All schools in The Corinium Education Trust are following the advice and guidance provided by the Government and Public Health England.

 

I am extremely grateful to the staff of all of our schools for their determined efforts to help us keep our pupils’ learning and wellbeing at the forefront of all we do.

 

While keeping our schools open we are also preparing a curriculum for our pupils to follow in the event of full school closures.

 

‘It is important that all children remain active and curious about the world around us. We want them to continue to engage in rich learning opportunities such as reading, research and self-support study. This can be achieved at home through discrete tasks or creative projects.’ Chiquita Henson, CEO.

 

We are keen to ensure that if we need to take this drastic step all of our pupils are able to continue their education with us. Therefore we are planning for staff and pupils to work and learn remotely. This will focus on carefully assigned activities and, in some cases, virtual lessons.

 

To help us achieve this we will be using a range on online tools and resources across The Corinium Education Trust.

 

In the short term Cirencester Deer Park School has drafted a provisional interim timetable as a guide for pupils to follow.  This is based on a minimum of 3 hours a day for pupils in Years 7, 8 and 9 and a minimum of 4 hours a day for pupils in Years 10 and 11.  It covers the breadth of the school’s curriculum and reflects pupils option choices in Key Stage 4.

 

In addition to this, pupils in Year 11 will be expected to focus on their revision and prepare for their exams.  They will be welcome to contact their teachers by email regarding the areas where they feel less confident.  This will help teachers provide more precisely targeted support. 

 

The school will initially use Show My Homework. Pupils, parents and staff are familiar with this platform and we are proposing to exploit a wider range of its functions. Teachers will provide relevant and meaningful tasks for pupils in their classes to complete independently and will signpost appropriate resources.  These may include textbooks and revision books and websites such as Kerboodle, Seneca and BBC Bitesize.

 

Should the school close for an extended period of time, Cirencester Deer Park School is exploring the use of Microsoft Teams which will enable teachers to work directly with groups of pupils in real time.

 

In our primary schools, headteachers and school staff plan to use their existing school websites (Chesterton Primary School, Kemble Primary School, Siddington CofE Primary School) to assign work. They will also expect pupils to do a minimum of 3 hours a day. This will be done through their class pages and blogs and parents will be advised to check these daily. Activities and tasks will be appropriate and each school has provided parents with a list of the types of learning their children will be asked to undertake.