Parent Bulletin No.15
Dear Parent/Carer
For the vast majority of our students, today will be their last day physically at school. It is not the way I would have liked to finish the term and 2021; but unfortunately, sometimes things happen beyond our control. We held our celebration assemblies this morning to recognise those students who have achieved, or applied themselves particularly well. Congratulations to all those students who received an award and I hope you will be proud of it. I look forward to awarding more students later on in the year. I will outline the arrangements for next week below and alongside this letter is a comprehensive letter from our Chief Officer outlining the plans for January based on the latest information available to us.
Arrangements for Monday 20th December – Wednesday 22nd December
Years 7 – 9
Pupils have been issued assignments today, along with an explanation from Mr Lofts. Any student not in school today can still access the work via their Year Teams page. Mr Lofts will be holding a live session from 8:50 Monday morning to explain the tasks again via Microsoft Teams. The tasks have been designed to allow students to complete them in a variety of ways and without the need for a computer. Students can either complete them on paper and bring them into school in the New year, complete them via Teams or even take a photo of their paper based work and email it / upload to Teams. Additional work, including extension tasks are also available via Teams.
Years 10 – 11
Pupils will follow their usual timetable but will receive their lessons virtually via Microsoft Teams, similar to the last time we had to deliver remote lessons. All the information necessary to participate in these lessons for students and parents can be found on our website.
Critical Worker / Vulnerable Children Attending School
Students who have been granted a place next week will need to attend in uniform. Provision will be available from 8:30 – 3:45 and a packed lunch will be required. Students attending school are required to be in school uniform unless asked to bring a change of clothes for a particular activity. They will be following the same learning activities as students working as outlined above.
Arrangements for January
At present we are expecting students to return to school on Monday 10 January. In the accompanying letter you can see the information that has been provided to us at present. The directed planning and preparation days fall on the 6th and 7th January which would have been staff inset days anyway so should not affect anyone. We have provisionally booked the 18th and 28th February for the rearranged training days so please note them in your calendar.
We are preparing for a range of possibilities for the new term and will write to parents again by the 7th January to update you.
LFD Tests
Welsh Government are recommending that testing increases to 3x per week from the new year on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. All students should take tests prior to returning to school. The current self-isolation guidance for the Omicron variant could mean that whole year groups have to isolate should we have positive cases in school. Therefore, the best protection is early identification and to prevent it entering school. Test kits are available at school and have been offered to students this week. They are also available from local collection points.
Year 10 English Exam
At present, this is scheduled to take place. Should there be a decision to cancel it then we will inform students and parents as soon as possible. The English Dept intend to run revision sessions on Friday 7th January. If possible, these will be face-to-face at school. If this is not possible, then they will offer the sessions virtually. Invites will be sent directly to students.
Finally, can I thank you all for your patience, understanding and support throughout 2021. It is not an easy time to be a parent, or a student, or work in a school. However, I am confident that working together we will overcome any obstacles and challenges that we face. Your children continue to be positive and are as much of a joy to work with as ever. From myself, and all the staff at Argoed, may I wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!
Season’s Greetings
Mr P Smith
Headteacher