Tag Archives: COVID19

General Information, Information from school

Information re Lateral Flow Device

Lateral flow

You may be aware that the Lateral Flow Device, LFD,  testing programme has been expanded to include S1-3 pupils after the Easter break.  This is a voluntary scheme to helps to identify those who have contracted Covid 19 but do not have any symptoms.

We have been informed today that on Tuesday, 23rd March, Jason Leitch, in partnership with Young Scot, will be hosting two live Q&A sessions for young people regarding the testing programme. The first event will take place at 13:30 for S1-S3 pupils and there will be a further session with S4-S6 pupils at 16:30. The live events will be held on e-Sgoil so that any pupil across Scotland can access.  We hope to share links to these recorded sessions after the event.

Further information is available at http://www.e-sgoil.com/lockdown-live/  

You can also read more on the Young Scot website at https://young.scot/get-informed/national/coronavirus-covid-19-testing-for-young-people-at-school

Information from school, S5

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

General Information

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.

Information from school

Learning from Home Update 2

Message from Headteacher

I hope you are well.  This is a quick update at the end of the first week of lockdown two!

Microsoft Teams are now up and running for all classes following the heavy traffic causing delays on Monday morning. You might find however that you are experiencing some difficulties. If this is the case then please contact us as we are here to help.

Here are four ways we might be able to help:

1. No ICT or internet access? Phone the school on 01501 826701 and ask to speak to your son/daughters’ Principal Teacher of Pupil Support. They might not be in every day due to COVID protocols but the office will forward them a message and they will get back to you.

2. Lost or forgotten GLOW Username or password? Email technology@calderhead.n-lanark.sch.uk  or phone the school to ask that this be reset.

3. Having difficulty accessing specific aspects of the curriculum? In the first instance ask your son/daughter to message their class teacher through Teams. If this doesn’t fix the problem then contact their Principal Teacher of Pupil Support by phoning the school.

4. Speak to us about any pastoral issues. Phone the school on 01501 826701 and ask to speak to your son/daughters’ Principal Teacher of Pupil Support. In an emergency please ask to speak to the Depute Head  for their Year or in their absence the “Duty” member of SLT.

We also have whole cohort Teams and House Teams in order to support pupils.  However if there is any other way we can support your young person’s learning that we have not listed above please contact us and we will do our utmost to try to help.

At the minute with pupils being off the ability for staff to assess pupils’ work is very limited, in particular “under exam conditions”. It is therefore even more crucial that in S4 to S6 we can evidence pupils accessing Teams in case, for whatever reason, the SQA for this year changes again and we are asked to submit “professional judgements”.

John Robertson
Headteacher
Calderhead High School

news

Learning from Home

Learning from Home

Yesterday our staff met in school to plan for the online learning due to begin on the 11th January. As you know pupils will not return to school until at least 1st February. We have been asked by the Scottish Government to provide learning in school for pupils whose parent or parents have been classed as key workers. We have also been asked to provide places for pupils who may require additional support due to circumstances (vulnerable group). School Transport will run as normal  but may change as the lockdown goes on depending on demand.

To cut down on the amount of movement around the school and reduce the risk of spreading the virus we introduced a Red/Blue week timetable. There will be no Red/Blue timetable during this lockdown, this applies to the pupils working from home and the keyworker/vulnerable pupils attending school.

We do not intend at this time to have live online lessons, our experience from the last lockdown was that they were fraught with difficulty and it was much easier for pupils if staff uploaded Presentations and set weekly assignments.   Pupils should engage with their learning on a regular basis, obviously some sort of routine, e.g. a timetable that had been agreed within the family, would be best.

We expect that pupils will be always respectful when engaging with GLOW and TEAMS.

For those pupils whose circumstances mean that they are attending school they will be supported by staff to complete the work set by their subject teachers. In order for staff to prepare, deliver and provide feedback for online learning the supervision of pupils in school will be carried out on a rota basis. I tended to use the phrase, well known to parents across the world, “What do you think the teacher means by that?” when supervising Primary Pupils during the last lockdown.

Year group Assembly on Tuesday 12th January

We plan to have online assemblies on Tuesday morning for all year groups. Pupils will be invited on Tuesday morning to join their assembly through their Year group Team.  A message will appear on Tuesday morning in their Year group Team with a JOIN button, just click it when it is time for your Assembly.

Assembly Times

S5/6 1030

S4 1100

S3 1130

S2 1200

S1 1230

I hope you have had a good holiday. Similar to the last TEAMS Assemblies that we had in June 2020 pupils can post questions in the chat section and I will try to answer them at the end of my presentation.  All cameras and microphones should be turned off, this will help with the quality of the video feed from the school.

Online Resources

The following online resources are available and are highly recommended:

For all pupils BBC BiteSize, materials and resources

For S3 to S6 pupils

SCHOLAR courses, tutorials and resources

Bright Red course materials

E-Sgoil resources and live online lessons

You can find more information and resources on our ‘Learning at Home‘ page.

No Broadband Connection?

The Government website is promoting a scheme for pupils who do not have a fixed broadband connection : “Who can get help? This scheme is open to children and young people who:

  • don’t have access to a fixed broadband connection
  • cannot afford the additional data needed to access educational resources or social care services
  • have access to a mobile device that uses a participating network
  • are facing disruption to their face-to-face education, or have been advised not to attend school

Please click the link below for more details:

https://get-help-with-tech.education.gov.uk/about-increasing-mobile-data

Can I remind parents, carers and pupils that we are here to help. If there is something bothering you or you are unsure about then please ask. No such thing as a daft question during a lockdown!

Take care,

John Robertson

Headteacher

Calderhead High School

 

Information from school

Return to School January 2021

Update January 5th 2021
I hope this finds you well and I hope you have had a chance to spend some time during the break with those dear to you.
In light of the statement yesterday by the First Minister of the planning arrangements for the new term in January, I am providing this update to confirm a number of actions that have been planned or completed in advance of the new term.
Arrangements for the Start of the New Term
Calderhead High School will open only for childcare for key worker children (and children identified as vulnerable) between Wednesday, 6 January and Friday, 8 January. The statement from the FM also makes it clear that from 11 January – 1 February there will be a universal provision of online learning for all students, with the exception of those previously highlighted Key Worker children and those in the vulnerable group, who will be supported in person within our establishments.These arrangements are based on Scottish Government decisions, which are our responsibility to implement.  The only change in this from previous announcements is the extension of the period of on-line / remote learning till 1 February. Therefore, our plans remain as they were prior to the break, with the days of 6 – 8 January key to our planning and next stage refinement.Identifying Key Worker children
In the days 6 – 8 January, those attending school are doing so for childcare purposes.
It is possible that not all key workers will have completed the online form, with further impacts also possible by the general stay at home order announced yesterday.   It is important that any key worker wishing to access in-school childcare does complete the online form, which is referred to in the accompanying parent letter.  Head Teachers are asked to ensure that they do so.  Key worker children can be admitted to schools while this process is being completed – people should not be turned away pending the process.

Planning for the Week of the 11th and Beyond
We know this will be a developing position in January and that there is the possibility of further shifts in arrangements at each Scottish Government review point.  We need to use the first three days of term to continue to effectively plan for the delivery model for the week of the 11th and I am sure that we will learn more about how our planning needs to evolve and what next stage actions best meet expectations whilst mitigating risk.

Plan Effective Delivery
We will take the next few days to create  plans to cater for the children of key workers and vulnerable children, as well as plans to provide online learning for all pupils.

Logistics
At this stage transportation will proceed for the first few days as normal and be reviewed thereafter.  We will keep you updated about this issue.
Even if no pupils attend, Calderhead High School will remain open at this stage.

Over the next few weeks, we will be reassessing the needs of our pupils. If your child is having difficulty accessing work online then please contact the school, preferably their Principal Teacher of Pupil Support Teacher in the first instance.

Please accept my very best wishes for the New Year for you and your family.

John Robertson
Headteacher
Calderhead High School

Please find attached a letter from Derek Brown, Executive Director for Education and Families.

Parent Letter
Letter
Key Worker form
Key Worker Form
Information from school

Face Masks

FAce MasksUpdate: The Calderhead face masks are now available to buy. Featuring the school badge and motto, these black face masks can be washed and reused and cost £2.

Scottish Government guidance requires pupils to wear a face covering on school buses and in communal areas, with S4-S6 pupils also required to wear a face covering in class. We have a limited supply of paper Face Masks for pupils who have forgotten to bring theirs. Unfortunately the number of paper Face Masks that we are handing out is increasing on a weekly basis.

In order to be kinder to the environment I am asking that pupils wear a face covering that can be washed and reused.  To support this we will soon be selling a 2ply cloth Face Mask.

John Robertson
Headteacher
Calderhead High School