Dear Parents/Carers, Spring is always an expression of new life. We are all looking forward to the day that our lives will assume a sense of normality! The future will require ongoing vigilance, with respect to COVID-19, but I hope that our control measures along with mass testing will soon allow students back to school. On Monday 22 February further information will be available about the programme of returning to learning onsite. This may entail a staggered return to school to facilitate the mass testing process, of each year group, using the laminar flow devices. Our test facility can test approximately 250 people per day and each year group will require two tests, 3 to 5 days apart. To make the testing secure and effective we may be required to follow a staggered return to school. Please look at the video describing the testing process and if you haven’t already done so, as well as ensuring that you have completed this form giving your consent to testing. While learning onsite is a few weeks away, learning online recommences from 8:30am on Monday. It has been encouraging to see how most students have been engaging well. A reminder that we expect all students to follow their timetable each day. Students need to indicate their presence during tutor registration or in a lesson by greeting the teacher in the chat facility (e.g. “Good morning, Mrs Smith”). This is the best way to ensure each student is registered as present in a lesson. The next step, for a student, in each lesson is to demonstrate their engagement by asking and answering questions and, most importantly, by completing the assigned tasks. Each week we will continue to provide parents with feedback on the attendance in lessons and the engagement levels (1-4), with 1 representing an outstanding contribution. A huge thank you to parents and carers for the work that they are doing at home to sustain the education of our young people. Together we can do so much! A report providing assessment information based on the tests and assignments undertaken by students during the past half term will be shared with you soon. This will detail a score out of 60 along with a statement indicating the extent to which your son or daughter is making progress and an indication of their effort which we call ‘Responsibility for Learning’. We trust that the report, due to be available on Friday 26 February, will provide a marker as to their current educational progress. Our Sixth Form Virtual Open Evening takes place on Wednesday 24 February. Details about this are available on our website. Please share the opportunity to join this live online briefing with everyone who may be considering our Sixth Form. If you wish to attend, please register for the event using this link. Finally, over the course of the next half term we will be hosting a series of parents’ evenings online using SchoolCloud. This software allows us to work together to schedule appointments with subjects teachers. The software allows parents to easily make appointments or be invited to an appointment by a subject teacher. Look out for further details. Please let us know if there is anything we can do to improve further. We want an open dialogue with parents and carers, so that through the closest communication, we can together, support the young people of Grace College to achieve their dreams. Yours faithfully, Mr M Hall
Principal | 
