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Buxton Community School

Buxton Community School

Letter from Mr Yates 20.04.2020

Please see below update letter from Mr Yates

Dear Parent / Carer

I would normally be looking forward to welcoming back students and staff after the Easter break and getting the Y11 and Y13’s ready for the final run in to their exams.

It is still hard to believe how different things are at the moment. I want to thank you, our families, for your support and understanding in helping us sustain our school and use our resources wisely. Our staff have been outstanding in doing everything we have asked of them and you have helped enormously in making sure we can continue to do so. We remained open throughout the Easter break and supporting our families during that time. We have also donated over 600 items of PPE to local medical services all over the area. We are unlikely to need to carry out practical work in science and technology for some time, which is quite handy as I have donated all our safety glasses and face shields amongst other things. I am sure you feel as I do, that we need to do whatever it takes at the moment.

I hope you have been able to have some sort of break this Easter and have taken the opportunity to regather your thoughts and energy. Our teachers are ready to pick up providing support through remote access for your children and will be working through Class Charts and our website to continue setting work. I have also written separately to the families of Y11 and Y13 students with information on the government proposals for awarding grades this summer. There is a national consultation over the next 10 days on the precise details and I have shared the proposals and details of how to respond with our staff and affected families.

You may have heard about two government initiatives. The Oak National Academy which comes online on the 20th April, provides a set of government approved online lessons and resources that you are very welcome to access. We do not yet know how well they tie in with the curricula and lessons taught at BCS but they should be of good quality and safe to use. You may also have heard about the new scheme for laptops for students. Schools have only just been informed about this and there is very little detail on how the system will operate and how long it will take before we are able to provide equipment. At the moment, it seems to be targeted at a small proportion of Y10 students. We will contact you with further information as more becomes clear. Please be patient as it is likely to take several days for the details to emerge.

In the meantime, please stay safe and well.

Craig Yates - Headteacher