Congratulations to Amy Jones Year 13 pupil who was involved in the first ever Zoom meeting between pupils and the Minister of Education, Peter Weir.  6 pupils from other schools took part in the question and answer session with the Minister and Amy asked a number of questions about what it would be like returning to school again in September during the pandemic.  Well done Amy in keeping the Minister on his toes and trying to give us some idea what it might look like in September.

Dear Parent/Guardian,

I hope that you and your family are keeping well.

It is hard to believe that we are soon to begin week 9 of home-schooling.  I want to personally thank you all for your assistance with this thus far- l realise that this is not ideal and that our young people are not just missing out on the classroom teaching but also on the social interaction with their peers.

Following the publication of the Northern Ireland’s Executive for easing the lockdown, it now appears certain that your child will not return to school later this term.  It is also likely that the new academic year starting in September will look very different as well, with the likelihood being some form of phased return of pupils alongside the continuation of online learning.  Over the coming days we, as a school, will begin to look at plans for this and how things might develop later in the year. 

At this time of the year your son/daughter would have been preparing for summer exams, which, for obvious reasons will not now take place, however, it is our intention that reports will still be sent out to all parents at the end of June.  In the meantime, could l encourage you to keep your child working as best you can.  Staff are still busy preparing, uploading and marking work.  Some students in Year 11 will now begin to receive some year 12 work as they make a start on next year’s courses, so it's extremely important that emails and MS Teams are continually checked.  Similarly, some year 10 pupils (over the next few weeks) will be given work to do based on the subjects they have chosen for GCSE.  This will not be all subjects and again it is important that Year 10 pupils check their emails and any new MS Teams on a regular basis.  Unfortunately, a very limited number of subjects in the year 10 options will not run next year so some pupils will be directed towards their 2nd choices. Likewise, we would encourage pupils in Years 8 and 9 to check MS Teams on a daily basis for work as teachers are setting up teams for Junior classes and most, if not all, work will be set in this way for the foreseeable future.   I will forward any more information on to you if, and when, it becomes available.  If there are any issues, then please continue to contact us through the school email account. 

Wishing you all well and stay safe.

S Fleming

Please see the attached letter regarding the release of the Children & Young People’s version of the Safer Schools App.  This is an excellent app for Parents and Pupils to use especially at this time when there has been a surge in online activity with remote learning.

Safer Schools NI Letter