Important MHS Update 23-11-2020

Provision for INSET day and early closure before Christmas

I’d like to remind parents and carers that this Friday is a designated teacher in-service training (INSET) day. Pre-pandemic there was never any expectation that staff would set work for students on INSET days, the technical reason being that the school year is officially 190 days long for children and 195 days long for teaching staff, the five extra days being the INSET days. However, due to the unique circumstances of this year and due to the information below, I can confirm that we will be setting work for this Friday as if students were self-isolating. Therefore please can I ask that parents and carers encourage students to log on to Show My Homework (Satchel One) from 8.30am this Friday where the day’s activities will be displayed. All the work set will be ‘independent’ in nature, there will be no live or hybrid form times or lessons on that day.

Furthermore, a decision has been made today by the Local Authority to authorise schools to close down two days early at Christmas. The intention is to help break the cycle of transmission of the virus and minimise the risk of families having to isolate over the festive period due to cases emerging in schools. At MHS we were due to open fully on Monday 21^st December, and open for a half day on Tuesday 22^nd December. Instead we will now be following the guidance of the Local Authority and offering remote learning only for those two days. As above, work will be on Show My Homework (Satchel One) from 8.30am on Monday 21^st December, and again all the work set will be ‘independent’ in nature with no live or hybrid form times or lessons on that day. The final half day of term (Tuesday 22^nd December) is traditionally a day where students and staff do not complete academic work as such. We will however be posting some activities and resources for students to access to make sure their final half day before the festive break is positive and productive.

The official Local Authority letter can be seen here.

We hope that by offering a full day of learning this Friday and on Monday 21^st December, as well as providing activities on Tuesday 22^nd December, we can keep learning going whilst doing our bit to help break the cycle of infection before Christmas.

Best wishes,

Joe Barker