Remote News

Dear Parents, Carers and Students 1 May 2020

Our students continue to inspire us all with their kindness, compassion, energy and initiative and we have loved hearing all the different ways in which so many continue to make a difference to their community. This has included Katie L who has been regularly clearing her local area of litter, Ana G, who is working in a pharmacy, Sasha T, who has been making scrubs and Holly S, Swarmi M, Lilly C, Amaya T, Scarlett L and Ellah M who are our first recipients of the Rosebery Remote Good Citizen Award for all their work in demonstrating community spirit, kindness and for promoting ways to support positive mental health. Please continue to share good news stories with us!

One of the first things to have been cancelled, even before we entered lockdown, was our plethora of school trips, about which we are very sad. Last weekend, our Gold Duke of Edinburgh students would have been on their practice expedition. Undeterred by this postponement, Lucy H has carried out her own ‘expedition’ which she followed by sleeping in her tent! Her account of this can be found later in this bulletin. We know many of you are anxious for refunds, and we are chasing our insurance company on a very regular basis; it is a frustratingly slow process.

I think it is fair to say that, as we come close to the end of our 6th week of lockdown, whilst we all understand the need to stay at home to prevent the spread of infection and support those wonderful people who are on the front line in the NHS, there is a greater sense of general weariness, fatigue and frustration with the current restrictions under which we are all living. This has certainly been evident in the increase in correspondence with us about the challenges of online learning and home-schooling. I wrote last week about the way in which we are working hard to increase the amount of interaction that teachers can have with students and I am delighted to say that we will now be able to use Google Meet with our younger year groups, particularly for check-ins and whole class feedback, and many colleagues have embraced Loom this week, which allows recorded teacher exposition and explanation which is much easier to engage with for students than written explanation. Can I emphasise the need for parents and carers to help us ensure that any ‘live’ sessions are managed appropriately from a safeguarding point of view? For example, there is no obligation for students to have their cameras on – we imagine most will choose to have them off. We are recording all Goggle Meet sessions so that we have a clear record of what was said by our teachers that can be referred back to if necessary.

I am sorry that we are not able to promise that all teachers are going to deliver learning and lessons in the same way; just as our students and families do, our 112 teachers have differing levels of access to technology at home, they have differing levels of technical expertise and they are juggling different challenges at home. However, I assure you that my colleagues are committed to embracing as many engaging methods of teaching online as possible, because we are all desperately missing meeting and conversing with their students; we are missing the energy, enthusiasm and determination of our students; we are missing feeling that we can make a difference to a student who is struggling academically or emotionally, and we are thinking continually about how we can offer meaningful support to help with those struggles during this challenging time. And we also miss the laughter, the comradery, the cheekiness, the hum of conversation and the rolling eyes as we ask for short skirts to be unrolled!

We never envisaged that we would be delivering learning via a laptop for such an extended period and there is no question that this is not the optimum way of teaching children. As with every profession in the country at the moment, we are making daily adjustments to try to make this work for everyone as best we can, but we have not lost sight of how fortunate we are and what a huge privilege it is, to continue to be able to work with young people and families at this challenging time. We will continue to work hard to bring a more consistent and interactive experience to our students each week, so that their experience at home is as positive as possible and to try to ensure that remote learning is not an added source of anxiety, frustration or sadness for any of them, or for you, who are working so hard to support your children whilst managing everything else in your lives. We are planning carefully for our eventual return to school, when we will help our students to process what they have been through, to help them overcome the obstacles that we will all face and to build the confidence they need to feel and to be successful at school once again.

Finally, I wanted to draw your attention to a book published online this week, The Book of Hopes. Completely free for all children and families, this collection of short stories, poems, essays and pictures has contributions from more than 110 children’s writers and illustrators, including Lauren Child, Anthony Horowitz, Greg James and Chris Smith, Liz Pichon, Michael Morpurgo, Axel Scheffler, Francesca Simon and Jacqueline Wilson. The collection, published by Bloomsbury, is dedicated to the doctors, nurses, carers, porters, cleaners and everyone currently working in hospitals. You will find it here: https://literacytrust.org.uk/family-zone/9-12/book-hopes/

Please find one of the poems from the book by Greg James and Chris Smith below, which I think is particularly resonant and

relevant for us all this week.

Take care, stay well and stay safe.

Ros Allen @RoseberyHT

Account of her DofE ‘expedition’

Last weekend we were meant to be taking part in our Gold DofE expedition. Therefore, I decided to carry out

my own DofE - which consisted of a few long walks and camping in my garden! The new guidelines from the

government say that you can drive somewhere to walk so long as you carry out exercise for a longer period

that you drive. So, after looking online for a 15km hike, we printed out the instructions

and did the walk, somewhere that we had never been before, although, it was still local

and only about a 10-minute car drive. When I got home, after a quick rest, I put up the tent in the

garden. It definitely was not typical DofE style where it normally rains for the whole weekend and is

freezing cold; the camping was certainly more ‘glamping’ style with lots of blankets, a duvet and even

WiFi!

Overall, if you looking for something different to do, I would recommend following a walk that you can find online and

sleeping outdoors for a couple of nights. It was great fun and I look forward to when we can do our real expedition with

my friends ,but in the meantime it is important to maintain fitness levels and get outdoors when you can.

Lucy H 12E

MUSIC We are busy putting together our new RoseberyRemote Orchestra and we would love to hear from any musicians out there. Our first song is ‘What a Wonderful World’ by Louis Armstrong. To access the sheet music and click track for this, please email Mrs Charlton acharlton@rosebery.surrey.sch.uk.

The deadline for recordings is Friday 8 May. Mrs A Charlton, Music Teacher

MATHS & MEDIA ACHIEVEMENTS

Stars of the week!

Neve M 7MY Amelie S 8CY Callula B 9EX Amy T 10CY Katie B 11EY

Lauren L 7CY Sara A 7MY Shanalee M 7EX Charlotte M 8CX Katie L 9EY

Media stars for completing their SENECA Music Video Assignment this week are:

Mary Ellise B 10EY Madison C 10PY Emily J 10CY Natalie J 10EY Annabel L 10EY Ellie M 10EX Chiara P C 10EX Hannah S 10MY Mila V 10EX

Miss N Bailey, Head of Maths Miss S Reilly, Deputy Head of Maths & KS4 Maths Coordinator

Mrs N Bonfanti, Media Studies Coordinator

SEND This period of school closure is challenging for everyone, especially so for many of our students with SEND. Information is available on our website (under the Curriculum heading, within the SEND page) including our SEND Policy, Appendix 1: GLF SEND Information Report 2019-2020 with a Covid-19 Addendum specifically relating to the current health crisis. Parents/carers of SEND students are encouraged to contact me at ebyrne@rosebery.surrey.sch.uk, if they have any concerns, whilst we work hard to minimise the impact that school closure may on these students.

Tips for parents/carers of ASD children whilst in CV-19 lockdown

Maintaining a daily routine in the morning is important to ensure the resuming of the normal daily getting ready and going to school routine won’t be such a shock when the time comes. School day bed time should be in place too.

To talk about school regularly – perhaps considering how staff and other students may be during the lockdown. Discuss what worries and concerns the young person may have about returning to school. Please contact school with particular worries ensuring that we are able to plan support, if necessary.

If remote learning work has not been completed, pre-empt worries by contacting school to let us know please; school work should not be completed at the expense of family life during this difficult time.

When a return to school date is announced, it can help some young people to have a countdown to the day; seeing the day coming closer helps them come to terms with the inevitable and enables them to mentally prepare. However, for others it can ramp up anxiety, so this very much depends on what the young person finds helpful.

Mrs E Byrne, SENDCo

LIBRARY NOTICE This week’s recommendations are from Helena S 8MX

Young Sherlock: Death Cloud by Andrew Lane Sherlock moves in with his uncle and aunt. He gets a mysterious new tutor who doesn’t teach ‘normal’ lessons. During one lesson they stumble across a body

with lots of boils on it and Sherlock decides to investigate what they are. Death Cloud is a book is for people who enjoy mysteries and adventures. I recommend this book because of all of the interesting puzzles; each book throughout this series has different puzzles. Will you be able to solve them all?

Nancy Drew by Carolyn Keene Nancy Drew is a series about a young woman solving mysteries. Nancy lives with her father and house-keeper. In this first book she sees a little girl nearly getting hit by a van, so she takes Judy home, and she meets her two aunts who explain their financial difficulties, they didn’t get an inheritance which they had been promised for Judy. This book is an adventure and mystery. Will Nancy be able to find out what happened to Mary and Edna’s part of the inheritance?

STUDENT NEWS Since launch, last week, lots of students have started work on their Rosebery Remote Good Citizenship Award and it has been such a pleasure to hear what has been happening at home and in local communities. Congratulations to Holly S 7PY, Swami M 7MX, Lilly C 7CY, Amaya T 7CY, Ellah M 7MX, Scarlett L 8CX and Sasha T 11EX, who have already completed their award by showing commitment to learning, wellbeing, the community and the environment. Their amazing activities include: planning a concert for a neighbour whose performance had been cancelled, cupcakes for a friend on their birthday, online dance classes, planning a pampering session for family, doing lots of Joe Wicks’ PE, alongside much remote learning and masses of baking! Well done girls - keep up the good work!

Summer E 8CY under-took a 26 hour silence to raise funds for Children in Need, after seeing the challenge to every-one to do 26 of something. Summer thought she may raise around £100, but to date her JustGiving page has raised over £369. Her house was very quiet, the kittens couldn't work out why she wasn't talking but Summer did some cooking (wearing a scarf over her mouth to remind her not to speak!) and played silent Countdown with relatives in Australia!!! We are all proud; well done!

Katie L 9EY has been busy, up at 8am to start her learning and do-ing extra studies to help her stay on top of her education, alongside daily exercise breaks. When on family walks Katie she has been upset to see so much litter. She is now taking black bags with her, and collects all of the rubbish along her route, as she passes by. Katie is remaining focussed, positive and kind-hearted. You are doing great work!

Over the Easter break, Hazel C 9PY got some valuable professional recording process experience when she was asked to sing vocals for a dance track. Hazel recorded her parts, at home in two stages:

1) the bit with lyrics (the songwriter sent the words and music); and

2) the add libs - ooos, ahhhs, come on, come on!!

Do have a listen to the track that Hazel con-tributed to - it's great and will prompt a smile.

Miss H Subramaniam, Head of Music

#SixthFormCookOff 2020 Winner Announced

After some amazing entries and some very tough judging decisions we are now finally able to announce the winner of the #SixthFormCookOff 2020!

Thank you so much to those who have taken part.

Thank you also to the families and friends who have supported our contestants in creating their entries.

Miss K Allison Head of Year 13

Magazine Subscription Update

The Library has been given access to the magazine archives for the subscriptions which students bought in September and October 2019. This was done by ParentPay.

If you purchased a subscription to any of the following magazines: Modern History Review, English Review, Geography Review or Hindsight, an email has been sent to the student containing the relevant link to provide online access. Students will receive their hard copy magazines for April when we return to school.

Thank you.

Mrs J Little, Librarian

Click here to listen

Miss H Lowe - Assistant Head Teacher, Student Learning, Leadership and Development

HOUSE CHALLENGE This challenge was developed by Oxfam in an attempt to raise money for charity that would have been raised at the 2020 London Marathon.

All you need to do is to think of an activity to do with the numbers ‘2 & 6’. You could run/ walk 2.6 miles, skip 26 times, bake a cake with the numbers 2 and 6 or even hold your breath for 26 seconds.

Your entry should include a picture and short explanation of your challenge.

The house team would love your entries emailed to Miss Nejad by Tuesday 26 May with prizes going to the most interesting challenges but also points for every entry.

If you wish to donate to this, please search ‘2.6 challenge’ on the Justgiving website. Good luck :)

Miss V Nejad, House Leader

Supporting our local foodbank

During these strange times, I couldn't be more proud of our amazing Year 8 students. Every day they continue to impress me with their determination and support for one another. One student in particular who has impressed me this week is Eva S 8EY.

The week before last she emailed her local food bank and has been liaising with the team there about her idea on how to collect food donations and what specifically they needed.

She drafted a flyer, got it printed and delivered to all who live in her street. She then collected a vast amount of food donations, as pictured. By doing this Eva has created a real sense of community within her street and this is something that Eva wants to continue doing. On top of all of this, Eva has even completed her school work!

Well done Eva, I am very proud of you, keep up the fantastic work! Mr J Waight, Head of Year 8

BBC Young Reporter Club

We may not be meeting in OK1 this term but it is more important than ever that you can spot fake news.

You too can be a BBC Young Reporter! There are some excellent resources and a game to play here https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/articles/z7ndwty that will help you understand and spot fake news stories on the internet and in social media.

If you have any questions, comments or have spotted some fake new stories, contact nbonfanti@rosebery.surrey.sch.uk

Mrs N Bonfanti, Media Studies Coordinator

Mole Valley Youth Showcase Awards 2020

Congratulations to Mia H 8MY who, along with her team, were announced winners of the Team Award at the Mole Valley Youth Showcase Awards 2020 last week.

I am sorry you missed out on a glitzy awards ceremony but glad to hear you and the team are delighted to have your dedication and achievements recognised.

We are proud of your achievements.

Mr J Waight, Head of Year 8

#YEAR10REMOTEPROUD Year 10 are doing some awesome stuff in their virtual classrooms. I have been celebrating this with students and parents over the last couple of weeks and would like to branch this out. If your child is doing something at home (helping a neighbour, being responsible for younger brothers/sisters, for example) you feel is deserved of a #YEAR10REMOTEPROUD please email me at lbrowne@rosebery.surrey.sch.uk Myself and Team Year 10 love hearing what the students have been up to outside school. I look forward to hearing from you! Mrs L Browne, Head of Year 10

SAFEGUARDING

Dear Parents/Carers The Prevent Supervisor for Surrey and Sussex Police has sent the following information:

‘The current COVID-19 lockdown brings concerns around vulnerable adults and children becoming radicalised online or developing grievances around sectors or the community that others seek to portray as being at fault for the crisis. With this in mind, Counter Terrorism Policing Headquarters has developed the linked resource for parents/ carers to help manage any potential concerns’.

Please do take the time to read through this important resource by clicking here.

If you have safeguarding concerns, please email Rosebery School’s safeguarding team on: dsl@rosebery.surrey.sch.uk