Dear Parent and Carer
I hope that you and your loved ones are safe and well.
I would like to thank you for your support and kindness over the past two weeks. It is very much appreciated by all of us as we face these challenges together. We have tried our best to get the balance right with contact and distance learning, and we will be in touch to find out what has worked and how we can improve our distance learning offer to best support you at home.
There is a significant amount of information that we are all trying to manage on a daily basis, and so I wanted to write to you with a summary of all of that key information in one place.
Distance Learning Update
The initial phase - setting things in motion
This was the phase that we were in up to Easter as we all tried to adjust to a new way of living and working. For us all, our primary concern was, and will remain, the welfare and safety of our pupils and staff.
The situation was dynamic and ever changing, and so it was difficult to make lasting plans. The lessons, resources, activities, etc. that we set for our pupils will have given them the opportunity to do some learning at home. Thank you for all that you have done so far to support this as we all adjust to this new way of living and working. It won’t have worked with every pupil yet but it has worked for so many. I think everyone should be very proud of what was achieved in this initial phase. Thank you!
The Easter phase - time to stop and reflect
As you are aware, we are not setting 'lesson' work for our pupils over the Easter break. This will give some students the chance to engage with that work that they haven’t done as yet and to catch up. For others it will give them the break that they (and we) need. Mr Chandler has produced a ‘cultural break’ activity sheet which will be shared with all pupils and is attached here for your information.
We are already settling into a rhythm and we can now begin to look a little further ahead. We will be in contact with you to ask what has gone well and what we could do to make things easier. It may be that ‘less is more’ and we need to be mindful not to overload pupils, teachers or you as parents.
The post Easter phase - making it manageable, sustainable and purposeful
One idea for this phase could be to change the timetable across KS3 for the Summer 1 half term and set the same tasks for all pupils within the key stage with core activities and challenge activities. We will be discussing this over the Easter break and I will write to you again at the beginning of the new term with any changes to arrangements.
Y10 and Y12 students will continue to follow their timetables as we continue to work through their syllabus. It is essential that all students try the best they can to complete the work set, and to keep in touch with their teachers. Any problems that they are having, they should let their teacher know who will do all that they can to help.
Y11 and Y13 students will also continue to follow their timetables but with a greater focus on those subject areas that they are going to continue their studies in from September. They will be encouraged to read around the subject area, expanding their knowledge and understanding by studying outside the parameters of the examination specification.
The recovery phase - starting back at school
At some point we will reopen, although we do not know when that will be. When that becomes reality, this will need careful planning too.
GCSE and A level examinations
As you will be aware, the GCSE and A levels examinations due to take place this summer have been cancelled. Qualifications Wales issued guidance on Friday on the information required for each student due to sit this summer’s exams. In summary, for every GCSE, AS, A level and Skills Challenge Certificate qualification, the school will be required to submit:
1. A centre assessment grade for each student. This is the professional judgement of the subject teachers, including the Head of Department, about the grade that each student is most likely to have achieved if they had sat their exams this summer
2. The rank order of students within each grade, for each qualification
We must ensure the students receive the grade they would most likely have achieved if they sat the exams so that our students’ lives are as unaffected as possible. Therefore we will be asking - what grade would this particular student most plausibly have achieved if they were taking the exam?
Assuming that things head back to normal for the 2021 cohort, an inflated picture in 2020 would disadvantage those students currently in Year 10 and Year 12 - and indeed would be a disadvantage to previous cohorts. The WJEC and Qualifications Wales will take steps to ensure that grade distributions do match previous years, at national and at school level. Schools who produce grades which seem particularly generous can expect a moderation process to be applied. This process will only work if the profession as a whole works together in a consistent, fair and ethical way.
Most importantly please note that we will not seek any further work from students to support centre assessment grades. The cut-off for work to be considered as directed by Qualifications Wales is 20 March (the day schools across Wales closed), and there is a clear explanation of the evidence we can consider to support the grade judgement. Qualifications Wales have published a ‘Frequently Asked Questions’ sheet and a letter to students.
So, in summary, this is our understanding at the moment from the Qualification Wales guidance for Y10-Y13 students:
Current Year 10 students
Students who were due to sit a full qualification this summer (that is all units of a GCSE) will be issued with a grade following the same process for those students in Y11. This affects very few pupils in Y10.
For most students in Y10 they were due to sit a series of unit elements of examinations this summer e.g. a proportion of a qualification. In these cases a grade will not be issued. This will affect most pupils in Y10 and they will have two options in summer 2021:
Option 1 – choose to sit the units they would have done anyway in Y11 and the overall grade will be worked out on the basis of those units and controlled assessments.
Option 2 – choose to sit the units they were due to complete in Y10, as well as sit the units due to be sat in Y11. Their overall grade will then be worked out on the basis of the performance in all the units. However, if their grade from option 1 would be higher, then they would receive that higher grade.
Current Y11 students
For each GCSE qualification that they were entered for for examination this summer, they will receive a grade using the process outlined above. This will also apply to the Skills Challenge Certificate. We do not know as yet how this will apply to BTEC, ASDAN, etc. qualifications but expect to hear more in the next couple of weeks.
Current Y12 students
AS levels are not stand alone qualifications. In nearly all cases, they are examinations which are taken in Year 12 which contribute to the full A level qualification in Y13. AS grades will be awarded in the same way as GCSE and A levels this summer. However, these AS grades will not contribute towards the full A level result in 2021. They will however be useful for university applications. These students will have two options in summer 2021:
Option 1 – choose to sit both the AS units and A2 units for the A level. The full A level grade will be calculated on performance on all units in the full A level.
Option 2 – sit just the A2 units and performance in these will be used to calculate a result for the AS units. The combined marks will then be used to produce the A level grade.
If a student choose to follow option 1, the WJEC will check what your grade would have been with option 2. If option 2 gives a higher grade, they would receive the higher grade
Current Y13 students
For each A level qualification that they were entered for for examination this summer, they will receive a grade using the process outlined above. This will also apply to the Skills Challenge Certificate. We do not know as yet how this will apply to BTEC qualifications but expect to hear more in the next couple of weeks.
Please note that Qualifications Wales have made clear that at no stage should the grade or rank order be discussed with or shared with students, parents or carers.
All of our teachers will be working hard on this over the next two months. We will do all that we can to ensure that students receive the grade they would have achieved if they were taking the exam.
Contacts for pupils
We have shared a lot of information and contact details with pupils through the wellbeing resource which was emailed to their school account. In addition to this you may also find these useful:
Careers Wales still offer vital careers services digitally and over the phone. This service is available Monday to Friday and is available for young people in schools and colleges, parents/guardians and those children who are normally home-schooled. It is an opportunity for them to discuss any concerns they have about next steps and their future options – click here for link to website
Coleg y Cymoedd are looking at their arrangements for applications / interviews for students starting courses in September – click here for link to the website www.cymoedd.ac.uk/hello
School Nurses and Looked After Children Services have a direct line for pupils, parents, carers and schools – please click here for poster
Support for pupils and their families
FSM – CCBC are delivering packs of 5 frozen meals to each FSM child weekly who has applied for this provision. These will be delivered throughout the Easter holiday. If your children are eligible for Free School Meals you need to register by email to bridgesintowork@caerphilly.gov.uk to receive these meals. There are also mobile numbers which you can ring, all of which is on our school website.
Hubs – CCBC have developed Childcare Hubs across the authority for the children of key workers. Each hub has a designated staff team and are operating through Easter.
School contact – we are trying to keep in contact as much as possible, whether that is by email, through Google Classrooms or by phone. Please do not hesitate to reach out to us if we can help. Our main school email account (stcca@caerphilly.gov.uk) is being accessed once a day remotely and we will get back to you as soon as possible.
Other information and links
School trips, visits and prom - the FCO has issued a blanket ‘do not travel’ advisory, which should mean that all cancelled trips are covered under their insurance. We will not be able to organise refunds whilst the school is closed as we do not have access. Please be assured that we will do so once schools reopen.
The Minister for Education, Kirsty Williams, recorded a message for parents https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=--SFs5EomGo&t=26s
This is the main link for up to date information from Welsh Government https://gov.wales/education-coronavirus
We are keen to show the work, support and kindness of so many across our school community. We would like to celebrate this on our website with examples of home learning, rainbows, pupils going above and beyond in the community, taking part in our ‘Take a Cultural Break’ Easter programme, pupils showing support for the NHS wearing blue, taking part in the clap on Thursday evenings, etc. or videos of fun challenges. Please encourage your child to email these to their Heads of Year so that we can share on our website for everyone to see.
The national situation continues to change quickly. I have been very proud of how our pupils and staff have responded as we manage these changes to how we live, work and study. Thank you so much for your continued support and kindness.
I hope you and your family have a happy Easter. Please stay home and stay safe.
Yours sincerely
Miss Collins
Headteacher
