Coronavirus Information

This page will be updated with any changes to the usual school routine. To receive urgent updates, please ensure we have your correct email address via INSIGHT.

Any important letters can be found at the bottom of this page

BWS Remote Learning System Status

• Insight Parent/Student Portal - Good Service (If you get an error uploading evidence files, check you don't have characters like , & * @ in the filename)
• Staff Remote Desktop - Good Service
• Student Remote Desktop - Good Service
• New web based Remote Desktop - click here to login - Good Service (Facility  to change your password has been added)
• Teams - click here to login - Good Service (username is xxxxx@bws-school.org.uk)
• Email - Good Service
  

A guide for uploading homework to Insight has been added to the bottom of this page

For technical enquiries, please email insight@bws.wilts.sch.uk and we will get back to you as soon as possible.  If you are reporting an error, if possible, please attach a screen shot

Last Updated:-13:00 Monday 18th May

Weekly Parent Briefing by Dr Smallwood

13:00 Monday 18th May

Each week Dr Smallwood will release a Parent Briefing with news, events, information and extra curriculum links.

The latest copy can be found here:- Weekly Bulletin 18th May 2020

Important - Letter to Y11 and 13 Parents - Summer 2020 Exam Grades

14:30 Friday 3rd April

As expected, Ofqual have today released further information on how grades will be awarded this academic year following the cancellation of the exams:

https://www.gov.uk/government/news/how-gcses-as-a-levels-will-be-awarded-in-summer-2020

Ofqual’s letter to students can be found here: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/877830/Letter_to_students_-_Summer_2020_grading.pdf

Please note: Teachers and BWS staff are not allowed to discuss this process or grades with you, but we will continue to update you where we can.

SDS

Important - Message for all Y12 'AS' Further Maths  & Core Maths Candidates

14:15 Tuesday 14th April

We appreciate that this is a stressful and unsettling time for you. We have some guidance for you which we have received from the Examination Boards and Ofqual.

If you have been entered for examinations for Summer 2020 you:

• will be awarded a grade based on centre assessment
• will receive these grades/results in August
• If you are not happy with the grade awarded there will also be an Autumn exam series which you can be entered for.

Teachers cannot discuss these grades, they are confidential.

Please see this useful link which will provide more information - https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/gcses-as-and-a-level-awarding-summer-2020

Please stay safe and well.

Mrs Jan Glasson
Examinations Officer – Centre No: 66715
jg@bws.wilts.sch.uk
Tel: (01722) 424732

Department of Education - Changes to the school admission appeals process

14:00 Thursday 16th April

It is important parents continue to have the right to appeal any school admission decisions. To enable this, the government will be making regulatory changes that, subject to legislation, will come into force on 24 April 2020. The new regulations will relax some of the current requirements set out in the School Admission Appeals Code 2012, giving admission authorities flexibility to manage appeals whilst ensuring families are supported and not disadvantaged by current measures to protect public health.

The guidance can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/admission-appeals-for-school-places 

The government will publish further guidance to support admission authorities and local authorities in carrying out admission appeals.

Important Information - 11 Plus Open Days and Online Applications

09:45 Thursday 2nd April

Please note the status of the following events have changed

• Late Entry Exam June 22nd Postponed
• Open session on April 30th Cancelled
• Open afternoons in June TBC

The online 11+ registration will still open as advertised on April 24th and close July 9th

Letter sent to parents of students in years 7-10

11:30 Tuesday 24th March

At this stage it is difficult to say what will happen over the coming weeks as events are changing on a daily basis, although it looks more and more likely every day that we are in for the long haul. Once it becomes clearer as to the length of the school closure and possible reopening we will notify parents as promptly as possible. When we resume we will have to assess the time available in order to provide meaningful education following the closure - this would include the timing of any examinations and assessments, which for the moment are postponed. The work we are currently providing is aimed at keeping the students engaged and learning so that their return to school will be as smooth as possible.

We hope that you and your families continue to remain safe.

Mr Brown & Mrs Jenner

Student illness during school closure

13:15 Tuesday 24th March

If your son becomes unwell during his time at home, there is no requirement for parents to contact school and inform us. Boys are not expected to continue working while they are unwell and please reassure them about this. They should only resume their work once they are well enough to do so and catch up with the work that has been set as they would usually do if they returned to school. Boys should contact their relevant teacher by email to explain if they have missed a deadline for a piece of work due to illness.

HM Government guidance on keeping children safe online

16:15 Wednesday 1st April

TheDofE have updated their information for parents and carers to include a section on keeping children safe online. It provides links to online resources that will help support parents and carers in keeping their children safe online. Full details can be found in section 6.3 of the guidance for parents and carers on the closure of educational settings: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/closure-of-educational-settings-information-for-parents-and-carers

HM Government guidance on school closure and qualification as a key worker

09:30 Friday 19th March

The Guidance for schools, colleges and local authorities on maintaining educational provision has been published by the Government and can be found here.

For all enquiries, please email rec@bws.wilts.sch.uk

HM Government guidance on closure of educational settings: Information for parents and carers

08:30 Monday 23rd March

The Government statement regarding school closures can be found here.

Cancellation of GCSE, AS and A levels in 2020

08:00 Monday 23rd March

The Guidance for schools, colleges and local authorities on the cancellation of the Summer 2020 GCSE, AS & A Level public exams can be found here.

Guidance for students during school closure

Updated:- 09:30 Friday 20th March

If you are in Yr11 or Yr13, there still seems to be some uncertainty about exactly what will happen regarding your exams this summer. In light of this, it is probably best to keep all of your materials and to do some revision so that you are prepared for any eventuality: it’s better to have done some work and not to need it, than to need it and have done no work.

Whilst the school is closed for you, we will do our best to provide you with resources, exercises and support so that you are able to keep up with your education. Obviously some subjects will be able to do this better than others: English and the Humanities should have few difficulties, but the practical subjects will find it difficult to set work similar to what you’d cover if at school, and Science experiments will also be a bit of a challenge.

You have a part to play in this, too: we will be expecting you to spend sufficient time on the tasks we set (and meet deadlines where necessary) unless you are too ill to do so, or you’re helping others in your family.

It is important to realise that we’ve never been in a situation like this before so we don’t know what will work and where problems might arise. We all need to be flexible – and processes may have to change. If there are difficulties, let us know and we will try to sort things as soon as we can.

Remember also, that we may be ill or be looking after others who are ill – and that, like you, we will probably want to put away our school-work at weekends and during the holidays.

The following should help you understand what we’ve put in place for you. It’s also possible that some teachers may make other arrangements, for example videoing lessons and uploading them to the BWS YouTube Channel, but they will let you know what to do via Insight.

Insight

Your teachers will set work on Insight, either lesson-by-lesson or as work to be done over a course of lessons. This means that you will need to check Insight at least once a day.

You might find it easier to complete the work according to your normal daily timetable, but it is really up to you to organise your time as sensibly as possible so that you don’t fall behind. Think about how much time you would normally spend in lessons for each subject each week, add on the time for homework – and that’s what you should be spending on the work we set.

If your teachers set a deadline for you to complete work by, you must make every effort to meet this.

We have now made it possible for you to submit work through Insight for your teachers to review – they will make it clear which tasks require this, as it may not be necessary for every task.

Save your work with a sensible filename (e.g. surname tutorgroup task) and make sure you save it in a format your teachers can view: using a Microsoft Office app (e.g. .xlsx, .docx, .pptx) or Adobe/Photoshop (e.g. .pdf, .psd).

There is a button on each assignment to submit the work (under the heading Evidence). When you click this, you will be able to drag-and-drop files or browse to find the file you want to upload. (NB - the upload bug from Wed/Thur has now been fixed)

Once your teacher has reviewed your work, you will be able to see their feedback under the assignment title. Unfortunately, Insight doesn’t have the facility for teachers to mark work onscreen – but individual teachers may find alternative solutions.

Please be patient if feedback doesn’t readily appear: your teachers will review the work when they can.

Office 365

All students received an email last week from Mr White telling them about free access to Office 365. This will allow them to install all the usual Office apps on your home computer (Word, Excel, PowerPoint…) – whether it is a Windows PC or a Mac. It also gives them access to Microsoft’s cloud (One Drive) where they can save their school work rather than using the Remote Desktop if you don’t already have cloud storage. Details of how to do this are in his email. It’s important to understand that their school files have not been uploaded to the cloud nor is there any plan for us to do this: this is something you will need to do (if you haven’t already done so), e.g. using Google Drive.

We are also exploring the use of Microsoft Teams (also through Office 365) which offers opportunities for collaborative work. We were planning on developing this for September but in light of school closures we will be doing our best to accelerate this so that we can provide more interactive learning activities. You’ll receive updates on this in due course.

School email

Unfortunately students cannot access your school email via the Office 365 version of Outlook – there simply hasn’t been enough time to set this up.

Although we have increased provision on the Remote Desktop, it’s possible that when many students are using it you may experience sluggish responses. Therefore it would be better to access your school emails via the webmail link on the school website: navigate to the Main School page, click on the Student Portal menu and select Webmail – use your normal school network logon details to proceed.

You can email your teacher if you have any queries about work that has been set – but, again, be patient if you don’t get an immediate reply. It’s also important for you to regularly check your school email as your teacher may have emailed you!

Remote Desktop (Instructions have changed - please read)

The Remote Desktop gives you access to your files saved on the school’s network and to the apps you’ve been using at school, such as Photoshop. As mentioned above, we have managed to increase provision to this so we will be opening access to all years. However, to avoid overloading the system, please do not leave it sitting in the background whilst you are working on something else (unless you need to).

Insight and your school email account can readily be accessed via the school’s website without using the Remote Desktop.

It also makes good sense to start saving work on your home computer or to the cloud so that if there is an issue with the school’s network you can still carry on.

Department of Education - Latest Updates

This is your daily email to keep you updated on the government’s response to COVID-19 (coronavirus).

New guidance for households with symptoms

Yesterday, the Government introduced new guidance on whole household isolation in response to the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak:

• if you live alone and you have symptoms of coronavirus (COVID-19), however mild, stay at home for 7 days from when your symptoms started
• if you live with others and you or another member of the household have symptoms of coronavirus, then all household members must stay at home and not leave the house for 14 days. The 14-day period starts from the day when the first person in the house became ill. It is likely that people living within a household will infect each other or be infected already. Staying at home for 14 days will greatly reduce the overall amount of infection the household could pass on to others in the community
• for anyone in the household who starts displaying symptoms, they need to stay at home for 7 days from when the symptoms appeared, regardless of what day they are on in the original 14-day isolation period.

The symptoms are:

• A high temperature (37.8 degrees and above)
• A new, continuous cough

The full stay at home guidance for households with these symptoms can be found here:

• https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/covid-19-stay-at-home-guidance

The Prime Minister’s statement from Monday 16 March can be found here:

• https://www.gov.uk/government/speeches/pm-statement-on-coronavirus-16-march-2020

Useful information and websites:

• Coronavirus (COVID-19): Guidance for health professionals and other organisations
• Coronavirus action plan: A guide to what you can expect across the UK
• COVID-19: travel guidance for the education sector
• School Zone
• Latest information from NHS
• BBC News - Coronavirus: Government insists schools should stay open
• BBC News - Coronavirus: What is UK advice

(Last updated 15:30 Tuesday 17th March)

Message from BWS Pastoral Support Officer

I appreciate this is a difficult time with so much uncertainty and with the current extension to the lockdown, you may be struggling to adjust. I am conscious that we are unable to offer face to face support in school, therefore below are some organisations that can offer support during this time:

www.onyourmind.org.uk which lists a variety of organisations pupils/parents can contact for support including:

https://youngminds.org.uk/ which has lots of useful current advice for children and parents about coping with the coronavirus lockdown

www.kooth.com online access to qualified counsellors

www.childline.org.uk

In addition to this with children spending an increasing amount of time indoors online, this might also be useful for parents to review:

https://www.nspcc.org.uk/keeping-children-safe/online-safety/ advice on setting up parental controls and advice about age restrictions for gaming, as well as lots of other useful advice.

I am checking my emails daily, so if you do wish to contact me directly for support during this time, please do not hesitate to contact me on: pastoralsupport@bws.wilts.sch.uk.
Best wishes
Mrs Elizabeth Jacobs
Pastoral Support Officer

(Last updated 08:15 Tuesday 21st April)

Message from Wiltshire School Nursing Service

Dear Parents, Carers and Young People, We are aware that it is a very anxious time and there may be concerns about where to access support in coming weeks with school closures or you needing to self isolate.

As a school nursing service we would like to let you know we are here to support you during this time.

For secondary school age young people:-

• We have set up a confidential telephone drop-in service Monday to Friday 12-2pm. Any young person that would like to call and speak to a qualified nurse on the end of the phone can call 0300 247 0090 Monday to Friday 12-2pm and speak to them.
• We also have our CHAT health text service so you can text a school nurse for advice or support for any health issues or worries, again this is confidential and you don't need to give your name if you don't want to. The number is 07480 635513.

For parents of any school age child:-

• We have duty school nurses available at the end of the phone Monday to Friday 9-5pm should you require any support with your school age child. This is available permanently for all parents to access for advice and support. If you would like support please call one of our nurses through our Single Point of access on 0300 247 0090.

(Last updated 08:00 Friday 20th March)

Very Important - Read carefully: Yr11 and/or Yr13 requests for 'predicted grades'

There is understandable concern about how GCSE and A Level grades will be awarded this summer. Until we have received instructions from the Government about how they are going to proceed with this, we are not in a position to issue Predicted Grades.

In view of this, please do not email teachers or the school requesting this information or to request Target Grades be adjusted.
All students should have a good idea of how well they are doing from their last report and from recent assessments, anyway. In addition, Yr11 students will know their Target Grades (which are NOT Predicted Grades) from their Prelim Report, and Yr13 students will have similar information from their Mock Exam Summary - both of which are on Insight. Yr13 students should also know what their UCAS Predicted Grades are.

Whatever happens, please try not to be unduly concerned. Remember: BWS is a very high performing school and the vast majority of our students not only achieve fantastic results in public exams, they then go on to even greater things. There's absolutely no reason to suggest that this will be any different for you, despite the current situation.

(Last updated 11:15 Friday 20th March)

Sixth Form EPQ Lessons

• Instructions for EPQ work to be completed will be put on Insight, with supporting resources on ProjectQ. Students should continue to check their email regularly and continue writing their project.
• The current project deadlines still apply

(Last updated 7:30 Friday 10th April)

School Shop Opening Times

• The school shop will remain CLOSED for the remainder of this term and during the Easter Holidays
• Please be reassured that the onsite uniform shop is stocked and ready for the new intake.  Individual appointments for new pupils will go ahead once the restrictions have been lifted.  There is no need to order uniform in advance.  We look forward to welcoming you!

(Last updated 7:30 Friday 10th April)

Founders Day

• Founders Day scheduled for Friday 1st May has been cancelled.

(Last updated 10:45 Tuesday 17th March)

Upcoming Exams

Please see "Cancellation of GCSE, AS and A levels in 2020" at the top of this page for the latest information we have regarding Summer 2020 examinations

• Y10 Mock week is currently scheduled for w/c 30th March 2020 is POSTPONED
• Late Entry exams scheduled for Monday 23rd March 2020 is CANCELLED

(Last updated 08:00 Monday 23rd March)

Sports Events

 (Last updated 15:15 Tuesday 17th March)

School Trips

Please note that payment for all trips has been temporarily suspended on Wisepay until the status has been confirmed. Payment can still be made for all for other items such as catering.

(Last updated 15:00 Tuesday 5th May)