St Joseph's Academy – East Ayrshire

Dear Parents/Carers and Pupils,

Please see updates from EAC in respect of the planned S4-S6 January assessment diet and next steps.

Letter to Pupils

Click to access Letter-to-Pupils-11.1.21.pdf

Letter to Parents/Carers

Click to access Letter-to-Parent-Carers-11.1.21.pdf

Dear Parents/Carers,

A common question received by school staff is around how much work we expect pupils to complete when learning online.

Given that we are all working in unusual circumstances, it is not possible for all pupils and all staff to replicate a school environment when at home.

Staff have a duty to provide work that can cover the allocation of teaching time across an entire week. Where possible, we encourage pupils to follow their normal in-school timetable when working at home.

Any live lessons will always take place against the actual timetable which operates when in school. Thereafter, staff are likely to set work week to week, and be available for pupils from a class group during the times when the pupils are supposed to be with that teacher.

However, we are fully aware of the challenges that online learning can bring, not only for families but also for staff. The most important point to consider at this stage is that all pupils should respond to any emails from staff. If a teacher notices that a young person is not completing work, they are likely to email pupils directly. During the last lockdown, many staff did not receive any response. We are keen to reassure you that staff are here to support pupils. It is much better for all concerned if a pupil makes contact with teachers to say that they are struggling or cannot complete a task for a specific reason. In this way, staff can provide direct reassurance and guidance.

We also anticipate that S1 pupils may encounter teething issues when navigating glow. Please know that this is part of the process which will be less of an issue as the days progress. Staff will always respond quickly to help pupils and families.

Pupils should try their best to follow their normal timetable, but should also know that staff are not naive to the pressure online learning can bring, and will always do what is necessary to reassure and support pupils.

Kind Regards

Mr Kane

The file below shows various external support available to families during lockdown.

Click to access SJA-Lockdown-supports-JAN2021.pdf

Dear Pupils and Parents/Carers,

We have now published a directory to help you find content for each class when undertaking school work online.

Click to access SJA-Directory-of-Classes-January-2021.pdf

Dear Parents and Carers,

Please see an important update from East Ayrshire Council.

Key Worker Registration

All applications have been processed and you should have received a response via email.

In the light of the First Minister’s announcement yesterday and the rising rate of infections, please only send your child to school or ECC if approval for key worker status has been granted and it is absolutely necessary. If you will now be working from home or furloughed, please do not send your child to school/ECC.

If you have not already applied and both parents are key workers and there are no other childcare options available, you can still apply via these links:

Key Worker Registration – Primary/Secondary/ASN

Key Worker Registration – ECC

This link will be live until 11:45pm tonight (5/1/21).  If you have not applied by this time, please approach your school directly from Wednesday 6^th January onwards.

The central team will not be able to assist after deadline has passed and applications after this time will not be processed.

Sent To You By East Ayrshire Council

Dear Parents/Carers and Pupils,

Following this afternoon’s announcement, all pupils in Scotland will learn online from 11th January until 1st February. This position will be reviewed again on January 18th.

The only exceptions are for those pupils regarded by social work or school staff as vulnerable and children of registered key workers.

If you had completed a Key Worker registration form and have since received confirmation of your registration from East Ayrshire Council, then please be assured of the fact that we have a list of pupils scheduled to attend between Thursday 7th and Friday 15th January. Where applicable, school transport will be available as normal for those scheduled to attend school.

It is likely that a new form will be released to cover attendance from January 15th until February 1st.

Pupils attending school will have access to IT to complete learning online.

The majority of teaching staff will work from home from Thursday 7th January until Monday 1st February.

Our prelim diet will not run in January, but will take place as soon as school re-opens.

All pupils should ensure that they have logged into Glow via the Glow website (login must be via the Glow website, not through apps – Glow – Sign In (rmunify.com) . This will help us target those struggling to access Glow. Any pupil not to have logged in since we closed in December should do so as soon as possible. Work will be posted from Thursday 7th onwards

School staff remain on holiday until Wednesday 6th January. Urgent enquiries should be directed to us via the ‘Contact Us’ form on our website. Further updates are likely to follow in the coming days, particularly around the collection of jotters and free school meal entitlement.

Update – Since posting, it has been confirmed that those entitled to Free School Meals who are not in attendance will receive a school meals payment to cover the period between 6th January and 31st of January. Anyone entitled to Free School Meals who is in attendance will receive a meal on site as normal. All others in attendance can access the canteen to pay for meals as they normally would.

Kind Regards

Mr Kane

Contact Us

Dear Parents/Carers,

EAC shared the letter found at the end of this post via school apps earlier today.  I have summarised some of the key points as follows.

Wednesday 6th January

School closed to ALL pupils, staff return to school as planned.

Thursday 7th January and Friday 8th January

School is open for pupils where ALL parents/carers residing within the pupil’s household are key workers, need to be at work on those days, and have no access to informal childcare.

Parents/Carers who meet the necessary criteria must register with EAC as soon as possible. To access the relevant online form, please click here. The letter shown below defines those regarded as Key Workers.

Any pupils identified by school or social work staff as vulnerable will also be in school on Thursday 7th and Friday 8th January.

Pupils in school on these days will be directed to online content for completion when in school.

All other pupils remain off school until Monday 11th January.

Monday 11th January until Friday 15th January inclusive

Pupils of registered Key Workers continue to attend school on days where Key Worker parents/carers are working.  Those pupils identified by Social Work and school staff as vulnerable, can also attend school. Pupils in school on these days will be directed to online content for completion when in school.

All other pupils will work online via Glow, and will have work set in advance of Monday 11th.

Monday 18th January Onwards

It is the intention of government to resume full time learning and teaching in school as of Monday 18th January.

January Assessment Diet

At the moment, we intend to move our planned assessment diet so that it now begins during the week beginning Monday 18th January. The timetable should be read as starting on Wednesday 20th rather than Wednesday 13th. As such, pupils in S4-S6 should continue to prepare for January assessments as they would have intended. We will clarify our position on this once back at work.

Communication with school

All communication with the school should be sent via the Contact Us form on our webpage. School staff are on holiday, and we respectfully request that this is taken into account if awaiting a response from school staff before Wednesday 6th January.

Contact Us

Letter to Parents/Carers

Click to access Letter-to-all-parents-and-carers-22.12.20.pdf

Dear Parents/Carers,

Please find below a message from Julie Muir, Strategic Education Manager. As you know, the initial consultation on the proposed relocation of Willowbank Senior Phase pupils to a bespoke area within our campus was postponed in December.

Kind Regards

Mr Kane

Please note that the Statutory Consultation to examine the proposals to extend Willowbank School by creating a new self-contained facility at St Joseph’s Campus  will resume in January 2021. The Public Meeting (Video Conference) is scheduled to take place on Thursday 14 January 7pm-9pm and login details will be provided via the School App. I would like to take this opportunity to welcome all parents/carers to participate in the meeting. 

As the holidays approach, I hope you are able to safely spend some quality time with family and friends over the Christmas period and I look forward to meeting with you all in the New Year.

Shared on behalf of Julie Muir (Strategic Education Manager – Inclusion)