MHS Update 11-6-2021

MHS Update 11-6-2021

On Monday I blogged mainly about how families can keep cases of Covid to a minimum in school, reducing the risk to others and the impact on education. I’ve copied the relevant information at the bottom of this blog too.

Today I’d like to remind everyone about the ‘remote offer’, by which I mean how we will provide education for students who are self-isolating due to covid. As a staff we are fully committed to ensuring that our young people isolating at home do not miss out, continue to thrive and can overcome any hurdles to learning. We are proud of our remote offer, designed as it is with staff workload in mind at the same time.

Before I get into the specifics, as a reminder a hybrid lesson is where the teacher teaches those students present in the classroom and those logging on from home at the same time. An unheard of skill a year ago! Hybrid Form times work in the same way, with students able to join their forms remotely in the morning. Hybrid lessons do take more planning and more teacher input that regular lessons, which is why not all lessons can be hybrid ones all of the time.

1) Full school or full year group closure

As you all know from January through to March, when we have a full school closure we can offer a 100% live lesson package. The same will be true if we have to close a full year group, and the ‘fully live’ curriculum would start from the second day of a full year group closure. On ‘day 1’ some staff might be able to offer live lessons, but if not then work will be provided on Satchel One.

2) Where the school asks students to self-isolate after being identified as close contacts of a positive case

We will offer a hybrid form time and one of the following for every lesson, starting on the first full day of absence:

a) Work on Satchel One

b) A mixture of a hybrid session for part of the lesson (often the first 10-15 minutes) and work on Satchel One for the remainder of the time

c) A full length hybrid lesson

We would aim for all but practical PE lessons to be at least part hybrid, bearing in mind the considerations below.

Also, please bear in mind that the teacher may have just finished a lesson immediately before a hybrid lesson starts. It can then take a few minutes before they commence the hybrid lesson, as their first priority will be greeting those students in school.

3) Where the student is isolating due to other reasons, eg contact of a case from outside of school or their household is isolating

As information on isolating students can come in at any time, it is not always possible for teachers to set up work on Satchel One/Hybrid lessons straight away. As well as hybrid form times, in all cases we will have one of the following up and running asap for each lesson:

a) Work on Satchel One

b) A mixture of a hybrid session for part of the lesson (often the first 15 minutes) and work on Satchel One for the remainder of the time

c) A full length hybrid lesson

Again, we would aim for all but practical PE lessons to be at least part hybrid, bearing in mind the considerations below.

Also, please bear in mind that the teacher may have just finished a lesson immediately before a hybrid lesson starts. It can then take a few minutes before they commence the hybrid lesson, as their first priority will be greeting those students in school.

Why cannot all lessons be ‘Hybrid’

I understand that it can be frustrating for students and families when they are expecting hybrid lessons, only to find work set on Satchel One instead. As I stated above, we have the ambitious aim of all but practical PE lessons to be at least in part ‘hybrid’, but I need to ask for understanding when this isn’t possible.

There can be numerous reasons why certain lessons are not hybrid:

1) The teacher may themselves be isolating and it is not always possible for them to deliver lessons online from home – although many are doing it with some impressive results. 

2) The lesson may be being taken by a cover teacher due to staff absence

3) Notice of the need for a hybrid lesson may have come in too late, which is more often the case when individual students are isolating. Hybrid lessons can take more planning and preparation than normal lessons

4) The lesson planned may not lend itself to be ‘hybrid’ although in these cases we would normally expect there to be at least some element of a hybrid lesson, where the teacher can speak to those at home for a time. This is most likely to be the case in other practical subjects such as music, drama, art and the technologies.

5) The teacher may be teaching in different rooms on the same day and may not have the right set-up for hybrid lessons

I have every confidence that the team will try hard to deliver the best remote learning offer that they can, I know that this week there have been many examples of fantastic hybrid lessons taking place for the c.50 students isolating at home, and I thank my colleagues for rising to the challenge yet again.

Finally, here are the guides for how to access the remote learning package:

Technical support FAQs

Teams quick start guide – MAC/PC

Teams quick start guide – PHONE

If your child cannot access any of the remote learning for any reason, please inform their Head of Year asap and we will see what we can do to help.

Best wishes,

Joe Barker

From my last blog:

How families and students can keep infections down to a minimum

I cannot stress how important it is that families and students stick to the following rules. It is the only way we can keep people safe and keep disruption to a minimum, especially where the need for contact tracing is avoidable.

1) If a student has any of the three main symptoms (New cough, fever or loss of sense of taste or smell): Inform school on covid@marplehall.stockport.sch.uk immediately, keep the child off school and book a PCR test. Report the result to school on covid@marplehall.stockport.sch.uk and only send the child back to school if the test is negative

2) If anyone in the household has a positive coronavirus test or is waiting for a test result having had symptoms: The household should isolate and students should not come to school. Where a household positive result is received then inform school on covid@marplehall.stockport.sch.uk

3) If a student has a positive PCR result: Inform school on covid@marplehall.stockport.sch.uk immediately, and only send the child back to school when the isolation period is over. Having a follow up negative test of any kind does not cut the period of isolation short.

4) If a student has a positive LFT: Inform school on covid@marplehall.stockport.sch.uk immediately, keep the child off school and book a PCR test. Report the result to school on covid@marplehall.stockport.sch.uk and only send the child back to school if the test is negative. If it is positive, then having a follow up negative test of any kind does not cut the period of isolation short.

5) Students should continue to do LFTs twice a week. These are ONLY for people with no symptoms, if a child has symptoms then see point 1 above. If a child has a positive LFT then see point 4 above

6) If at any point a parent/carer is not sure what to do, please keep the child off school and contact us on covid@marplehall.stockport.sch.uk. This email address is monitored constantly and we will get back to you asap.

I appreciate that the situation is complicated and so I am happy to keep repeating the above advice. The fact is that every Covid case in school disrupts children’s education, puts staff at risk and puts everyone’s families at risk too. Of the 31 cases we have had between September 2020 and now, more than a handful would have had no impact on school life had the 6 steps above been followed. I therefore urge everyone to be familiar with the guidance and above all ask us for advice if you’re not sure.