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Newsletter May 1st 2020

Message from Mrs Reeves, Headteacher

WELCOME everyone to our first newsletter. We will be sending this to families every

week to keep you updated and try to answers questions that arise during this time in

lockdown. We are all adjusting to new ways of working and communicating and I want

to thank parents for their support and good wishes and most of all patience as we

establish new routines and systems. Pupils know that they follow their usual timetable

for that day and if they need support they can contact a teacher via email for help.

Keep up the good work, keep to a good routine and take sensible breaks. Stay safe and

be kind to everyone in your house; these times are difficult and can be stressful times

for everyone.

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From Mr Spicer (Head of Lower School) Year 7 Blackwell Residential.

I hope that you all safe and well in the current circumstances. I know through communication from my team and from Frog Mail messages pupils have been sending to me, many pupils are working hard at home, completing work set by departments, attempting the Lower School daily challenges and completing acts of kindness, as I encouraged through my weekly email to pupils. This should be residential week! Were we in school as normal we would have been away at Blackwell. Once school re-opens we will of course look to address the financial aspect of the trip and we are in contact with our insurers. Many thanks for your understanding in this situation and I would like to take this opportunity to encourage all pupils to really embrace the daily challenges, acts of kindness and the daily physical challenges set up through the PE department. All of these promote well-being during the lock down and further support your child at home.

From Mr Barlow (Head of Upper School)

Hello upper school. Thank you so much for all of the effort you have been

putting in to your studies at home. This is not ideal circumstances by any

stretch of the imagination but it is clear how many of you are determined to

carry on as best as you can.

The uncertainty of the current situation can be a concern and many of you

have questions but be clear, the Queensbridge community carries on as

always. Many of you in year 9 have asked about options and we plan that you

will be informed at the same time as every year, after half term. Hopefully the

information in this newsletter should answer many of your questions. Year 10,

lots of you will have now seen that your teachers are setting you assessed

work so that they can see where you are flying and where you need more

support. If you have any questions, please contact your subject teachers or

your form tutor via Gmail. Together we are moving forward so keep working

hard and we will hit the ground running when we get back to school.

Lower School

Upper School

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This week, Queensbridge School have completed over 10 000 MathsWatch

questions!

Our best mathematicians each week will receive our virtual postcards – make

sure you check your email accounts on Fridays.

Parents need to know:

1. Every day your child would normally have

a maths lesson they will find a PowerPoint lesson in their

google drive, followed by a MathsWatch task.

Please encourage your child to access the PowerPoint

before they attempt the MathsWatch task.

2. If your child needs help, they can drop

their teacher an email for help.

3. We recommend the following resources:

White rose maths

Parallel by Simon Singh

Dyson challenge cards

Hello from the Maths Department!

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Weekly Frog Challenge: A reminder that each week a new challenge is

set on FROG. You can access this by clicking on the homework tab on

your FROG page.

Finally, here are some examples of fantastic work from Mrs Powell’s year 7

group who were tasked with building, costing and advertising a theme park –

well done!

Keep up the excellent work,

QB maths department.

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Updates

Awarding GCSE grades this summer.

The process will involve teachers awarding Centre Assessment Grades for each

student in each of their subjects and then within each grade awarded,

complete a rank order. Teachers are now working together to award their

students Centre Assessment Grades and to complete rank orders. The

guidance is clear that schools must not, under any circumstances, share the

Centre Assessment Grades nor the rank order of students with parents, carers

or students themselves, before final results have been issued. This is to protect

the integrity of teachers’ judgements, and to avoid teachers, heads of

department, senior leaders and the Headteacher being put under pressure by

students and parents, to submit a grade that is not supported by evidence.

Please be assured that the process of awarding GCSE and A level grades will be

rigorous, objective and fair. GCSE results will be published on Thursday 20th

Queensbridge Photography Initiative https://bit.ly/QB_Photography We are inviting students, staff and families to participate by submitting a photograph in response to the theme of isolation.

Other news

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We are launching this project to help bring together the Queensbridge Community during unprecedented times of challenge, and highlight the importance of creativity as a means of connection, self-expression and therapy. Follow link above for full brief and guidelines for submissions. The Art & Photography Department

Instrumental Opportunities Firstly, if your child has instrumental lessons in school then you should have received an email from Mrs King and from their teacher, inviting you to take advantage of the remote lessons that are being offered by their teacher. Many pupils have already taken up this opportunity, but there are few who we have not heard back from. If you would like to take the offer up, please email joanna.king@queesnbridge.bham.sch.uk. In addition to this, the Music Service have been busy putting together an online learning platform for pupils and their families to access. This platform is a suite of videos to support all levels of learning covering every instrument and the voice. It will help those pupils who have whole class lessons in KS1 through to the upper-level musicians in secondary school and 6th form. It is an excellent resource that can be used in addition to lessons, or possibly by those who don't have lessons at school currently (such as vocalists). To access this platform go to www.sfeonline.co.uk www.sfeonline.co.uk and use our username and password: Username: queensbri Password: DuaTCWW5

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Pupil page Please send your ideas, activities, photos for the Newsletter pupil page to your

form tutor via Gmail. Recipe of the week.

Things to do:-

o Listen to a podcast

o Write a journal

o Share study ideas with other pupils

Story Club

“Reading gives us somewhere to go when we have to stay where we are" Story Club is live and kicking on Google Drive! You can find a weekly short story and join a virtual 'chat' every Friday with

staff and pupils at 1pm! It's on every week and very easy to join. Send a message to Mrs Paetel or Ms Howe if you'd like to be a part of it. We look forward to 'seeing' you all there for some laughs and chats. Cameo appearances from a variety of staff members guarantee.

IT Support

If you are experiencing technical difficulties, please email the IT team who will

endeavour to respond and support your query within 24 hours:

ITSupport@queensbridge.bham.sch.uk

To ensure the fastest possible response and resolution times, please provide as much

detail as possible when requesting support from the Queensbridge IT Team.

Required information:

Year Group

User Name (being attempted)

Where the error or issue is occurring ie Frog, Frogmail, Frogdrive, GDrive.

Screenshots of any errors or onscreen messages are also extremely useful in

resolving issues promptly.

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Stay safe during the

Coronavirus outbreak

Advice on keeping good mental health: https://www.nhs.uk/oneyou/everymind-

matters/coronavirus-covid-19-staying-at-home-tips

Government advice: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/covid-19guidance-on-

supporting-children-and-young-peoples-mental-health-

andwellbeing?utm_source=198a9e75-a418-4442-

91027c714bd37c3c&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=govuknotifications&utm_content

=immediate

Advice on keeping your body fit: https://www.nhs.uk/oneyou/for-your-body

Video chatting: a guide for parents and carers of secondary school-age children https://parentinfo.org/article/video-chatting-a-guide-for-parents-and-carers-of-secondary-

school-age-children

Advice for families is

available from the CAT team.

If you would like to access

this service please email

CATParentEnquiries@birmin

gham.gov.uk with the

following information:- your

name – The telephone

number you would like to be

contacted on – The name of

your child’ s school – Times

and dates you are not

available.

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Stay safe during the

Coronavirus outbreak

Stay at home, protect the NHS and save lives

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