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MerciaSchoolWorkingAtHome

April2020

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1.ThankyouFirstandforemost,wewishtothankyouallforyoursupportandkindwordsduringthisdifficultperiod.Ourstaffhavebeenheartenedbythekindcommentsofparents/carers.Wewillcontinuetodoallwecanforyourchildren.AftertheEasterholidays,weareclosedtoallpupils.Forpupilsofkeyworkersandvulnerablepupils,placesareavailableatthelocalhubschoolatNewfieldSchool,Sheffield.MerciaseniorleaderswillworkwithotherseniorleadersatNewfieldandbeonhandtolookafterpupilswhoneedit.2.WorkingfromHomeWearecommittedtoworkingtogethertomaintainasmuchcontinuityofeducationasispossible.Thingswill,however,bedifferent.Wewillcommunicateregardingeducationviaourschoolwebsite.Updatesandreminderswillbegivenonoursocialmediapages.Allworkcanbefoundhere(stepstoaccessareattheendofthisdocument):https://www.merciaschool.com/news/?pid=3&nid=1&storyid=39Facebookpage:https://www.facebook.com/MerciaSchool/Twitterpage:https://twitter.com/MerciaSchoolTeachershavealreadypreparedbookletsandmadeonlinepreparationsforpupilstolearnathome.Werecommendyoulookateachofthesedocuments,readingthroughthemwithyourchild.Formostsubjects,pupilsneedtocontinuetoworkthroughbookletsasinstructeduntiltheyarecompletedtoahighstandard(includinghighqualitypresentation).Oncebookletsarefinished,pupilsmustworkthroughthesubjectexercisesontheschoolwebsite.Everysubjecthaspublishedexcellentworkthatmustbecompletedwhilsttheschoolisclosed.Pleasenotethatthemathsworkisacombinationofonlineandbooklet-basedwork,pleasereadthemathssubjectupdateforfurtherclarityhere:https://www.merciaschool.com/attachments/download.asp?file=176&type=pdfPupilsshouldcompletethesameamountofworkastheywouldinanormalschoolday.Thisequatestoaminimumof5hourssubjectworkperday,plusatleast1hourofreading.Asparentsandcarers,weaskthatyouencourageandsupportyourchild’slearningathomebyprovidinganappropriateplacetowork,checkingthattheyareengagingwiththeworksetanditiscompletedbytheendofeachday.Itwouldbeahugeshameifthegainswehavemadearelostduringthisdifficulttime.Ifanything,itisnowtimetoworkevenharder!StayHome.ProtecttheNHS.SaveLives.

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3.Howwillwestayintouchwithyou?ContactingSeniorLeadershipIfyouneedtocontactanymemberoftheseniorteam,weareofcourseavailableandhappytohelp.Youcancontactushere:Staff Role EmailMrDWebster Headteacher dwebster@merciaschool.comMrJFisher DeputyHeadteacher jfisher@merciaschool.comMsRHollingsworth AssistantHeadteacher rhollingsworth@merciaschool.comAcademicEnquiriesLinesofcommunicationaremadeclearintheFamilyHandbookandwewouldencourageyoutohavethatdocumenttohand.Academicenquiriesoveremailtocurriculumleaderswillbeanswered,butwecannotguaranteethatresponseswillbeastimelyaswewouldusuallybeabletomanage.TheemailsofcurriculumleadersatMerciaSchoolare:Subject Staff EmailEnglish MsHollingsworth rhollingsworth@merciaschool.comMaths MrBrown abrown@merciaschool.comScience MrCottrill scottrill@merciaschool.comHistory MrBannan tbannan@merciaschool.comGeography MrDunn ddunn@merciaschool.comFrench MrDrury bdrury@merciaschool.comPastoralEnquiriesPastoralenquirieswillbehandledbytheMasteryTutorsinthefirstinstance.ConcernswillbebroughttotheSeniorLeadershipTeamiftheissuecannotberesolvedbytheMasteryTutor.Inaddition,MasteryTutorswillemailandcallperiodicallytoensurestrongcommunicationatthisdifficulttime.MasteryTutorscontactdetailsarehere:Staff Masterygroup EmailMissLHeritage 7A lheritage@merciaschool.comMissCMcKenna 7B cmckenna@merciaschool.comMsCBolton 7C cbolton@merciaschool.comMrJBerry 7D jberry@merciaschool.comMrJJewell 7E jjewell@merciaschool.comStaff Masterygroup EmailMsLMcKevitt 8A lmckevitt@merciaschool.comMrBDrury 8B bdrury@merciaschool.comMrDDunn 8C ddunn@merciaschool.comMissREllis 8D rellis@merciaschool.comMrTBannan 8E tbannan@merciaschool.com

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4.Summary:WorkingatHomePupils:

Þ Checkthewebsiteworkregularly–itisconstantlybeingupdated.Þ Followtheirtimetableeachday(attached)andcarefullyreadtheworkbeingsetand

followinginstructionsasdirectedbysubjectteachersÞ Ensureworkiscompletedtotheexpectedhighstandardintermsofquality,quantity

andpresentationÞ Usetheprintedresourcesprovidedalready,alongsidetheonlineresources

highlighted.Parents:

Þ Shouldbeawareofthis‘WorkatHome’planandtheirchild’stimetableÞ Shouldencourageandsupporttheirchild’slearningathomebyprovidingan

appropriateplacetowork,checkingthat5-6hoursofworkiscompletedbytheendofeachdayandensuringthetimetableisfollowedcorrectly

Þ ShouldcontactMasteryTutorsaboutanyconcernsrelatingtotheirchild’swelfareÞ ShouldcontactCurriculumLeaders/SeniorLeadersaboutanyconcernsrelatingto

academicprogress5.FrequentlyAskedQuestionsa.Willtheschoolprovideworkformychildtobedoingwhiletheschoolisclosed?Yes.Teachershavecreatedworkbookletsandonlinedocumentsforcompletion.Teacherswillbeincontactviaemail/phoneregularly.PupilsandparentsshouldnotexpectteacherstodelivercontentoverSkype,YouTube,SocialMediaorthroughremote‘chat’facilities.Feedbackmaybeprovidedbymathsteachersvia“HegartyMaths”.b.Howwilltheschoolbecontactable?Teacherswillemailparents/carerswhowillupdatetheteachersontheirchild’sprogress.Parentscancontacttheirchild’smasteryteacherthroughemail.c.Howmuchworkshouldmychildbecompletingduringthistime?Teachershavesetasignificantamountofworkandwillcontinuetoupdatethewebsite.BookletsalreadyprovidedandEasterhomeworkpostedprovidesplentytogetalongwith.Simplyput,around5-6hoursadayofworkathome.Clearly,theywillhavemoreflexibilityaroundwhenthathappens,butwewouldencouragethemtomaintainsimilarworkhourstotheexistingschoolday.d.Willworkthatstudentsproduceduringthistimebemarkedorassessed?Wherepossibleteacherswillprovidefeedback.Pupilsshouldbringallbookletsandotherworkintoschoolwhenwereturn.Providingfeedbackremotelyisnotaseasyasitisinperson,soweaskforyourpatienceandunderstandinginthisarea.e.WillIbeexpectedtoprintoffelectronicresources?Notaskwillbedependentonhomeprinting.Teacherswillprovidepaper-basedresourcesinthemain.However,therewillbeonlineinstructionsthatyoumaywishtoprinttohelpyourchild.

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f.Iamunsurewhatworkmychildshoulddo.WhodoIcontact?Beforecontactingteachers,pleasemakesurethatyourchildisfollowingtheinstructionstheyhavebeengivenandhavecloselyreadtheinstructionsontheschoolwebsite/insidethebooklets.Ifyourchildisstuck,pleaseemailtherelevantcurriculumleaderormasterytutor.Shouldyounotreceivearesponsewithintwoworkingdays,pleasefeelfreetorepeat,butwewillbegivingstafftimeoffinlieuoftheirEasterbreakandweknowsomecolleagueswillbeaffectedthemselves.g.Mychildisbecomingveryworriedandanxious.I’mconcernedabouttheirwell-being.WhatcanIdo?Inthisinstance,pleaseemailtheSeniorTeamandwewillcallyoudirectlytoassistandadvise.6.KeepingChildrenSafe:ExternalagencieswhocanhelpWhilstweareoffschool,ifyouhaveanysafeguardingconcernsaboutyourownchild,oranyother,thesenumbersmaybeofuse:Agency NumberSafeguardingChildrenAdviceLine Tel:01142053535ChildProtectionEnquiryTeam(outofofficeviaHealthcall)

Tel:01142735655/2053714

SheffieldChildren’sSafeguardingPartnership. Tel:01142734450SocialServicesChildProtectionCo-ordinators:Fax:01142734628

Tel:01142734934

ChildProtectionAdvisers: Tel:01142262138/39/40/41/42/43NSPCCChildProtectionHelpline: Tel:08088005000ParentlinePlus: Tel:08088002222Careline(confidentialcrisistelephonelineforchildren,youngpeopleandadults):

Tel:02085141177

Childline: Tel:08001111Police: Inanemergency,ring999.Toraisea

concernthatisnoturgent,ring111MentalHealthSupportMindhavecreatedaguideforpeopletoadvisethemonwaysofmanagingourmentalhealthduringavirusoutbreak.Pleaseseelinktotheguidebelow:https://www.mind.org.hk/wpcontent/uploads/2020/02/ResponseCoronavirusENG6.2.2020-.pdf

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Accessingworkonthewebsite

Step1:Clickonthebannerthatsays“UpdatesforParentsandPupils”.Thiswilltakeyouontothepagewherepupilworkisstored.

Step2:Scrolltothebottomofthepage.Workissortedbysubject.ClickonthePDFthatyouwanttoworkon.

Step3:Readthetaskscreatedbythesubjectteams.Workthroughasmuchasyoucan.Someoftheworkinvolvesoldbookletssohavethemorganisedandready.