Dear Parents
I would like to begin this week’s newsletter with some positive news; Ms. Mala gave birth to a healthy baby boy – Arthur – on Wednesday morning! He weighs 2.88kg and mother and baby are doing well. We wish her and her family all the very best.
Closing the school on Wednesday afternoon was one of the most difficult decisions I have had to take. I had wanted us to remain open for as long as possible to maintain a semblance of normality for you and your children in these unprecedented times. However, by Wednesday, with the level of absence at over 50% and with a growing number of staff unable to come in, I believe this was the right thing to do. I have been so touched by all the messages of support and encouragement that you have sent in.
Saying goodbye to the children on Wednesday and to the staff yesterday, not knowing when we might see one another again, was a hugely emotional experience for all of us. However, I would like to reiterate the message I have been sharing with my team: Whilst we are physically closed to the children, we are very much open for business as usual from an educational point of view. I have been bowled over by the tenacity, resolve and determination of my team. We have been creating some exciting and stimulating resources to use when we move to online learning from Monday 30 March. Included in this newsletter are details as to how to log any technical issues so that we can ensure there are no barriers to learning for your children.
Early next week we will be sharing with you details of how your children can log into Microsoft Teams. The email will also include some explanatory webinars. Please do watch the webinars and read the instructions very carefully and ensure your children can log on in advance of Monday 30 March.
Given the uncertainty around when school will re-open, I have taken the decision to cancel all planned productions – including the School of Rock – for next term. I appreciate that this will be very disappointing news for some children. However, I’m sure you’ll understand that it is going to be untenable to continue to plan for these.
With regards to fees for the Summer Term, please see the letter here.
In these unprecedented times, please stay safe and healthy. Additionally, do get in touch with me directly (james.stenning@northbridgehouse.com) at any time, and please do follow me on Twitter.
James Stenning
@NBHPrepHead
|
|
|
|
Online and Remote Learning
|
|
|
Protocol and Etiquette for Pupils Using Microsoft Teams
Please share this with your children and assist with adherence to it.
This is a time when channels of electronic communication between pupils and teachers are easier and more open, but to protect both pupils and teachers, the following etiquette should be observed:
- Meetings on Teams should only be arranged by teachers. Pupils should not invite teachers to join meetings.
- Pupils should not make individual or group calls to teachers on Teams.
- Pupils should not send emails from their own accounts to teachers’ school email addresses. If a matter is urgent then parents should email teachers, as they would when we are in school.
- Pupils should not contact teachers outside the working hours of 8.30am and 4:00pm.
- Chats on Teams should be restricted to the topic in hand. Emojis should not be used – important messages and questions can be lost this way.
Thank you for your help and co-operation with this.
Online Learning IT Support
During our remote and online learning phase, in order to log a ticket for any issues experienced, students or parents should send an email to:
OnlineLearningSupport@cognitaschools.co.uk
In order to progress support in the quickest possible time please ensure that the email request has a subject line of:
- School Name – Student Name
Within the body of the email please provide us with the following information:
- A brief and clear summary of the issue that is being seen
- A screenshot of the error or issue where possible
- Agreed / preferred method(s) of communication (e.g. email, phone, Teams chat etc.)
We will endeavour to provide as much support and guidance to our students and parents as possible in order to help with connectivity and personal home set ups, however, as these are unknown to us and not in line with Cognita standards, these may fall outside of our own knowledge and experience.
As this is a newly introduced way of working and we are expecting high volumes of IT support requests, we thank you for your continued patience in advance.
Firefly
A reminder of how to login to and access Firefly, and where pupils can find their set tasks, can be found here for pupils in Years 5 - 8.
Additional Online Educational Resources
Our teachers have put together a list here of online education platforms offering free subscriptions or resources that our pupils might find beneficial.
|
|
ALL YEARS
School Counselling
Please note that due to school closure, if you wish for your child to continue to see one of our three school counsellors, this will now become a private arrangement between the family and the counsellors. Therefore any payment for this will be made directly to the counsellor for now, not via Cognita. Once school resumes, and sessions take place at school again, payments will be added to your school bill in the usual way.
Ski Trip
The providers of our Ski Trip to Italy have cancelled following the announcement from the government on 17 March 2020, which states: “The Foreign & Commonwealth Office (FCO) now advises British people against all non-essential travel worldwide. This advice takes effect immediately and applies initially for a period of 30 days.” Due to the large volume of school trips taking place at this time of year, the providers have asked for our patience and we in turn ask for yours, whilst the providers, insurance companies and ABTA arrange the next steps in terms of refunds. We have been advised that this may take some time however, we are monitoring progress daily and working closely with the providers to ensure a resolution as quickly as possible.
We understand this is disappointing news; we value the importance of learning outside the classroom, we want to ensure we can continue with these hugely beneficial trips in future years and will work hard to provide an engaging and educational programme when the country returns to normal.
Digital Book Club
From 30 March we will launch our online Book Clubs for Year 5 to Year 8. Your child's English teacher will read to them live and we may even have some guest readers popping up! It would be great if you could get a copy to read along at home - in print or on Kindle is fine. Don't worry if you can't; they'll just need to listen extra carefully.
Year 5 - ‘Kensuke’s Kingdom’, Michael Morpurgo
Year 6 - ‘The Good Hawk’, Joseph Elliott
Year 7 and 8 - Maggot Moon, Sally Gardner
|
|
|
YEAR 5 & 6
Atom Learning
As a partner school currently using Atom Learning’s school platform, Atom Prime, we wanted to make you aware that Atom Learning will be running free trail of live lessons with professional teachers via Atom Nucleus for the foreseeable future. This is designed to supplement our school’s remote learning effort. They will be running lessons in English, maths, Verbal Reasoning and Non-Verbal Reasoning. To request a free lesson timetable, please contact: support@atomlearning.co.uk.
Our parents are entitled to a 50% discount off their first payment to Atom Nucleus should you wish to continue beyond the free trial. For any parents already subscribed, you can request the discount to be applied to your next payment. Sign up at www.atomlearning.co.uk with the discount code ZIlYQVH9 to receive 50% off your first payment:
N.B. NBH teachers will continue to set tasks through Atom for non-Atom Nucleus users during their normal Critical Thinking lessons when we move to online learning (w/c 30th March).
YEAR 7 & 8
Music Keyboards
As we start our remote learning, please be advised that we may ask pupils to complete tasks using a piano keyboard – please let Ms Dawson (joanna.dawson@northbridgehouse.com) know if you do not have a keyboard and we will look at ways for you to come into school to collect one from the music room as soon as possible, bewteen 9am and 4pm, provided the school is open. Please contact reception to let them know when you will sign one out. We look forward to some exciting online learning in Music!
YEAR 8
CE Examinations
We understand that with the cancellation of public examinations in the summer, announced by Boris Johnson, some parents may be anxious about their son’s conditional place at their senior school. We have had confirmation from ISEB that they will still be going ahead with the examinations, even if they have to be administered remotely. By making it possible for pupils to take CE examinations, we will be able to direct learning according to tried and tested syllabuses, allow pupils' achievements to be recognised, and provide senior schools with an indication of what these pupils know, understand and can do.
All of our destination schools have confirmed that entry to Year 9 will not be conditional on their CE results. However, we hope that by continuing to work towards these exams we will be able to ensure that the boys remain focused and continue to build their knowledge ready to approach the demands of their next school.
|
|
|
Some of the amazing double layer prints produced by Year 7 this week in Art.
|
|
|
Congratulations to our Stars of the Week:
|
|
Year 3
- 3Colledge: Milo M
- 3May: Nora B
- 3Truesdale: Ivan M
- 3Gomez: Andrea C
- 3Purcell: Rohan D
|
|
|
Year 4
- 4Polglaze: Maya B
- 4Foster: Makar T
- 4Barrett-Brown: Shailan L
- 4Malone: Raoul R
- 4Truasheim: Lilika S
- 4Power: Connor P
|
|
|
Upper School Leaders of the Week
All pupils who were in school this week for managing an unusual situation with maturity, flexibility and kindness to each other and the rest of the school community.
|
|
NBH vs Wetherby
The U13 Boys' Rugby Team had an excellent day out at the Wetherby Rugby 7's Tournament on Friday the 13th. There were some brilliant skills on display with some big tackles and runaway tries. A special mention goes to Luca G-B for his hat-trick! Great job to all the boys and all the effort they put into each game.
2020 Sports Tour
Due to the current circumstances, the letters for the October sports tour will now go out after Easter.
Learning from Home
Our PE team is busy putting together an exciting sequence of lessons for when we’re away from school. Below are some photos from a lesson we have recorded. We hope you’re all excited for the online lessons to come!
|
|
|
Please click on the image above to see Mr Stenning's video message and find out what challenge he has set today!
|
|
|
You can now view previous newsletters here.
|
|
|
|
|
|
