Initial enquiries must be made directly to schools.
Friday 23 October 2020
Dear Parents and Carers,
All of our 27 schools will close their doors today for the traditional October mid-term
break. Given the stresses and strains associated with management of bubbles and the
attention to fine detail linked with risk assessments, hygiene and pupil and staff
wellbeing, it has been a period in school life like no other.
I want to thank you for your continued support and for your partnership since
September, this cooperation has ensured our children have been able to access such a
caring, nurturing and supportive learning environment.
As a trust, we are committed to supporting the community drive to eradicate the virus
and to this end, we would encourage parents, carers and visitors to our schools to
ensure where possible adherence to all social distance and face-covering guidance.
With the tier two restrictions in place, the traditional Halloween festivities will be limited,
however, I do hope that the break from school is enjoyed and I look forward to welcoming
everyone back safely on Monday 2 November.
Yours sincerely
Hugh Hegarty CEO
NPQH | MSc | PGCCGC | BEd Hons | CTC
Nicholas Postgate Catholic Academy Trust
The headteacher of Teesside’s most in-demand primary school says it will take years for teachers to help pupils overcome the effects of lockdown and the coronavirus crisis.
Katie Haycock, currently head of Wolviston Primary School – which Teesside Live recently named the hardest primary school to secure a place at locally – says nobody yet knows what long-term damage has been done to children.
“The majority of Wolviston pupils wanted to get back to school to be with their friends and start learning again, but we’ve had to re-establish and relearn their routines,” said Mrs Haycock.
“We carried out a wellbeing survey and the only reason some children didn’t want to come back was worrying about their parents at home, especially if they had health conditions.
“But the long-term effects on children are still not known. It’s not just this year, it’s the knock-on consequences. If you didn’t get your GCSE or A levels it can impact your whole career and the rest of your life.”
Mrs Haycock, who will take up a new role as director of Special Educational Needs and Disabilities at Nicholas Postgate Catholic Academy Trust after Christmas, says vulnerable children and those with special needs have been especially badly hit by missing school during lockdown.
“This has been a difficult time for all of us and especially young people, but the effects are heightened for those children who already have anxiety and get upset by a change of routine or see the world differently,” she said.
“They haven’t had access to the specialist support schools are so good at providing and the one-to-one learning they’re used to. Even the wearing of masks can be problematic with regards to communication.
“Schools will be assessing all children and looking at how they can put in catch-up interventions, but for children with special needs, we need to come up with bespoke, creative strategies.
“We also need to help schools support parents and carers because having a child with special needs can be rewarding but it can also be tough and at times very lonely.
“Parents have just spent six months helping children with their education at home while doing their own work and worrying about financial pressures and the prospect of another lockdown. They might also be concerned about sending their children to school because children with complex needs sometimes have underlying health conditions.”
Mrs Haycock, who will join NPCAT after five years as head of Wolviston, says she will be building on the good practice she has already seen in place within the trust’s 27 schools.
“I’ll miss the children, but I started out teaching in NPCAT schools and it feels like a family,” she said.
“My role will be to further enhance the provision of specialist help for children and support school leaders, SENDCOs and staff across the trust, as well as being there for parents.”
The trust is creating specialist teams for counselling, educational psychology and speech therapy to support this work.
“A trust should be about collaboration and we’ll be looking at how we can pool resources between schools,” said Mrs Haycock.
“My long-term goal will be to have specialist hubs to share best practice and expertise. I’ll also be looking at funding streams to support what we need to do.
“Being the SENDCO at Wolviston has given me a deeper understanding of the difficulties pupils and their parents face and there’s nothing more rewarding than seeing children make progress.
“It’s hard work and you have to celebrate small gains, but we also need to have high aspirations. With quality first teaching and targeted interventions, it’s possible to make a real difference.
“If we act early enough we can narrow the gap to enable all children to achieve their full potential, so we need to break down as many barriers as possible.”
Trinity Catholic College’s Year 6 Open Evening has its premiere on Tuesday October 6 from 6pm-8pm.
Parents planning to send their children to the school will get the chance to hear from the leadership team and see the excellent facilities on offer.
See the school website and social media on the day for links, including on online prospectus and an introduction to every department.
St Peter’s Catholic College’s Year 6 Open Evening has its premiere on Wednesday September 30 from 6pm-8pm.
Parents planning to send their children to the school will get the chance to hear from the leadership team and see the excellent facilities on offer.
See the school website and social media on the day for links, including on online prospectus and an introduction to every department.
An ambitious modernisation programme has been unveiled for one of Middlesbrough’s oldest schools as it prepares to celebrate its 80th birthday.
St Peter’s Catholic College in South Bank has a long and proud history, with illustrious alumni including folk singer Vin Garbutt, Formula One engineer Rob Smedley and professional footballers including Boro and England Golden Boy Wilf Mannion.
The extensive improvements at St Peter’s will build on that heritage with a state-of-the-art fitness suite and changing rooms, a new digital learning wing and Exhibition Centre along with a comprehensive facelift to the outside and interior of the famous building.
The school assembly hall will also be transformed with a new lighting and sound system and retractable auditorium seating to ensure parents and pupils have the perfect vantage point for school productions.
Other changes include new internal windows, flooring and signage and improvements to the reception area.
Announcing the plans, Nicholas Postgate Catholic Academy Trust (NPCAT) chief operating officer Jim Farquhar said: “We are determined to enhance the fabric of our extensive school estate for the benefit of pupils and staff.
“In addition to this announcement at St Peter’s, further announcements will be made in the coming months on significant infrastructural developments at both primary and secondary schools within our trust.”
Head of school Stephanie Garthwaite said the investment adds further to the positive momentum at the college.
“With two years of improving GCSE results and a new leadership structure in place, our community is working collaboratively with the trust and this announcement is a clear acknowledgement of the positive impact of this.
“As the pupils have returned they’re already appreciating changes over the summer that have made our classrooms much brighter and more open and they’re excited about the plans for the fitness suite and changing rooms.”
Executive headteacher Michael Burns added: “Our pupils are so proud to attend a school with so much history and the new facilities will ensure St Peter’s continues to evolve while still retaining its distinctive character.
“This community has such a proud heritage of sporting achievement and we already have an excellent sports hall and multi-use games area (MUGA), but the changing rooms needed updating and we also wanted a new strength and conditioning facility that provides a focus on reinforcing the drive for healthy lifestyles.
“We held a series of meetings over the summer and the trust is ploughing this investment in because they can see a real need.
“It will be fantastic for our pupils not to have to travel to other areas and we also hope local people will be able to use the new facilities, as well as our Combined Cadet Force and partner sports clubs, putting St Peter’s very much to the fore in supporting our community.”
Year 7 pupils Thomas and Harriet are thoroughly enjoying their first term at senior school after moving up from St Margaret Clitherow’s Catholic Primary School just across the road.
“I’m really enjoying it, I love all the lessons, especially Art and Catering,” said Thomas.
Harriet added: “It’s a really nice school and I love it here.”
The new fitness suite and changing facilities will be bespoke permanent buildings and the trust is hopeful that work will begin shortly and they will be ready for use this academic year.
Plans are also advancing for St Peter’s year-long 80th-anniversary celebrations in 2021, with exhibitions and memory walks providing opportunities for former pupils to visit the college.
Covid rules permitting, an anniversary banquet in the Pamela Hanrahan Refectory, named after a former headteacher, will draw the celebrations to a conclusion.
St Peter’s has commissioned a videographer to prepare footage to be aired at a special virtual open evening for parents of Year 6 children from local primary schools on Wednesday September 30.
An update from chief executive officer Hugh Hegarty on ongoing progress in our family of 27 schools within NPCAT…
Education secretary Gavin Williamson has issued an open letter to parents ahead of this week’s reopening of schools.
Mr Williamson says that parents who choose not to send their children back to school “could well put a huge dent in their future life chances”.
Here is the letter in full:
There are always a few nerves before the first day back at the start of a new school year. This year, understandably, there may well be some parents who have particular worries about their children returning to the classroom.
So first and foremost, I would urge you to keep in mind that all four of our country’s chief medical officers, including Chris Whitty, are unanimous in believing the health risk posed by Covid-19 to children is extremely low.
An extensive study by the British Medical Journal this week said that the risk of severe illness due to Covid for children was ‘vanishingly small’ and the chance of them being admitted to hospital because of the virus was ‘tiny’.
In fact, it is generally accepted that there is a far greater risk to children’s health and wellbeing if they don’t go to school. The chief medical officers said in their joint statement:
‘Very few, if any, children or teenagers will come to long-term harm from COVID-19 due solely to attending school. This has to be set against a certainty of long-term harm to many children and young people from not attending school.’
But more than that, I want to reassure you that huge lengths have been taken to prepare all our schools for this moment.
Over the past few weeks, the Schools Minister Nick Gibb and I have been visiting schools and seeing for ourselves some of the fantastically innovative ways they will be looking after children.
And I’d like to reassure you how these safeguards will help minimise the risk of infection:
Primary children will stay in groups to reduce the risk of spreading the virus.
In the event of local restrictions being put in place, older children and staff will wear face coverings in communal areas where they can’t easily social distance.
Strict hygiene and cleaning protocols are in place and PPE is being distributed to every school to bolster their supplies for use in the unlikely event that a pupil develops Covid symptoms. A small number of home test kits are also being distributed to all schools for anyone who develops symptoms and is not easily able to get tested.
Local authorities have been given an extra £40 million to increase school transport to reduce pressure on public transport. But it would be far better if any pupils who can do so, walked or cycled to school.
Based on this, our priority now is to get all our children back. It really is the best place for them to be. Nothing can match being in a classroom with a real teacher to inspire them and their friends to share their discoveries.
Your school will have undoubtedly talked you through all the measures they are taking to keep children and teaching staff as safe as possible. The National Association of Head
Teachers has said that 97 per cent of schools plan to welcome all pupils full-time from the start of the autumn term and will be using all the recommended safety measures to do so.
For example, 96% of them have put in place extra cleaning regimes and 93% will be staggering lunch and breaktimes.
I know these past few months have been some of the most challenging that schools, parents and, most of all, children have faced. After all, we’ve been dealing with a previously unknown virus that caused a global pandemic. But I know you will want to join me in saying an enormous thank you to all our dedicated school staff for the incredible efforts they have made to keep children on track.
If a child is not in school, they stand to lose far more than just a few months of learning. It could well put a huge dent in their future life chances. Education is a birthright, so let’s make sure we get all children back – back to learning, back to playing and back to being kids again.
Once again, our lay lead chaplain Angela O’Brien has put together some resources to help families celebrate this weekend’s Mass together.
It includes activities and reflections.
The Diocese of Middlesbrough has compiled a list of resources available to families who may be suffering hardship during the summer holidays.
The details have been put together by Middlesbrough Caritas, an umbrella grouping of people involved in social outreach within our diocesan family.
“These are challenging and unique times for us all, not least for our families and diocesan schools,” said Canon John Lumley, Episcopal Vicar for Missionary Discipleship.
“Given the threat of steadily increasing rates of unemployment and poverty in the country, especially perhaps as the government reduces the furlough scheme in the weeks ahead, it is likely that many families will experience loss of income and poverty – some of them for the very first time.
“With this in mind, we have prepared this list of organisations to which the parents of our school children might turn if they are in need. It is by no means exhaustive, but it is a start and may be of use to some families over the summer months. You may be able to share this information with families and friends, should they fall into difficulty.”
The link below contains details about help available within the NPCAT area.
During lockdown, NPCAT’s Project 35:35 competition asked the question “Is God working?” and invited members of our community to send in their responses through art, music, dance or words.
We had some fantastic entries and the judges had to make some tough decisions to decide who the winners would be.
CLICK HERE TO SEE SOME OF THE ENTRIES IN OUR ONLINE GALLERY
The competition was inspired by the words of chapter 35 verse 35 in the Book of Exodus, which tells how God delivered the Israelites from slavery.
The people were called upon to use their gifts to adorn the tabernacle that was built as a pace of worship before they reached the Promised Land.
He has filled them with skill to do all kinds of work as engravers, designers, embroiderers in blue, purple and scarlet yarn and fine linen, and weavers—all of them skilled workers and designers – Exodus 35:35
Here are our winners…
