Welcome! Welcome to this week’s family bulletin, which is packed with information about upcoming events. The next few weeks are very exciting for us, as we start to welcome our students back into school. On Friday, we were thrilled to see 100% of our invited students arrive in school to start a period of increased face-to-face contact with Y10 and Y12. Over 60 students were on school site and both staff and students enjoyed the opportunity to look at the progress made and decide on positive next steps. As we move further into this term, our goal is to invite Key Stage Three pupils back on site also, to ensure that we can check in with all our students and provide them with personalised guidance in terms of accessing further remote learning; you will find an important survey related to this later in the bulletin. We are also excited this week to be offering our first ‘remote Super Learning Day,’ on Thursday 25th June. Read on to find out more! You might also find the links below useful, which will take you to all of our previous family bulletins, our

Wellbeing Blog and The ‘With Me in Mind’ newsletter for June.

All Family Wales WHS Bulletins

Pastoral Messages

Please follow the links for this week’s messages

from the Y7 and Y10 teams, as well as an

exciting message from our Head of Busli about

an upcoming virtual Sports Day!

Y7 message

10 virtual assembly

With Me in Mind WHS Wellbeing Blog

Mental Health Survey

The Public Health and Children and Young People Service

Performance and Quality Team have created a survey for

young people to complete, asking their views on how the

current lockdown has impacted them. The collective data

from this will be shared with schools, Council departments

and health colleagues and will be used to plan future

support, so we would really appreciate any of our families

offering their time to complete this. The survey takes

between 5 and 10 minutes to fill in, is completely

anonymous, and no information is stored about the child.

The closing date for the survey is Friday, the 10th July.

Covid Impact Survey

Virtual Sports Day

KS4 and KS5 only: Important Notices

Year 10 Your teachers are very excited to be seeing you all over the next week, either remotely or in person, as we have the 1:1 Academic Mentoring sessions. Please view the Y10 remote assembly for some important information related to this, and, if you have not yet seen the ‘back to school guidance video, this will give you an idea of some changes we have had to make in school. The video and previous letters have all the details, but here are the highlights of the process:

• You do not need to wear school uniform, but clothes must be appropriate - dress for a 'non-uniform day.'

• Bring a pen/pencil.

• Buzz the pedestrian gate for access and head straight to the Blue Seating Area, no more than 10 minutes before your appointment time. Please use hand sanitizer before and after using the gate.

• DO NOT BE LATE. It is very important that you stick to your appointed time, to ensure the safety of everyone in the building.

• Sign in, collect your work pack and meet your mentor.

• Meetings can last up to one hour.

• Ensure you observe social distancing rules both on school site and in the community/during your journey if you are coming in.

• Families are welcome to sit in on remote meetings, but due to restricting numbers of people on site, they cannot come to any face to face meetings.

Most of these points apply for remote meetings also. Your mentor will setup/invite you to the Teams meeting: all you need to do is ensure you are online. It will be better if your camera is enabled - if you do not have this option tell your mentor or send Mr. Radford an email on nr@waleshigh.com. Do not worry if you have not had your appointment yet - this may not happen until the middle of this week. Please be assured that mentors are working hard to prepare for these meetings and somebody will contact you.

Year 11 Reminders

• Y11 Bridging Work: a reminder the deadline for this is 30th June. Please make sure this is with the correct teacher by this time.

• Y11 Teams: please keep up to date with the posts on the Teams channel. If you are joining the Sixth Form and you have not had an invitation to this Team, please email ghe@waleshigh.com as soon as possible.

• Sixth Form Induction: Although we cannot hold this event as we would have liked, we will be holding a live event on Teams at 6pm on Wednesday 24th June. As you join please ensure all sound and video are turned off. You will have the opportunity to ask questions via the question bar. This is a live event (rather than a meeting) which we originally proposed. On the New Y12 Team, there is a channel called 'Induction Meeting Wednesday 24th June'. As students enter this channel, they will see the event. Click on the hyperlink to join the event. The event will open at approximately 5.55pm. If you have any questions, please contact either ghe@waleshigh.com or teams@waleshigh.com.

Year 12

• Futures Event: It was lovely to see so many of you join us for the virtual 'Futures' event. If you did not manage to make it, the recording is available in Teams.

• Academic Mentoring: Please remember to make your academic mentoring appointments with subject staff. If you require a 'wellbeing' appointment, please contact Miss Finney at lfy@waleshigh.com.

Watch out for the briefings available on Teams for important information.

Return to School Video 10 virtual assembly Return to school letter

KS3 Only: Important Information

The initial introduction of Y12 and Y10 to more face to face contact on school site has been a real success and we have always had the ambition of having our KS3 students on site as soon as it is safe to do so.

As you will be aware, we have continued to receive information and updates from the Department for Education regarding opening the school to more students over the next few weeks as we approach the summer term. At this point we want to make it absolutely clear that this will be done in a cautious, careful and controlled way and at no point will there be all Y7, Y8 and Y9 on site at the same time.

Students will have a choice to physically come on site to meet with their Tutor or Co-Tutor or to do this remotely through an online academic mentoring meeting. The meeting will primarily focus on a wellbeing ‘check in’ but will also enable the chance to check on how students have adapted to their remote learning and assess where they are in terms of their work. Students in school will have the opportunity to view the adaptations and changes to the site with its wellbeing and social distancing measures. Additionally, the sessions will enable teachers to ensure that our students leave with some clear targets, suggestions and strategies so they can more effectively continue to work remotely from home over the coming weeks.

Perhaps more importantly, we believe that this will allow our students the opportunity to get past the first and most challenging hurdle of being back in school after such a long time. We hope your child’s visit to the school site will allay any fears that both you and your family may have regarding the safety of returning to school. Clearly the decision to return will be for you to reach and we will, of course, continue to provide remote learning opportunities for all year groups; even when the school invites more students on site. Staff will continue to maintain contact and offer feedback remotely and for the vast majority of students this will remain in place for the rest of the summer term.

We have included below a link to a family feedback survey that will allow you the opportunity to share with us any concerns you may have and we would then hope to address these with you. The survey will also give the opportunity for you to let us know if you feel your child is in a position to return to school when invited. In order for you to make this decision, we understand that there will be lots of questions that you will need answering and our first priority will be to reassure you of the safety of your child. Before completing the survey, I advise you to read the ‘Re-Opening Planning Document’ which can be found here and also to watch the video link here (this can also be viewed via the survey).

Although this is a lengthy document, it is very thorough and we feel will give you reassurance and provide you answers to the many questions you will have. It will then ensure you are fully informed prior to completing the survey. The survey also has space for additional questions and comments. Please fill in a separate survey for each child you have in years 7, 8 and 9. The survey should be completed and submitted before 3pm on Tuesday 23 June.

Following the deadline for the survey to be completed, we will release an FAQ for all families. Once we have your responses, we can provide further details and more specific information regarding next steps for your child. A letter outlining this feedback will be sent out on Wednesday, 24th June.

It is important that we have an understanding of how many students are in a position to come into school and then we can allocate dates and staggered times throughout those days. We aim to have these plans in place for the week commencing Monday 29 June. We will write to you again, with the final details, on the Wednesday 24 June.

‘There are far better things ahead

than we leave behind.’

C. S Lewis

KS3 family survey Reopening planning document Return to School Video

Teams Timetable: All Year Groups

Year 7

Class / whole year group Live lesson / drop in Date and time

Sets 1-3 (X and Y sides) Maths live lesson - SSm Mon 10-10:30

Set 7 (X and Y side) Maths live lesson - EHi Mon 2-2:30

Sets 4-6 (X and Y side) Maths live lesson - CH Tue 1-1:30

Sets 1-3 (X side) Maths live lesson - SSm Wed 10-10:30

Set 7 (X side) Maths live lesson - EHi Thurs 2-2:30

Sets 4-6 (X side) Maths live lesson - CH Fri 10-10:30

All Y7 English live lesson - CHa Tues 10-11

All Y7 Science live lesson Tues 12 - 12.45

Y7 World Studies World Studies live lesson - RR/LL/DTy Fri 11-11:40

All Y7 English drop in - CCr Tue & Thurs 2-3

All Y7 ICT (begins Monday, 29th June) Mon 11-11.30

All Y7 History Tues 3pm

Year 8

Class / whole year group Live lesson / drop in Date and time

All Y8 Physics live lesson Tue 12-12:30

Teams

As you will see from the following timetable, which is organised into year groups, we are now delivering a huge

range of online lessons for your child. For anyone who is brand new to Teams, please follow the link below for a

quick tutorial on how to get started. If you have any further queries, our school experts can be contacted on

teams@waleshigh.com. Remember, although being on time is important, please do not arrive too early to your

Teams lessons; your teacher needs to arrive first so they can begin recording. Although we have tried our best to

stick to normal timetabled slots, with such a large range of lessons taking place it may happen that your child has a

‘clash’ and wishes to attend two lessons that are on at the same time. If this occurs, please remember that all

lessons are recorded, so your child is more than welcome to watch the recording and complete any follow-up work

set in the lesson. (To access English and Science lessons taught to the whole year-group, you can now use a tab

entitled ‘recorded lessons – see image right.)

Teams Tutorial for Families

All Y8 Chemistry live lesson Thurs 12-12:30

All Y8 Biology live lesson Weds 11-11.30

Sets 1-3 (X and Y sides) Maths live lesson - SSm Mon 10-10:30

Set 7 (X and Y side) Maths live lesson - EHi Mon 2-2:30

Sets 4-6 (X side) Maths live lesson - CH Tue 1-1:30

Sets 1-3 (X and Y sides) Maths live lesson - SSm Wed 10-10:30

Set 7 (X and Y sides) Maths live lesson - EHi Thurs 2-2:30

Sets 4-6 (X side) Maths live lesson - CH Fri 10-10:30

All Y8 English live lesson - CHa Mon 11-12

All Y8 English drop in - DSm Wed 10-11

All Y8 History Tues 10am

Year 9

Class / whole year group Live lesson / drop in Date and time

All Y9 Physics live lesson Tue 10-10:30

All Y9 Biology live lesson Mon 10-10:30

All Y9 Chemistry live lesson Wed 11-11:30

Set 8 (X and Y sides) Maths live lesson - EHi Mon 2-2:30

9Y4 and sets 5-7 (X and Y sides) Maths live lesson - SSm Tue 11-11:30

Sets 1-3 (X and Y sides) and 9X4 Maths live lesson - DWe Wed 2-2:30

9Y4 and sets 5-7 (X sides) Maths live lesson - SSm Thurs 10-10:30

Set 8 (X and Y sides) Maths live lesson - EHi Thurs 2-2:30

Sets 1-3 (X and Y) and 9X4 Maths live lesson - DWe Fri 2-2:30

All Y9 English live lesson - MO Mon 11-12

All Y9 English drop in - WE Tue 11:30-12:30

Y9 Sport Studies option Lesson with DR and VL Weds 10am (15 mins)

All Y9 History Thurs 12pm

Y9 Drama Live Lesson MA Fri 10am

Music transition to Y10 GCSE GC, ECu and AW Live lesson Thurs 11-11.45

Year 10

Class / whole year group Live lesson / drop in Date and time

Set 8 Maths (X and Y sides) Maths live lesson - EHi Mon 2-2:30

Set 1 Maths (X and Y sides) Maths live lesson JWa / HW / SW Tues and Thurs 11.10am

Set 1 Maths (X and Y sides) Maths live lessons SW Mon 11am and Weds 1pm

Sets 4-7 Maths (X and Y sides) Maths live lesson AWk Mon 10am

Sets 2-3 Maths (X and Y sides) Maths live lesson CH Tues and Fri, 11am

All Y10 English live lesson – ‘A Christmas Carol’ Tue 10-11

All Y10 English live lesson – ‘Power and Conflict’ Wed 11-12

All Y10 English live lesson – ‘An Inspector Calls’ Thurs 12-1

All Y10 English drop in - SCr Mon 12-1

All Y10 English Lit drop in - VB Tues 12-1

All Y10 Physics live lesson Mon 2pm

All Y10 Chemistry live lesson Thurs 2pm

All Y10 Biology live lesson Fri 2pm

LPB BTEC Sport Drop-in: LPB Mon 10am

GCSE PE VL GCSE lesson (fortnightly from 30th June) Tues 10am

LU BTEC Sport P.E BTEC lesson Tues 11am

DTY Y BTEC Sport P.E BTEC lesson Weds 11am

GCSE P.E DR GCSE P.E Weds 1.30pm

Y10 BTEC Sport Drop in using the chat function. DTY/LU/LPB

Fri 11am-1pm

All Y10 GCSE History Mon,Weds,Thurs 9.50am

Y10 OCR ICT Live lesson with MHo Fri 11am

Y10 Computer Science Live lesson with TCo Fri 11.30am

Y10 Construction Construction Live lesson Mon, 11.10am

GCSE Music AW live lesson Fri 12-1

GCSE Music Drop-in lesson Fri 11.10-11.45

GCSE RE Live Lesson: question technique Weds 12pm

GCSE Drama Live lesson Fri 11.15am

Y10 Health and Social Care Live lesson (LHT) Weds 11am

Year 11 into Year 12

Future Y12 History students Online lesson: History skills with CCo Weds 2pm

Year 12

Class / whole year group Live lesson / drop in Date and time

Y12 English Lang/Lit English Lang/Lit live lesson - RC Mon & Thurs 11-12

Y12 English Lang/Lit English Lang/Lit live lesson - MO Wed 11-12

Y12 English Lang/Lit English Lang/Lit Paris Anthology lesson Fri 10-11

Y12 English Lit English Lit live lesson - VB Mon 2-3

Y12 English Lit English Lit live lesson - ED Wed 12-1 & Fri 11-12

Y12 English Lang/Lit English drop in - GMp Wed 10-11

Y12 English Lang / Lit English drop in - WE By appointment

A Level Maths A level lesson: revision and new work Weds, Thurs, Fri 1pm

A Level Further Maths A level lesson: revision and new work 3pm Mon,1.30pm Tues,3pm Thurs

A Level P.E group - JT A Level live lesson Mon and Tues 1pm

A level P.E group - CM A level live lesson Weds 11am

Economics A-level A Level live lesson Mon 9.30am

Y12 Film Studies A Level Live lesson with HS Fri 11-12

Y12 Film Studies A level live lesson with CFH (please contact CFH before lesson to confirm)

Fri 12-1

A level Sociology Live lesson with HA (Mon) and ECL (Tues) Mon 12-1, Tues 12-1

Psychology Block A Live lesson: HA (Mon) ECL (Weds)

Mon 11-12, Weds 10-11

Psychology Block C

Live lesson with ECL (Mon) and HA

(Weds)

Mon 2-3, Weds 12-1

Y12 A Level Accounting NL live lesson Mon and Thurs, 11am

Y12 A level Business Studies NO live lesson Thurs, 10am

A Level Music AW live lesson Mon 12-1, Thurs 9.45-10.45

A Level Music Ecu live lesson Tues 12-1

A level Music Say live lesson Thurs 9-9.30

Y12 Theatre Studies Live lesson with MA Tues 9.30am

Y12 Computer Science Live lesson with GHe Tues 11.10, Weds 12.10, Fri 12.10

Y12 Computer Science Live Lesson with PBr Fri 11.30am

Y12 Childcare Live Lesson with GHe Tues 1.55, Thurs 1.55

Y12 Health and Social Care Cache Live lesson LBr Mon 1pm

Y12 Health and Social Care OCR Live Lesson LHT Weds 3pm

Pre-recorded Lessons

Year Group / class Pre-recorded lesson

Year 7 English (SCr, DSM, CCr)

Year 8 English (SCr, DSm)

Year 10 Macbeth

What a Year!

Although this academic year has been met with a level of

disruption that is arguably unprecedented within many of our

lifetimes, we hope that these communications, and our

efforts at supporting our families overall, have helped to

alleviate some of the pressures we have all suffered. Whether

remotely or in person, we are trying to give all Wales students

the best possible school experience, and that includes our Y11

leavers. All Y11 students will be able to collect their year

books on results day. It is truly a year book like no other!

Long-Term Learning

As mentioned in previous bulletins, we have been really impressed with the enthusiasm and

organisational skills of our students during lockdown. As time goes on, we thought it might be useful to

share with you some strategies to manage your learning, long-term, as working from home continues.

Plan a weekday timetable: A timetable is a great way of planning when you will have your breaks and also ‘get things done.’ Put your Teams lessons on your timetable as well as work set remotely that you need to submit. Can you colour-code your timetable so you can see how much time you are spending on each subject and could you even put a little ‘reward slot’ on there? What fun activity are you looking forward to when you’ve finished your work?

Keep in contact with school: If something is worrying you, your tutor (or Academic Mentor, if you currently have one) are great people to contact who will be able to help you. We are always only an email away (see the FAQs for details on how to use your email).

Try to keep in a routine: Especially Monday to Friday, getting dressed on time and sticking to a set routine can really help you enjoy your relaxation time more.

Celebrate your success: Have you done a really good piece of work? Make sure you send it to your teachers, either on Twitter, tagging @WalesHigh (and the department – see list below) or email them the work. Get some recognition for your hard work!

@WalesHighArt @WalesEnglish @WalesHighDT @DramaWHS1 @WHS_Engineering @WalesGeography @GeologyWales @WalesHistory @WalesHSC @WalesHighICT @WHS_LSU @walesmaths @WalesMedia @whsmfl @WalesHighPE @WalesHighRE @walesscience

Get fresh air: Every day, go outside and get some exercise. This is a really good way of giving your brain a break as well as keeping healthy. You can do a walk, bike-ride, jog…Whatever you prefer.

Look after yourself: Looking after your physical and emotional wellbeing at this time is crucial. Try to eat a healthy, balanced diet and make sure you have some fun. Remember, we do not advise a full school day: we recommend two hours of work for Y7 and Y8, around 2.5 hours per day for Y9 and 3 hours per day for Y10. If you are finding things hard, speak to someone you trust or contact your tutor on their school email.

STEM Academy 2020 Y6-Y13 students and parents can take part in an amazing event online and do lots of exciting practical challenges at home. You get to meet real-life, cutting-edge engineers and also get a certificate for taking part. Please register on the following website by completing an evaluation form and get started. Please share your work on Twitter and send to @Jorden_Birch.

STEM event: Register here

Families FAQs

How do I find the email address for a member of staff? Staff email addresses start with the staff initial followed by @waleshigh.com. e.g. Head of Year 10 Mr Radford: nr@waleshigh.com. Please note, some staff members have identical initials so if in doubt, please check the list below. If you don’t know the email address of the member of staff you wish to contact, usually typing their surname in the address bar on a school email account will show up the email address. However, if this does not work, this document will have the email address you need:

I am having issues using my email. What

should I do?

Student must use their school email address and not

personal address when contacting staff, and parents

should use the email address that is registered with

school. First, check you are on the correct login page:

there should be a school logo above the sign in prompt

(see image below). If there isn’t click here. (You can also

access the login page via the school website.) For

students, your username should be in the format of:

forename.surname@student.waleshigh.com. If you

can’t remember your password, you should contact

g4s@waleshigh.com.

I can’t find my lesson on Teams. What should

I do?

In the first instance check your emails to see if you have

an invite from your class teacher - if not try emailing

them. If you’re not sure who to email or are having

difficulty accessing Teams, you can email

teams@waleshigh.com.

How do I log in to Teams?

You can access Microsoft Teams, either via the app

launcher in the top left of your school email, or by

clicking here. If you wish you can also download the

Teams desktop or mobile app here. The app is supported

on Windows, Mac OS, Linux, Android and iOS

(iPhone/iPad). You should log in using your normal

school email username and password.

I have completed the survey about my child

returning to school. When will I hear more?

All Y10 and Y12 students who have responded to the

survey may well have already heard from their mentor(s)

and may have already received an appointment slot. If

not, they will certainly have made contact by the middle

of this week. A letter will be sent out to all Key Stage

Three families, outlining next steps, on Wednesday, 24th

June. Please remember to complete the family survey

(link provided again here) by 3pm on Tuesday, 24th June.

When my KS3 child returns to school, how

long will they be on site?

Your child will be at school for roughly two hours.

Who will my Key Stage Three child be with?

They will be, wherever possible, with their tutor or co-

tutor, who will provide support in terms of overall

wellbeing and also next steps for remote learning.

Will my child eat on site?

To ensure the safety of everyone on site, we are

minimising the consumption of food. Your child is

therefore asked not to bring any food on site, and food

will not be provided on this occasion. With all

appointments only lasting two hours, food should not be

necessary. Your child is of course permitted to bring in a

water bottle, which should stay with them at all times.

Staff email addresses

KS3 family survey

A Celebration of YOU! Each week, we cannot resist sharing the excellent work that we have seen from so many of our students. This

‘celebration wall’ is now a regular feature in all bulletins, so keep an eye on this page to see if your work is shared! In

fact, we have had to expand this to two pages to accommodate all your wonderful work! Please keep up your excellent

efforts: we could not be prouder of our students and families.

Click here for a video of Libbi’s

instruments!

Amazing STEM

work from

Isabella!

More fabulous

STEM work from

Ollie!

However you do it, share your

work with us!

We understand that everybody’s circumstances at home

are different, and everybody has different ways of

working. As a school, we would like to reinforce the

message that there is no set format for sending in your

work. We have seen some fantastic examples of work sent

to us in the following forms:

• Screen shots

• Work typed directly into an email if you don’t have

Word

• Email attachments

• OneDrive documents (your teacher can edit these and

send back)

• Photographs of work shared on Twitter (remember to

tag @waleshigh and use the #WHSremotelearning)

• Photographs of posters or handwritten work