Staying Connected

In the event of Partial or Full Lockdown, we have set up this page as a one-stop shop for the required links and information.

We will post any new information regarding the school’s status on this page, together with other useful updates.

See the section Working Online for more information on submitting assignments using Show My Homework and Microsoft Teams

Lateral Flow Tests – these need to continue to be done on Mondays and Thursdays until further notice.

Please can you make sure you complete a LFT on 31st October prior to returning to school. We have given students fresh supplies but if you are running out, these are freely available from pharmacies and supermarkets.

Update for January 2022 return to school

Vaccinations

Downloads

Vaccinations for students:  Sixth Form Students were offered vaccines during the July / August Period. Vaccine uptake was high with over 90% of our oldest students now fully vaccinated.

Vaccines were also offered to 12-15 year-olds on 5th October.  All Year 11, 10 and 9 students whose families had requested that they were vaccinated were completed that day. Unfortunately, we were unable to vaccinate Year 7 and 8 students due to being understaffed by NHS (SIAS) personnel.   We are, therefore, planning to run a second day on 17th November.  Students will come out of normal lessons that day so there is no need for a parent to accompany them providing permission has been granted.  Letters from the NHS along with instructions will be sent out WB 1st November.  There will also be an opportunity for anyone in older year groups who was unable to be vaccinated due to illness or following self-isolation to also take up this offer.

Anyone who does not want to be vaccinated for medical or personal reasons will have full access rights to their education unaffected.  Whilst the majority of parents have supported the vaccination process, this remains a personal choice.

We will continue to apply measures which help reduce or mitigate against the spread of Covid-19 or any other virus. These include one-way systems, separate social and recreation areas for different year groups, additional cleaning and hand sanitisation areas.  The wearing of face-makes remains optional for students and staff and we fully respect the right of someone to wear PPE if this makes them feel safe.   We have been very fortunate to have relatively low levels of positive Covid cases at Birchwood.  If infection rates do increase in November / December we will liaise with PHE who will advise us accordingly.  Equally, if the DfE change their regulations for schools, we will fully abide by these.

Our students have been  excellent this term – re-engaging with any lost learning and showing positive attitudes, keeping to the rules we have put in place to keep everyone safe.  The last thing anyone needs is a further lockdown or partial lockdown so we will work our utmost to keep focussed on providing high quality teaching and learning whilst maintain a healthy school environment.

Letter from Dr Ingate regarding the re-opening of school on 8 March

Dear Parents/Carers

I am sure that you will be aware that the Government have just announced a return of all schools in England on Monday 8 March. This is good news. A return to greater normality and routine as well as actually teaching in the classroom is well overdue. Students and staff have done their best with online learning but it is no substitute.

There is a more detailed DfE plan for schools, which has just been released, detailing arrangements including PPE and Lateral Flow Testing. We will spend this week formulating a plan that works for Birchwood. I will also liaise with the other local secondary schools to ensure that there is consistency across the town. I would hope to be in a position to give more details by Monday 1 March so I hope you don’t mind being patient this week.

For now, it is a continuation of business as usual for the next two weeks with remote learning and Key Worker Provision.

Yours sincerely

Dr Chris Ingate

Principal

Dr Ingate's Weekly Blog

Update: 7 January 2021

5 January 2021

Please note that, due to Government restrictions as a result of the Covid 19 Pandemic,  Birchwood High School is now closed to Students until Monday 22nd February.  Work is being set on-line for all our Students including Key Worker and Vulnerable Students who will work in school during this period of time.

Lateral Flow Testing

We will be testing students attending Birchwood during the lockdown, including Key Worker and Vulnerable Students and those attending examinations (BTEC and LiBF).

Key Worker testing will take place for the first time at 08:30 on Wednesday 6 January.  This will be a drive through and all registered Key Worker student/parents will be expected to attend. Also, on this occasion, parents are expected to wait with students for the result.  Thereafter; Key Worker School students will be tested weekly on a Tuesday at 08:30 or weekly on their first attendance of the week if they are not in on subsequent Tuesdays.

Testing for BTEC/LiBF examination students.  All students who are able to take part in these exams will be expected into school between 12:00 and 14:00 on Wednesday 6 January to undertake a test prior to them sitting the examinations.

Consent: We require parental consent (for students under 16 years of age) or the student’s consent (if aged 16 or over) to carry out these tests: https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/birchwoodcovidtestform

You will be able to accept or decline consent via this form. If you do decline please fill in the form declaring this so we have a completed record of data. Should you require a paper copy of this please contact maugustine@birchwoodhigh.org.uk . You can also see the Privacy Notice below explaining how we use and store the data.

For all other students the mass testing programme will be postponed and we will write to you in February when we know the Government’s intentions.

The following letter relates to the original testing timetable, but the information about the tests themselves and the procedure itself still applies:

Key Links

Some essential links for students

Other subject-specific websites used in school

Other websites recommended by staff

Websites recommended by our school counsellor

New Advice Lines

Healthy Minds Network (HMN) have launched a new early intervention and prevention helpline for children and young people aged 10-17 in Herts. The helpline will provide a safe , non-judgemental space to talk to a Young People Advisor or Mentor who will provide emotional support, advice and information, signposting and discuss coping strategies. For opening hours and more information please visit the website https://www.hertsmindnetwork.org/young-peoples-helpline.

The Helpline number is 01923 256391.

Opening times at the moment are:

  • Mon, Wed, Fri – 13:00 – 16:30
  • Tues, Thurs – 17:00 – 19:30
  • Sat – 10:00 – 13:00

The Schools and Families Advice Line (SFAL) is a new service established to provide emotional wellbeing advice and early help to children and young people, families and schools during the COVID-19 pandemic.

It can be really worrying when you or someone you know is going through a difficult time. If you feel this service could help, please call our Single Point of Access (SPA) who will take your details before passing them onto our call back service.

This service is open to self-referrals from families and young people, and education, health and other professionals involved in supporting young people and their families.

Contact details:

You will get a call back from a mental health practitioner between 8am-5pm, Monday-Friday. Support will be offered in a one-off, up to 1 hour phone call

How can the service help?

Supporting children, young people, their families and schools by providing early advice around:

  •  General concerns around mental well-being, coping strategies and self-care.
  • How to support children and young people in relation to the Covid-19 outbreak (e.g. understanding, frustration, anxiety etc).Supporting mental well-being during the transition back to school and the anxiety around this uncertainty.
  • Support for education staff around their own mental well-being and advice around how they can care for themselves.
  • ‘Whole school approaches’ to supporting mental well-being.
  • Specific anxieties (around COVID-19/self-isolating measures, transition between year groups, developing and maintaining relationships, fear of failure, low self-esteem or aspirations, trust issues, social anxiety, etc.)
  • Phobias (animals/insects, specific food stuffs, specific objects, modes of transport etc.)
  • Low mood
  • Emotional regulation difficulties
  • Mild obsessive compulsive difficulties that are starting to impact day to day activities.
  • Low-level behavioural concerns
  • Sleep difficulties
  • Signposting to services and resources that may be helpful for supporting mental wellbeing.

Past Papers and Exam Board Information

Please see the Main Exams Page for all information relating to the 2021 Summer Examinations

IT Student Support

If you have any problems accessing SMHW, TLC Live or Online Reporting

Please Note: Students MUST use their Office 365 e-mail accounts when using this service and not their personal e-mail accounts. If students are unable to log in to their Office 365 accounts, then we will ONLY use the e-mail address recorded in our School Information Management System (SIMS) to send the new login.

If students have technical problems when using Show My Homework, TLC Live or any other website used officially by the school for lessons, please contact ITStudentSupport@birchwoodhigh.org.uk

Working Online

How to submit your homework online and use Microsoft Teams and TLC Live classrooms

Using Office 365

A quick demonstration on how to log in to your Birchwood High School Office 365 account

Using Microsoft Teams

We are expanding our use of Microsoft Teams in the delivery of online learning. In this YouTube video, Mr Briscoe explains the basics of using Microsoft Teams.

Submitting your assignments using Show My Homework.

The YouTube video to the right shows you what you need to do!

Certain teaching groups are now using TLC Live for their lessons.

Troubleshooting

Please see the following document if you are having any problems using the online lesson system. If you cannot find the solution you need here, please e-mail IT Student Support on itstudentsupport@birchwoodhigh.org.uk

Updates and Announcements

Covid-19 Update – Friday 20 March, 12:40pm

Dear Parents / Carers / Students

From Monday 23rd March, Birchwood High School will be closed to all but the students of key workers with young children who they cannot find suitable child care for - as well as  vulnerable students.

The DfE and Public Health England’s advice for school children is that If children can stay safely at home, they should, to limit the chance of the virus spreading. That is why the government has asked parents to keep their children at home, wherever possible, and asked schools to remain open only for those children who absolutely need to attend.

It is important to underline that schools, colleges and other educational establishments remain safe places for children. But the fewer children making the journey to school, and the fewer children in educational settings, the lower the risk that the virus can spread and infect vulnerable individuals in wider society.

 For now, there is a lot of homework on Show My Homework  (SMHW) to keep your son or daughter busy.  We will keep you up to date with any changes through the school website and School Comms.    If your family is not having to self-isolate, it is also good for your child to get fresh air and exercise – keeping fit and healthy is essential, so you and your family should still try to get out and about but stay away from crowded areas. A walk or a run in the park or a stroll through the countryside is preferable to a city centre, but keeping apart from other people is the main goal.

Finally, if you need to contact your child’s teacher to have any work clarified, please do so using the Contact section of the website. Your child can also communicate with their teacher through SMHW.

Yours sincerely

Dr Chris Ingate

Principal

Covid-19 Update re. Y12 Students (Thursday 19 March 14:00)

With regard to the current CV situation, Year 12 students will not be expected to attend school from the end of today.

All work will be set via Show My Homework, TLC and Microsoft Teams.

More information will be sent to you all in due course, and we will continue to follow the guidelines put in place by the Department of Education.

Yours sincerely

Mr I Torrance

Head of Sixth Form

Covid-19 Update – 10:00am 19/03/2020

Dear Parent / Carer,

As you will no doubt be aware, following the Secretary of State’s announcement today, schools in England will close for all students from Monday but should remain open to children of key workers and vulnerable students – further details will follow from the DfE and we will communicate with you as soon as we have clearer details.

For the rest of this week, we will continue to be open for Years 7 and 8, and have set work online for all other years.

The unexpected announcement was that public exams are being cancelled with no clarity as to how these will be managed. The Secretary of State for Education said pupils in England would not have to sit GCSE or A Levels this year. This will, no doubt be concerning for parents and students alike and have a significant impact on Year 11 and 13 who have been working hard for their exams. Once we have clarity on this, we will let you know.

As a quick reminder, Show My Homework remains the main access point for students. Teachers will set work in accordance with your child’s timetable. Finally; we will send further guidance out in due course, but for now we ask for patience as we work our way through this and ask that you follow Government advice with regards to Social Distancing, Self-Isolation and sensible shopping!

Yours sincerely

Dr Ingate

Principal

For parents/carers of Y11 and Y13 students: