MHS Update 9-10-2020

MHS Update 9-10-2020

I’m sure that parents and carers have heard quite enough from me this week after my double blog on Wednesday. I planned/hoped to simply say that it had been an uneventful week since then…but then an episode of The Bill played out on the fields next to school yesterday afternoon. I was busy teaching Year 11 at the time while my colleagues dealt with the situation superbly, and by the time the final lesson had ended the drama was all over. Those students moving around outside before period 5 were fantastic, following instructions quickly and moving inside promptly – so quickly in fact that the police officer in the helicopter felt the need to call us to say how impressive it looked from the air!

This week there has been a group of Year 7s and, from Wednesday, thirty Year 11s having to isolate as a result of being contacts in school with positive cases. The Year 7s, who often formed a whole class, have had a range of live lessons over the past two weeks. The Year 11s, who are spread across several classes, have had a diet of work on Show My Homework and some experimental ‘hybrid’ lessons whereby those at home can join their classmates in real time. These first hybrid lessons have gone pretty well as we discover how the technology works in practice and what it means for teaching and learning. I think there is a way to go to make these lessons a ‘standard solution’, and we may hit some insurmountable obstacles that we are not yet aware of, but the early signs have been good and I’m grateful to the IT team and the teachers who have ‘given it a go’. Thanks also to the 30 Year 11 students at home who have logged on and joined in enthusiastically.

Another week therefore goes by and we continue to make the best of the situation we find ourselves in, which is all any of us can do at the moment.

I wish you all a restful weekend,

Joe Barker