As you will be aware the last two weeks have been challenging and has resulted in four year groups moving to on-line learning for one week. This has been due to significant covid-related staffing difficulties.

We have monitored this situation closely and as you can imagine, the uncertainty around whether or not staff will be well enough to return to work at the end of the isolation period, makes planning in advance extremely difficult. We also know that decisions around on-learning are disruptive for parents/carers and recognise you need information communicated in a timely fashion.

Therefore, we are sharing with you plans for next week. The first part is the plan we will be following.  The second part will only be followed if there is a further increase in covid-related staffing difficulties.

• On Monday 13 December Year 7 and Year 10 return to school
• On Monday 13 December the school will be closed for Year 8 and Year 9, and they will move to online learning with a view to returning to school on Tuesday 14 December*
• On Monday 13 December Year 11 and 6^th Form are in school as normal.

If over the weekend the number of covid-related staffing absences increase we will move to the following plan until the end of term:

• * Tuesday 14 December – Wednesday 15 December: Years 8 and Year 9 stay at home completing online learning. From Thursday 16 December Year 8 and Year 9 students return to school. Students will remain in school until the end of term.
• Tuesday 14 December – Wednesday 15 December: Year 7 and Year 10 remain in school. From Thursday 16 December the school be will be closed for Years 7 and Year 10 and as such, they will move to home learning until the end of term.
• Year 11 and  6^th Form remain in school until the end of term.

We are not yet moving to this plan and we are working hard to make sure all students are able to return to school from Tuesday 14 December. All parent/carers will receive confirmation by 12.00pm on Monday 13 December regarding arrangements for the remainder of this term.

Like other local schools who have recently had to take similar action, please be assured that these decisions are not taken lightly and is always a last resort for us. The decisions we make are based on the ability of the school to operate in a safe and meaningful way with all students on site. When making these sorts of decisions we have to take into account not only having enough adults to cover the lessons for staff unable to come to school but also the safe supervision of students while moving around the school and also during break and lunchtimes. We also have to consider how effectively we could manage emergency situations such as fire evacuations, etc. should the need arise. 

How Online Lessons will Work:

Students need to access work linked to the current school curriculum via their google classrooms, the same way they accessed learning during the previous lockdown. Work will be set by the classroom teacher for each timetabled lesson and should be accessed at the time they would normally attend that subject in school. Teachers will be ‘live’ (via the google meets link in the classroom) to talk through the learning of the lesson and answer any questions for the first 15 minutes and aim to include live or interactive content to support the learning. Throughout the lesson time, the students will be able to contact the teacher via email to ask any further questions they might have.  Students would have been automatically enrolled in their google classroom last half term. These start with 'WEL' in front of their class code, e.g. 'WEL-9yEN1' for Year 9, Y side, set 1 English. This will be on their google classroom page. If your child is having difficulties accessing their google classrooms, please email google@wellingschool-tkat.org for support. Please click the link below for help with logging into Google classroom:

https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1ZlZK119mert9bszX8tnwlbN3-ZMUgR0ZYru92iayfzo/edit?usp=sharing

Computer and Internet Support:

Most students who needed to borrow a computer from us during the last period of remote learning, still have their Chromebook. If your child returned it to us or if you have joined the Welling School community since then and need to discuss how we can support you, or if you need technical support with google classrooms, please email: google@wellingschool-tkat.org 

Students Eligible for Free School Meals:

All families who are usually in receipt of free school meals will receive a voucher through the post. If you would like to discuss how we can support you further then please get in touch with us.

Again - thank you for your understanding and support. We hope that by giving you at least a short period of notice it will be easier to put necessary arrangements in place for your son or daughter. 

We will be back in touch on Monday 13 December to confirm arrangements for the rest of the week. Please do not hesitate to get in touch with us if there is anything else we can do to support you or your child while they are working at home.

With very best wishes.

Yours faithfully

Mr R Pett

HEADTEACHER