New School Week from August 2021

North Lanarkshire schools are moving to a four and a half-day week from August 2021, which means that school will officially finish at 12.30pm on a Friday.

There will be no reduction to the key curriculum subjects. Monday to Thursday will finish at the same time and in place of that extra period on a Friday afternoon, there will be a range of exciting voluntary opportunities.

As a result of the pandemic, young people may feel they have missed out on the social interaction at school, involvement in sport, creative channels and skills development. The voluntary afternoon is an opportunity to make up ‘lost time’ in those areas, as well as gaining skills for learning, life and work.

The fresh and innovative programme spans the fields of employability, music, sport and arts, health and wellbeing, digital learning, outdoor education, and academic and leadership development will give young people greater opportunities to be job-ready, independent, confident and better equipped for post-school experiences.

You can find out more  by clicking on this link and by clicking on the image below https://www.northlanarkshire.gov.uk/schools-and-learning/future-fridays-its-yours-make

Future Friday
Future Fridays

 

Please see the attached letter from Derek Brown, Executive Director, Children and Families re the new structure to the school week from August 2021:

Click to access FINAL-parent-letter-32-period-week-8.3.21-002.pdf

Phase 2 Return to School (15 March)

Update 3rd March 2021

Yesterday the First Minister made an announcement regarding Phase 2 of the phased return of pupils to in school lessons from Monday 15th March. This has taken many by surprise and was not something we were planning for.

The Senior Leadership Team in the school met this morning and had initial discussions around 6 key areas :

  1.  Criteria, for who can be in the building and for how long;
  2.  Parameters, 2m social distancing, key worker pupils, vulnerable pupils, capacity of each room, only 14 days;
  3.  New timetable for 14 days;
  4.  Information sharing, with staff, pupils, and parents
  5.  Plan in action; and
  6.  Remote learning.

We will share our plans in due course, it is a very complex challenge and we want to maximise the learning for all pupils.

John Robertson
Headteacher
Calderhead High School

Practical Learning Sessions for S4-S6

Update: We can only have a maximum of 41 Senior Phase pupils in the building at the same time. So although it looks as we could have added more pupils to the sessions, we needed to take account of pupils who will need to be in school due to transport arrangements.  These pupils will be in the library studying quietly when not in a Practical session.

Please bear in mind that certain staff will be in class teaching on the days of the Practical Sessions and other staff will have to supervise keyworker and vulnerable pupils more often.

The Scottish Government has prioritised the return of Senior Phase Learners based on the practical subjects they are studying. The Scottish Government have been very specific about who can attend and which subjects they can do work in. They have limited the number of Senior Phase pupils in the school at any time to between 5% and 8%. We are also limited by the number of pupils we can have in each classroom as all members of the school community must keep a 2m distance.  The 2m distance and wearing a face mask also applies on school transport.

The children of keyworker parents and those on our vulnerable list should continue to attend as normal.

A version of this message was sent to the 100 S4-S6 pupils who are eligible to come to school on every limited basis for PRACTICAL LEARNING.

“At Calderhead if you are in S4, S5 or S6 and are studying any of the following courses:

  • Practical Metalwork
  • Practical Woodwork
  • Graphic Communication
  • Admin and IT
  • Art & Design
  • Music
  • Design and Manufacturing
  • French (Speaking)

then you are expected to return to school on a very limited basis from Monday 22nd February.  We have set aside five half days for these Practical Learning sessions. The morning session starts at 0900 and finishes at 1130. The afternoon session starts at 1230 and finishes at 1500. This is to avoid those pupils who are already in school as part of the key worker and vulnerable pupil scheme.

You are asked to report directly to the class and to avoid the social area. The library will be open during the day.  School meals will be available as normal from 12 Noon.Please remember to wear a face mask, sanitise your hands on entry and to wash your hands thoroughly at regular intervals.  All Senior Phase (S4-S6) pupils are asked to use the toilets next to the library.

There is no need for School Uniform to be worn for these Practical Sessions, please dress appropriately, no football colours, no offensive slogans etc.

Please note if there is no subject next to the session then you are not expected to be in school at that time unless you are dependent on school transport. You are only expected to be in school when you have a subject session, if you need to get a school bus to school or home then please study quietly in the library when not in a subject session.
This timetable is unique to you.

Practical Learning Session Subject
Monday AM 0900 to 1130
Monday PM 1230 to 1500
Tuesday AM 0900 to 1130
Tuesday PM 0900 to 1500
Thursday AM 0900 to 1130

The Scottish Government has also asked that pupils in S4-S6 are offered the chance to use the Lateral Flow Tests twice a week. These test kits can be collected from the school office from Friday, 19th February.  This is a voluntary scheme to help identify and isolate those people who have COVID 19 but do not feel ill or have any symptoms (asymptomatic).”

Please bear in mind we are now deploying staff on supervision duties in school, preparing and teaching Practical Learning Sessions in school and asking them to prepare and deliver learning remotely across all year groups and and to provide feedback in a timely manner.  Many of these teachers are also attempting to home school their own children at the same time.

John Robertson

Headteacher

Calderhead High School

Main Contact Email Addresses

On our system each pupil has a Main Contact, we now have an email address for 87% of these contacts. We are using these email addresses to communicate with parents and carers. We have sent out a text today to those where an email is missing, asking for a current email address.

We have now sent out two pupil engagement reports for S4, S5 & S6 pupils and one report for S1, S2 and S3 pupils. We plan to do this on a weekly basis. We are using the email address of the Main Contact. If you think you should have had a report this week and have not received it can you please check your spam/junk folder and if it is not there then please contact the school.

John Robertson
Headteacher
Calderhead High School

Cost of the School Day Questionnaires

Cost of the school day questionnaires have been placed in of the four House Teams. There is both a pupil and parents/carers version to complete as soon as possible. These will help us form our Poverty Proofing Policy. The questionnaires will only be returned to the pupils’ Principal Teacher of Pupil Support and will be treated with confidentiality.

Thank you for your help.

John Robertson

Headteacher

Headteacher’s Update Tuesday 2nd February 2021

The First Minister has announced that from 22nd February 2021 there will be a “part-time return, but on a very limited basis, for Senior Phase pupils to allow in school practical work that is necessary for the completion of national qualification courses”

We shall let you know when we have more details of this phased return.

Please note that the next Tea with the Headteacher is on Thursday 4th February at 6pm. Please email me ht@calderhead.n-lanark.sch.uk if you would like the link to join the meeting, which shall be an informal discussion lasting no more than 45 minutes.

John Robertson

Childcare during the February holiday (key workers)

Half-term Hub Support

To assist colleagues directly dealing with the health response to the pandemic, North Lanarkshire are providing childcare support over the school half-term holiday from Monday 8 to Wednesday 10 February at six school-based hubs.

This service is only for key workers who are assisting with the ongoing health response with the NHS, other emergency services, or who are involved directly with the vaccination programme.

We have very few childcare spaces and this service should only be accessed if absolutely necessary for children of key workers that are in early years, ASN, primary or secondary schools. The childcare support will be delivered by Culture and Leisure North Lanarkshire, Active Schools and Community Learning and Development providing a range of activities.

Schools are not open due to the holiday but the six hubs below will be open for urgent childcare BUT you do need to tell us if you need access to it.

The hubs will be open from 8.30am until 4pm on each of the three days at the following schools:-

Cumbernauld Academy, South Kildrum Ring Road, G67 2UF
St Ambrose High School, Townhead Road, Coatbridge, ML5 2JE
Hilltop Primary School, Petersburn Road, Airdrie, ML6 8BH
Cathedral Primary School, Milton Street, Motherwell, ML1 1DH
Clyde Valley High School, Castlehill Road, Wishaw, ML2 0QS
Calderhead High School, Dyfrig Street, Shotts ML7 4DH

Parents/carers should apply for a space and prove eligibility using the online form which will be available on the https://www.northlanarkshire.gov.uk/holidayhubs web page and forms should be submitted by 4pm on Friday 29 January 2021.

Please note that this provision should be considered as emergency childcare for key worker parents. Lunches and snacks will be provided but there will be no transport available.

Report a Glow concern
Cookie policy  Privacy policy

Glow Blogs uses cookies to enhance your experience on our service. By using this service or closing this message you consent to our use of those cookies. Please read our Cookie Policy.