Category: SQA

06/05/2020

Rector Update & Letter from the Head of Education

Dear Parent/Carer,

I hope you are all safe and well. Please find attached to this update a letter from Maria Lloyd, Head of Education with further information about SQA and how national qualifications are to be awarded this year. As ever any questions or concerns do not hesitate to get in touch.

SQA estimates letter to parents 5 May

Teams Update

Thank you to all the parents who have supported us to get their young people set up in Teams to move our learning forward. A number still have to go online and enter the appropriate code to allow access to learning. Please try to ensure your child has done so by the end of the week so that there are no gaps in learning, as all programmes will be progressing as planned.

Next steps for Teams will be for us to use an analytical tool built into the system to monitor levels of pupil engagement, to track whether or not pupils are logging in to view materials, upload work and communicate with teachers. We will feed back to you if we feel there are any issues and plan what we can do to support.

Please note that the timetable has not moved on as such, plans for this are in line with previous years and individual pupil timetables will be issued early June as normal.

Reporting

There will be no further reporting to parents for the remainder of the Session. One of the clear advantages of us moving as a school to regular and succinct tracking reports throughout the year is that young people all received reports in Term 3 and therefore we will resume tracking of progress next Session.

PE Choice – S3

Thank you to young people for completing the Teams quiz and sharing choices for the S3 PE curriculum. Obviously, as with all learning this term and next, participation will be dependent on the recovery plan set out by the Scottish Government and Fife Council with regards to our return to school. Further information on this will follow as and when we hear more.

Bell Baxter Parent Council

We had a lovely meeting Monday evening with some members of the Parent Council – was great to see everyone, albeit remotely! A key part of the discussion was thinking about delivery models for remote learning. We had already established a working group within the school to consider this and pilot models however we would like to tap into any expertise/interest from parents out there.

If you would be interested in linking with the group, please email Karen Brown, the Chair of the Parent Council on bellbaxter.parentcouncil@gmail.com

P7 Transition

Sadly our transition programmes have been pretty much wiped out as a result of COVID. However, we are working on a number of things behind the scenes to try to plan various ways of connecting with our primary 7s. Further information to follow on this soon.

Awards Ceremonies

We are in the same position as above with awards ceremonies. Again we are thinking creatively around this and will be sharing more in the next few weeks in terms of how we plan to conduct these extremely important celebrations of our young people’s hard work and achievements.

Guidance Contact

The Guidance Team are working through each of the young people in their year groups to make contact and check in with you all. With between 250 – 300 young people per year this is a huge undertaking but well worth it. They have now spoken to approximately 50% of their year groups each and will be continuing to work on speaking to you all over the coming days and weeks. If you have any worries at all however please do not wait for them to call. You can email each of them directly on the following emails:

S1 carron.pour@fife.gov.uk

S2 tara.pollock@fife.gov.uk

S3 kirsty.simcock@fife.gov.uk

S4 niall.duncan@fife.gov.uk

S5/6 anne-louise.cunneen@fife.gov.uk

I think that is everything! As ever stay in touch and we will do our best to help you in this difficult time.

Best wishes

Carol Ann

Carol Ann Penrose

Rector

Bell Baxter High School
Carslogie Road
Cupar
Fife
KY15 4HY
Tel. 01334 659459
Online www.bbhs-online.co.uk
Twitter @BellBaxter_HS
Facebook @BellbaxterHS

24/04/2020

School Update – 24th April, 2020

Dear Parents/Carers,

I hope you are all safe and well, coping as best you can with life under COVID-19. Welcome back after the Easter holidays. I have to say that this is the most surreal first week back to school I have experienced in my career, and I know you will all be feeling the same. National information, both in terms of health & safety and SQA qualifications, is moving at a pace, and we are working hard as a team to digest this information and share what this means for you and your families in terms of impact on education. This takes time to embed and I thank you sincerely for your very strong support for myself, the staff and the school – it has been very moving and means such an awful lot to us to know you are there for us also.

SQA Qualifications

Further information from both SQA and our Head of Education, Maria Lloyd, on the processes being used to provide young people with qualifications in the scenario of no examinations, was sent out on Monday evening. In short, we are being asked to submit estimates for every course studied, by 29th May, 2020. Estimates will be arrived at holistically, on the basis of a range of data including formal internal examinations, (such as prelims), end of unit tests, classwork, homework and teacher professional judgement. There will be robust quality assurance of the estimates submitted by Faculties and myself, Faculty PTs and Alastair Lownie, Depute Rector, will analyse submissions in detail, triangulating data against the additional attainment we have been provided by Fife to support us with this.

Please be aware that estimates submitted by the school are not final results and may change.

Once SQA receive our estimates, they will then undertake their own quality assurance and final results will be sent to young people on 4 August. To ensure your son/daughter receives results on this day please ensure that they are signed up to mySQA. I appreciate that this is a very unusual and worrying time for many young people and their families. Our aim is, as always, to put young people first and ensure that their results reflect what they would have been likely to achieve were they able to progress to examinations. If you are concerned, I would be grateful if you did not contact class teachers or Faculty PTs at this point. Rather, please email your son/daughter’s Guidance teacher in the first instance.

S4: Niall Duncan – niall.duncan@fife.gov.uk.

S5/S6: Anne-Louise Cunneen – annelouise.cunneen@fife.gov.uk.

Learning at Home

Thank you for the many emails we have received recognising teachers’ efforts to keep learning ongoing. For many of us this has been a steep learning curve and I am delighted with all teachers’ work in up-skilling themselves in the use of digital technologies. We seem to have resolved most of the hardware issues for staff and all should be up and running, setting work for classes on a weekly basis as a minimum.

The entirety of our remote learning has been set up on Teams and we have shared help guides with you previously around how to access this. Should anyone require additional copies to be sent out then please email: Bellbaxterhs.Enquiries@fife.gov.uk.

It has become increasingly clear (even more so after the First Minister’s statement last night) that we will not return to school before summer and that, until a vaccine is produced, ‘normality’ will be very different from what we are used to, with social distancing measures continuing in some form. This has obvious implications for schools and we will be working closely with our colleagues in Fife and listening to national advice, to put some detail out to you over the next weeks and months.

In the meantime, however, we are keen to keep the learning relevant and maximise engagement in courses by moving learning forward a month early from the week beginning Monday 4th May. In most subjects this will apply from S2 to S5 however there are a few exceptions as noted below. We feel this is a real opportunity to consolidate on work and move on into the next level, importantly, in the courses that our young people have chosen for next year.

New Timetable Set-Up on Teams

Firstly, it is safe to say that setting up classes for a new timetable on Teams and doing so remotely is a huge logistical task! I am extremely grateful to the PTs and wider staff for their solution-focused approach and administrative support around doing this. It shows how much Bell Baxter is focused around putting our young people at the heart and it gives me a lot of pride to know that. Much appreciated.

Set up will take place next week from Monday 27th April. Each Faculty will have a different day for set up (see table below). Set up involves all parents being emailed a Teams code for their young person on that day. It is important that you give this to your young person and ensure they go into Teams, find their class and enter the code. Once they do so, they become a member of that teacher’s Team and can access specific work from Monday 4th May 2020.

Faculty	Teams Set up Day	Year groups moving class?
Languages	Monday 27th April	S1 same class. S2-S5 move on a year
Technologies	Monday 27th April	S1 same class. S2-S5 move on a year
Maths & Computing	Tuesday 28th April	S1 same class. S2-S5 move on a year
Social Subjects	Wednesday 29th April	S1 same class. S2-S5 move on a year
English	Thursday 30th April	S1-S3 same class. S4 & S5 move on a year
Expressive Arts	Thursday 30th April	S1 same class. S2-S5 move on a year
Health & Wellbeing	Friday 1st May	S1 same class. S2-S5 move on a year
Science	Friday 1st May	S1-S2 same class. S3-S5 move on a year.

Monitoring Pupil Engagement in Learning

As we progress it will be important that we know as a school who is and isn’t engaging with their learning on a regular basis. Whilst I am very sensitive to the range of difficulties you may be managing as a family, we are here to support and minimise any negative impact on your child’s learning. Gathering information in this way allows us to understand the scale of learning that is taking place and address any barriers to learning working alongside you.

At the moment I am asking teachers to set work a minimum of once per week, providing tasks and activities that will sustain learning for the week however more may be required depending on the year group and course. If anyone is struggling to manage, again please let us know by emailing the Guidance teacher directly and help will be forthcoming. Guidance direct emails are listed below.

2020/21
S1 Guidance (new)	Anne-Louise Cunneen	anne-louise.cunneen@fife.gov.uk
S2 Guidance	Carron Pour	carron.pour@fife.gov.uk
S3 Guidance	Tara Pollock	tara.pollock@fife.gov.uk
S4 Guidance	Kirsty Simcock	kirsty.simcock@fife.gov.uk
S5/6 Guidance	Niall Duncan	niall.duncan@fife.gov.uk

Fife Music Instructors on Teams

For those young people who receive music instruction from the school, please be aware that there is also a Teams set up for these classes to allow ongoing practice. If anyone has any questions or issues with accessing instructors please either email the Principal Teacher of Expressive Arts, David Beckett (david.beckett@fife.gov.uk) or alternatively you can speak to Fife’s Music Co-ordinator, Mrs Sandra Taylor (sandra.taylor@fife.gov.uk). Either would be more than happy to help.

Talk to us!

Finally, we love hearing from parents and, particularly in these times, it makes us all feel a wee bit less isolated from each other. Over the next weeks we will be exploring ways to build that ongoing dialogue with our parent community, so that you can give us feedback on how we are doing, what is working well, what could be better and ideas for how we might improve. If anyone has any ideas please feel free to email the school and share, it would be great to get some inspiration!

Look out also for the new school website that we are hoping to launch soon…more to follow!

In the meantime, it looks as if it is going to be another beautiful day – thank goodness for a bit of sunshine to keep us all going! I wish you all well. Keep safe and I’ll be back in touch soon.

Best wishes

Carol Ann

Carol Ann Penrose

Rector

Bell Baxter High School

Carslogie Road

Cupar

KY15 4HY

Tel: 01334 659459

VOIP 451741

Website: http://www.bbhs-online.co.uk

Twitter: @Bellbaxter_HS

21/04/2020

SQA Update – 21st April, 2020

Message from Maria Lloyd – Head of Education at Fife Council

The SQA provided a further update today on how schools will determine estimate grades, bands and rank order to be submitted to SQA to allow them to make awarding decisions this year: https://www.sqa.org.uk/sqa/93920.html

Across all of our schools, we are working to ensure that our young people get recognition for their hard work and receive the qualifications they deserve. The SQA have asked us to subdivide each existing band, place learners within these band categories and then to rank order their learners within each estimated grade. The estimated grades submitted to SQA will then allow them to use this information along with, where available, prior attainment to ascertain whether a centre’s estimates this session are consistent with outcomes in previous years. All of this information will be used by the SQA to finalise the award outcomes. The SQA will continue to support us in this process through online advice and our teachers will be able access this.

Be assured that our teachers have worked with our young people for a significant period of time and have a range of evidence to draw on, in order to make an accurate professional judgement of what they are capable of achieving. This analysis will allow teachers, departments and schools to arrive at an estimated grade which best reflects the work and the progress your child has made and therefore makes a best estimate of how they might have performed if they had completed coursework or folio and final exam.

To further support teachers and departments across schools, Fife has produced quality assurance materials and provided all necessary data to support our staff in making these estimates.

I again ask you for your continued cooperation and support in this process and not to contact schools for these estimates.

The SQA have also committed to further support through the post results service, which this year will be an appeal process. Results will still be issued to young people by 4 August. We continue to strongly encourage all young people to sign-up to MySQA, the online and text service, as a direct way to receive their results. Further information is available for learners, parents and carers in the Frequently Asked Questions section of the website.

While I accept that this whole process is very different to the normal exam diet, I am confident that by working in close partnership with SQA and across schools, the hard work of Fife’s young people will be properly recognised and accredited.

03/04/2020

SQA Update – 3rd April, 2020

Message from Maria Lloyd, Head of Education – Secondary – 3rd April, 2020

SQA provided an update on Thursday 2nd April, on arrangements for young people completing courses in Session 2019/20. This link also includes Guidance for learners, parents and carers.

We will be providing you with more information following the next update from SQA on 20th April.

Please be reassured that we have until 29th May to submit estimates for our young people completing National 5, Higher and Advanced Higher qualifications and until 22nd May to submit results for National 2, 3 and 4 courses and freestanding units for National 5, Higher and Advanced Higher.

We have already been discussing our processes and procedures with our Secondary Headteachers to ensure we get the best possible outcomes for all of our young people. The extension to deadlines for estimates and results is welcomed as it will allow us to continue these discussions with all subject teachers in the coming months.

Across all of our schools, we are working together to ensure that our young people get recognition for their hard work and receive the qualifications they deserve.

30/03/2020

SQA FAQs – 30th March, 2020

27 March

Dear Pupils, Parents and Carers,

We appreciate that this is a very difficult time for you. We have collated details of the most common questions we are being asked just now which we hope is in some way helpful. As soon as the SQA release the ‘alternative certification model’ we will share it with you. At this moment in time we don’t know any more than you do and therefore share your frustration.

Please appreciate that the detail of the information below could change in-line with new SQA guidance but is correct at this date.

Will my achievements this year be recognised?

Yes. Pupil achievements in all courses will be recognised this year. The SQA will ask teachers to provide an estimate grade for each pupil in each course. The estimate must be based on evidence but will include all pupil achievements throughout the year and not only summative and prelim results. The SQA will also look at other information, including prior attainment, where appropriate e.g. achievement in National 5 if being presented for Higher this year. Estimates will not be sent to SQA until towards the end of April. Estimates are still being provisionally agreed by teachers and PTCs based on the factors mentioned above.

What happens if a pupil did not complete the coursework for a subject?

The latest SQA advice, issued on Tuesday 24 March, stated that schools are now not required to submit coursework for marking in Higher or Advanced Higher courses.

For National 5, most of the coursework has already been submitted to SQA. However, the SQA have now confirmed that coursework which was due to be picked up from school for marking in April and May will not now be collected.

Can a pupil still complete and submit coursework to the SQA online with their teacher?

No. Every course is unique, with different course arrangements. The reason that coursework cannot be completed and submitted to the SQA online is that it will not be accepted by the SQA and, for some subjects, coursework must be completed under exam conditions – timed, without notes, and in full view of a teacher. We therefore cannot have a ‘one size fits all’ approach to coursework which is one of the reasons why the SQA have decided that schools cannot submit work online this year.

Why should a pupil continue to complete online tasks set by a teacher when the school cannot submit any work to the SQA for marking?

We are currently awaiting more information from the SQA about estimation of grades and fuller details of the SQA’s approach to certification this year. We will update families and pupils once we know more. The SQA have advised us that teachers may, however consider pupil work as part of the ‘body of evidence’ they use to decide on estimate grades. Therefore, teachers will continue to work with pupils online to ensure we have as much information as possible when deciding on estimate grades. It is therefore vital pupils keep working!

It is also important that pupils continue to engage with teachers online because that will allow them to develop the knowledge and skills needed to progress to the next level in that subject.

This also applies if a pupil is currently in S6 and preparing for college, university or an apprenticeship etc. If a pupil does not continue to work online, when they are able to do so, then not only will a teacher have less evidence to work with when completing estimate grades, but pupils also risk being ill-prepared for continuing with academic study, or work after the summer. We recognise, of course, the importance of ensuring that pupils who are unwell, or who do not have effective access to IT, are not disadvantaged, and we will work with the SQA to ensure this is not the case.

Will I receive certification for achievements this year?

Yes. The SQA have explained that that results will be issued no later than 4 August, as planned. The SQA are also encouraging pupils to sign up online for MySQA.

How do teachers decide on an estimate grade?

An estimate grade is normally based on several different factors including how the pupil performed in any formal assessments/prelims. Also, performance in any coursework, practical or performance elements and a teacher’s professional judgement of progress, based on evidence produced throughout the year.

This year we know these estimate grades matter more than ever. For this reason, once we have more information from the SQA, we will work with all teachers to make sure that estimates are a good representation of pupil performance.

Does a disappointing prelim grade automatically mean a poor estimate grade?

No. In many cases a prelim does not provide ‘full’ evidence of a pupil’s likely performance in the final exam. This might be because the prelim only tested a portion of the whole course, or it has been improved on by other exam practice after the prelim, or there is other coursework that is not included in a prelim grade. We know that there is often an improvement in performance between prelims and a final exam and we will also take this into account where appropriate.

Can a teacher tell a pupil what their estimate grade is, or what grade they will be awarded by the SQA?

No. We are still waiting on more information from the SQA about estimation of grades and fuller details of the SQA’s approach to certification this year. We will update you further once we know more.

We know that grades will be based on coursework (where this has already been submitted), teacher estimate grades and prior SQA attainment from previous years (where appropriate). We normally submit estimate grades towards the end of April and, in the same way as other years, teachers cannot know what a pupil will be awarded for a course and will not know until Tuesday 4 August when pupils receive certificates.

Estimates provided by the school will form only one part of the process. It is the SQA who will make the final decision and not the school. Please do not contact teachers directly about your estimated grades. They will not be able to tell you what they are.

A pupil has produced work at home – can that contribute to the estimate grade?

Yes. As mentioned above, pupils should continue to work with teachers online to ensure that teachers have strong information to support their finalisation of estimate grades. However, our main aim is to be fair to everyone, so because of the current challenge’s families face, we cannot expect all pupils to complete all tasks teachers set. Although every pupil who can should do their best to complete tasks set by teachers. Pupils should not worry if they cannot complete tasks due to factors out with their control. No pupil will be disadvantaged.

Other areas of concern that that we have been asked about:

What about UCAS applications?

UCAS have provided a statement on their website stating that the grades pupils receive will be as valid as those in previous years, and that there is no reason for the usual admissions cycle to be disrupted. Universities UK has confirmed that institutions will be flexible and do all they can to support pupils to progress to higher education. Remember all young people in the country are in the same position.

Will a teacher’s estimated grade be the same as a pupil’s UCAS predicted grade?

No. Predicted grades were provided in November, and were based on teacher judgement at that point. Estimated grades will be based on much more robust knowledge of pupil progress in courses and might differ from grades provided at the time of UCAS applications.

Can pupils still apply for courses out with school e.g. full-time college courses?

Yes. Fife College and all other providers of courses out with school are currently closed due to the COVID-19 outbreak. However, Fife College staff are continuing to work remotely and will continue to process all applications.

Will Education Maintenance Allowances (EMAs) continue when the school is closed?

EMA payments will continue. It is assumed that pupils are accessing learning online via GLOW and Microsoft TEAMs or other appropriate digital platform.

What if a pupil needs support with what to do next? How can they still get help with this?

We remain committed to supporting our leavers into a positive destination and will do all we can to continue to offer our support during these uncertain times. If a pupil has any questions then they should contact their Guidance teacher directly.

What if pupils or parents have any more questions?

Pupils and parents should contact the relevant Guidance Principal Teacher via e-mail in the first instance. All communication is welcome.