Dear all,

This has been the strangest week I’ve ever experienced while working in a school, but I’m feeling very optimistic at the end of it.

On Monday, we launched our virtual school via Google Classroom. Getting everything set up, learning to teach in a new way, and creating enough resources for every single class normally takes months and months. Our staff managed it in just a few weeks – while teaching normal lessons until the very end. I couldn’t be more grateful for the superhuman effort they’ve put in.

And although some of you experienced some technical issues in the first few days, I couldn’t be more pleased with how well students have launched themselves into this new way of working. The vast majority of students have logged in every day and completed 5 full lessons. Thank you so much for your support with this – it will have a huge impact in the long run.

Our staff have called home for every student who hasn’t managed to log on and submit work, and next week we will be working our way through the rest of the school. We’re keen to hear how you and your children are getting on. One thing which has come through strongly is that children are keen to keep some kind of a routine, and that the closer their work can be to normal lessons, the better. We’re putting lots of work into this now, and plan to improve the way we deliver lessons after Easter. I’ll write again with more details next week.  We’ve also put together a survey here, and I’d be grateful if you could take 2 minutes to let us have your feedback.

This is a new venture for us, but I’m confident that we’re ahead of most other schools; we’re setting targeted work every day, and we’re checking that it’s being done. While it’s a big ask, this will make a huge difference when your children return to Holmleigh Park High School having overtaken the competition. 

More light-heartedly, we have been putting lots of fun challenges out on our Instagram page. Of particular note are our virtual Fun Friday competitions, which will be running between all Greenshaw schools. We start off with a competition for interior design – perfect for any budding creatives! You don’t need an Instagram account - you can go to https://www.instagram.com/holmleighpark/ and login with your Facebook account.

Finally, can I just draw your attention to our Remote Learning section of our website? There you can find help and guidance for students struggling with Google Classroom, along with some very useful links to help students who are suffering stress and anxiety from this disruption to their lives. More information here. We will keep updating this over the coming weeks.

My staff and I have all hugely missed your children this week. I hope that you and your families are well; our thoughts are with you.

Yours faithfully,

Mr Farmbrough

Headteacher