A paper copy of the letter below is being given out to all pupils in school today. It gives parents and carers an update of the current situation and its impact on us as a school. I wanted to keep you as informed as possible in this fast moving situation, which has not always been possible to this point.
In simple terms, the school will be closed for most pupils after today and the SQA exam diet for 2020 has been cancelled. However, as requested by the Government, we will offer alternative in-school arrangements for 3 groups of pupils:
- Children of Key Workers
- Pupils in S4 – S6 with SQA coursework outstanding
- Vulnerable young people in S1 – S3 who would benefit from in-school provision at this time.
The letter gives further details for all these groups. I will request information about those in Group 1 in a separate post. We will contact those in Groups 2 & 3 directly over the next couple of days.
In addition, we will now provide learning and teaching through online means for all our young people and this will continue for the duration of the school closure. Pupils have been prepared for this.
This is a very challenging situation for us all – pupils, parents, staff and the wider community – the like of which I have never seen in my 40 years in education. I would encourage us all to continue to work together in the manner that has characterised this community over my time here. I can assure everyone that we are working hard to ensure that none of our young people will be disadvantaged by this situation.
The schools do not require to close until 5pm today so Friday Club is still on for one last time for the foreseeable future. This is what makes Barrhead High so special for me, and I hope for you too – the staff came to me asking to allow it to continue. Having risk assessed it, we will leave the building on our usual high even in these difficult days!!
