key principles:

1. If it is at all possible for children to be at home then they should be.
2. If a child needs specialist support, is vulnerable or has a parent who is a critical worker, then educational provision will be available for them.
3. Parents should not rely for childcare upon those who are advised to be in the stringent social distancing category such as grandparents, friends or family members with underlying conditions
4. Parents should do everything they can to ensure children are not mixing socially in a way which can continue to spread the virus. They should observe the same social distancing principles as adults.

If your work is critical to the COVID-19 response, or you work in one of the critical sectors listed below and there is no way of keeping your child safe at home then we will do our upmost to give them a safe place at school each day.

As per the government guidance children in schools will not be following the national curriculum but we intend to use ICT rooms so that pupils can complete work set on google classroom by their teachers.

For pupils that we are expecting in school then usual absence procedures will be in place.

If you intend to send your child to school from Monday, please ask them to go to the main school hall for registration. They will be required to wear their school uniform and will need to have an outdoor PE kit in school (including a change of shoes). School will be open during the normal hours.

In the event of overwhelming numbers, we will work with our Senior Leadership Team and the Governing Body to prioritise the families we can accommodate.

https://forms.gle/1oFsgCKtAbabAKCX7

Year 11 Students

Dear Parent/Carer

Due to the cancellation of exams and limited staff capacity we have had to make the very difficult decision that, as of tomorrow, year 11 will not be attending Hastings.  The exception to this are any pupils involved in the food practical and children of key workers.

We have done our utmost today to reassure and support year 11 during these difficult and uncertain times.  They have shown incredible maturity and resilience and we are very proud of them.

Please be assured that our work for year 11 continues and we will do everything within our means to ensure that no pupil is disadvantaged.  In order to support this process we have asked all pupils to provide any past papers and assessments they have at home for all of their subjects.  These can be dropped off at school tomorrow.  There will be boxes in the library for the different subjects.

Arrangements will be made for pupils to complete any outstanding coursework.  We will be in contact with further details.

Please bear in mind that we are awaiting information from the DfE and OfQual regarding exam results and will keep you updated.

We are confident that all college places will be honoured.  Hastings has an excellent reputation and we are working closely with the providers to ensure that this process runs smoothly.

As things stand at the moment we are unable to confirm whether the prom will go ahead as planned.  We will notify you of any changes and will certainly be looking to celebrate their time at Hastings in some capacity.

Mr Spetch would personally like to pass on to all pupils and parents/carers that it has been a pleasure and an honour to have been their head of year and that he will remember this time fondly for the rest of his life.  He would very much like to thank you for all of your support and help.

We cannot express how sad we are for our students and staff; it is an unprecedented situation for all of us.  However, this does not take away their individual achievements and nor will it affect our commitment to ensuring that they receive the qualifications they so rightly deserve.

Kind regards

Miss Bradley, Mr Shipman and Mr Spetch

Co-Heads and Head of Year 11

Partial Closure Friday 20th March

Dear Parent / Carers,

After yesterday’s announcement we have been finalising plans for the coming weeks.  Some initial details are below and further notifications will be sent as soon as we receive more clarity from the Department for Education.

Tomorrow, there will again be a partial closure due to staff either in self-isolation, household isolation or being in one of the at risks groups.  As such, we will be open for years 7 and 9 tomorrow (as long as they are not isolating and are symptom free).  We will also be staffing a room for children in years 8, 9 and 11 whose parents are key workers.  These year groups have been selected as year 7 pupils are not old enough to be at home unsupervised and year 9 have not been in school for the past two days.

For those pupils in years 8 and 10 wanting to collect books and resources we have allocated times below (as long as they are not isolating and are symptom free). We are aware that some pupils will be unable to do this and as such friends, with permission (a text message will suffice), will be able to collect books on their behalf.  There will be a member of staff on duty in reception to sign pupils in and out.

Year 8 – 11:15 to 12:15

Year 10 – 12:15 to 13:15

The update we send later will include information on key workers, access to staff during the closure and information on how to access free school meals.

We would like to take this opportunity to thank you for your support in helping us to provide an ongoing education for your children.  The vast majority of those pupils not in school today have accessed Goggle Classrooms, completed and submitted work.  Well done!

As always, we thank you for your patience during these challenging times.  Our Hastings Family has never been so important.

Miss Bradley and Mr Shipman

Co-Headteachers