THE FOX’S UPDATE February 2021 So, we reach the end of another term and I would like to start Due to the government’s decision to cancel the GCSE and this “Fox’s Update” by thanking all of the parents and guardians BTEC exams we will not be running our Pre–Public Exams who have worked so hard to support our students with their (PPEs or mock exams) in Year 11 as originally planned. Instead learning in this half term. It really has been a tremendous effort students will take part in a series of in class assessments run to help your children take part and engage in the live lessons by their teachers at some point in their first three weeks on and remote learning that has been provided. returning to school. Equally the Year 10 Raising Achievement Evening on the 4th March has been postponed as we are not Due to your support 94% of students were accessing live clear if the Year 10 internal exams can run after Easter as lessons last week, a considerable improvement on the early originally planned. More details on our plans for assessment in weeks of the term - so on behalf of our students, thank you all years will be made clear once we know the arrangements for your support. for the full re-opening of the school. We have provided over 100 students with laptops during On a different note it is World Book day on 4th March. The lockdown and have been able to support more than 130 English team are planning a series of activities to celebrate this students on site each day as part of the Critical Worker and day so please do all you can to support your child to help Vulnerable Student group. Events including Year 11 Parents’ them read widely and regularly during this period of remote Evening and Year 8 Option Evening have taken place virtually learning. As a parent/guardian, supporting your child to read and students in Years 8-11 received their second school report for pleasure is one of the most powerful things you can do to of the year today. So we are continuing to operate “as normal” help with their education. within the restrictions placed upon us. I would like to thank all of the students, both those that are As of yet we do not know the plans for the full re-opening of working at home and those that continue to attend school, schools. We understand that an announcement will be made for their ongoing resilience and the responsible attitude so on the 22nd February regarding the plans from the 8th March. many of them have demonstrated towards their learning. It is So, for the first two weeks after half term, the school will truly commendable and we look forward to welcoming them continue to provide live lessons and remote learning. For those all back to Bishop Fox’s sometime soon. in the Critical Worker and Vulnerable Student group, a place at school can be booked through the usual booking system. Have a safe, relaxing and enjoyable half term. As soon as we have more details regarding the government’s plans for after the 8th March, we will let you know. Mr Blunsum - DATES FOR YOUR DIARY NEXT TERM - 25th February: Year 8 Parents’ Evening 4th March: World Book Day 18th March: Year 10 Parents’ Evening High Standards & High Expectations ENGAGEMENT WITH REMOTE HOME LEARNING PARENTS’ EVENING Thank you to all teachers, support staff, students and Thank you to all the parents and students who attended the virtual parents/guardians for working together to make the roll out of live parents evening for Year 11 last month. Despite some connection lessons a success. 75% of students surveyed last month said that issues, we are pleased to report that 82% of parents attended live lessons is their preferred method of home learning and the which is higher than the in school parents evenings we have run teaching staff have really enjoyed connecting with the students to previously! provide as close to a physical classroom experience as possible. We are pleased to report that engagement with live lessons has The next virtual parents evening is for Year 8 students, scheduled steadily increased since the start of term and our recent reports for 25th February. Please refer to our recent letter for more show that 94% of students have been able to access live lessons in information: the last week. 83% of students are pleased with the level of LAPTOPS feedback they receive about their learning and progress as a result of live lessons so we will continue to streamline our delivering of We have deployed over 100 laptops to support students in lessons via Microsoft Teams. Thank you again to all the accessing their remote home learning. We have also been parents/guardians for supporting their child(ren) with remote successful in applying for a grant to purchase more lap tops to home learning to allow students to learn together positively even further support our students so please inform us via this survey if when they are apart. your son/daughter has limited access to IT: https://bit.ly/3jwLn5Q YEAR 8 OPTIONS HELLO AND GOODBYE During the school closure, Mr Summerill has been leading the Year 8 It is with great sadness that we say goodbye to Mrs Dalling as she options process. Each week, our Curriculum Team Leaders have retires after many years at Fox’s. posted presentations about the choices in their subjects areas via Mrs Dalling was a member of the Maths team for many years and Satchel One. before becoming the Lead Teacher of our Careers department. All of these presentations are now uploaded on to the school website Mrs Dalling has been a loyal, devoted part of Bishop Fox’s and we under the ‘Curriculum - Options’ tab. The presentation that Mr will all miss her greatly. Summerill made to all Year 8 and their parents on Thursday 4th February is also available to view, along with FAQs. We say a fond bon voyage to Miss McCann who leaves us at half term on maternity leave, we wish her the best luck for her and her Students are now making their choices using the options pack that second child. has been sent to all students. The deadline is 12th March. Congratulations to the winner of This week our AQA Unitary Award Scheme students have been listening and responding to our our Science class book The Gruffalo. We have had lots of fun sequencing and re-telling the story, identifying competition... adjectives in the story to describe the Gruffalo’s appearance and acting out events from the narrative. Teagan (7SL) has won a telescope! The students have worked very hard and have achieved one full AQA unit certificate for English and are well on the way to achieving their second! High Standards & High Expectations WELLBEING SCHOOL NURSE: Our school nurse, Maria Thomas, who was appointed during lockdown to provide the school with a clinic. She will be in school on Mondays – see details below. WORKSHOPS Free family wellbeing workshops are being run through Young Somerset. The courses are free if you are a resident in Somerset and over 19. The next 2 courses are listed below: 15/02/21 - How to Make Physical Activity Fun for the Whole Family in Lockdown. 22/02/21 - Making a Wellbeing Plan for Me and My Family and Sticking to it. To sign up, please visit their website: https://bit.ly/2Z1r5rq STARTING A CONVERSATION Starting a conversation can be difficult, especially if you’re worried that your child is having a hard time. It doesn’t matter what topic the conversation starts with – it’s about the opportunity it gives you both to talk about feelings and to provide comfort. Youngminds have come up with a handy list of ways to embrace these conversations: https://youngminds.org.uk/media/1712/young-minds- conversation-starters_final-003.pdf OLLEE Ollee is a digital friend for children aged 8-11, created by Parent Zone and funded by BBC Children in Need’s A Million & Me initiative, which aims to make a difference to children’s emotional wellbeing. CONSENT It’s designed to help children reflect on how they feel and to process Consent is like being ruler of your own country, population = YOU. The book ‘Respect: Consent, Boundaries and Being in Charge of their experiences with the support and help of their parents and YOU’ guardians - and it does this by offering them advice about a range is a smart, playful guide to consent and bodily autonomy. of subjects: school, family, friends, their body, the internet and the There is an upcoming book, based on this video that’s packed with world. bright and energetic illustrations. For each of these subjects, children can choose an emotion that Readers will learn about boundaries and how to set them; signs of matches how they feel about it: happy, angry, sad, confused, healthy (and unhealthy) relationships; ways to respect themselves frustrated, stressed or worried. and others; how to spot grooming behaviours; what to do if someone makes them feel uncomfortable or unsafe; and much Next, they can choose from a list of topics - for instance, a child more. who was worried about school might be able to select ‘I haven’t done my homework’ as the cause of their worry. Finally, they’ll see Along the way, they’ll be encouraged to reflect on (and improve!) a page of advice about the topic, presented in child-friendly bite- their own behaviour and to practice consent in their daily lives.