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Woodfield Newsletter
Friday 12th February 2021
This week we began the gradual build up of our on site provision, with the aim to have all pupils on site in the last week of Spring Term. Despite the snow and cold weather earlier in the week, we were able to accommodate the extra classes on site (thanks to the site team for their efforts in clearing the playgrounds) whilst maintaining our bubbles and Covid protocols.
There has been some minor changes to the timetables for Annual Reviews, please check the dates here.
I'd like to personally thank all the parents, carers and families for the support they have given the pupils over the course of this half term. All the staff at Woodfield appreciate the time and effort you have put into supporting your children, and the assistance you have given them over this period. The relationships we have built and developed will only help us to together improve the provision we have for your children in the future.
I trust you and your families enjoy a safe half term break, and we will be seeing you all back on site in due course.
A nice looking snowman made by some members of ICR class this week
Virtual Parent Sessions this week
There were two online parent sessions planned for this week. The first session was for Year 11 parents only, providing information about the 6th form curriculum and post Woodfeld options for year 11 pupils. this session has now been rescheduled for Tuesday 23rd February at 10.45am. We urge all Year 11 parents to attend. The second was a support session run by our PBS (Positive Behaviour Support) team. as usual, any sessions were recorded and are available to view in the Parents Section of our website for those who missed the live sessions, or would like to review them.
Plan for remainder of Spring Term
The plan is to increase the numbers on site carefully, by having different classes attending on a rolling basis until the last week of term.
The plan was devised with, but not limited to, bearing the following considerations in mind:
- There has been a downward trend in the infection rate in Brent, now 476 cases per 100,000 (9th Feb) of the population as opposed to 4th January when it was over 1000.
- A gradual return will also allow us to expand our onsite testing provision incrementally to meet the increased capacity for testing staff and pupils. At time of writing, we are conducting around 50 tests a week, ( and have so far this term, we have conducted over 200 tests on the limited numbers of staff and pupils on site, all tests returning a negative). We may have to expand this to over 500 tests a week.
- We appreciate many families are now experiencing lockdown fatigue and would like to have their children return to on site provision
- Staff are now able to and have begun accessing the vaccine program, which is a massive boost to safety in the workplace.
Each tutor group will be on site for a minimum of two of these weeks. All covid measures we have in place currently (e.g. social distancing, classes in bubbles, staggered break times etc etc) will remain in force. The start and end times of the day will remain as they currently are, i.e 8:30am til 2:15pm
Pupils who are children of key workers etc, and who are currently participating in the on site provision will continue to do so. These pupils will join their tutor groups on the weeks their tutor group is rostered on, and return to their ‘key worker’ group for the other weeks. When a tutor group is not rostered on site, the ‘on line’ provision currently in place will operate.
The tutor groups and the weeks they are rostered on site are below:
| Week commencing |
Woodfield 1 Bubble |
Woodfield 2 Bubble |
Woodfield 3 Bubble |
| Monday 8th Feb |
ICR |
JEM, LUC |
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| Monday 22nd Feb |
CPA, LMU |
JMO, SMA, SLO |
AKE, SHE |
| Monday 1st March |
RSI, SWE |
JEM, MME, MDE |
ALI, HLE (SDE) |
| Monday 8th March |
SWE, DGO,MWD |
SHU,RAH, LUC |
AKM |
| Monday 15th March |
MWD, LMU, DGO |
JEM, SMA, JMO, MME |
AKE, HLE (SDE) |
| Monday 22nd March |
RSI,ICR,CPA |
LUC, MDE, SLO, RAH, SHU |
AKM, SHE, ALI |
| Monday 29th March |
All students in for 3 days of this week |
Parents and carers will be contacted during the week prior to their child being on site to confirm the on site provision. you will also get a reminder to complete the consent for testing form for your child, if you have not done so already. If you have any questions regarding this program, please speak to your child's form tutor, or contact the office in the usual manner.
Brent Connexions welcomes you to Branching Out.
This is their SEND Transition Information Event for young people and their parents. It's aimed at young people from 13-25. You can join to listen to talks from a range of providers & organisations that support transition for young people with SEND living in Brent.
Register now for your free ticket. 
On site testing
The Govt have updated their recommendations as follows:
- Secondary school staff should be tested twice weekly.
- Serial testing is being paused (7 day LFT testing of someone identified as a close contact). This means a return to the usual procedure for 10 days of self isolation following identified and confirmed primary contact with someone who has tested positive.
- No change to pupil testing.
We have adapted our testing practices in line with this.
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Mass Testing Programs in Schools
You may have heard that testing for those without coronavirus symptoms is beginning across the country using new, quicker COVID-19 tests known as ‘lateral flow devices.’ The therapy team have produced a fantastic video which shows you exactly what the testing procedure involves.
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Up to one third of people who have coronavirus are asymptomatic. By testing we will help to reduce the spread in school and college settings through asymptomatic transmission. Whilst the testing in not compulsory, I am encouraging those returning to Woodfield School to consent to being tested.
We recognise that the self-swabbing part of the test may cause significant concerns for some children and young people with SEND and their families. Some of these concerns may be alleviated by discussing them with school and agreeing strategies to help reduce anxiety and putting in place any reasonable adjustments (if the individual has a disability). Parents and carers may want to look at the Mass Testing Guidance for Specialist Settings for further information
We will be looking to test all staff and as many pupils as we can as they return after the Christmas break. In addition, any staff member or student who has come into contact with positive cases in our school can be tested daily for seven days to allow them to remain in school as long as that daily test is negative.
Those taking the test will be supervised by trained staff and volunteers. The lateral flow tests are easy to undertake, using a swab of your nose and throat. For those who are unable to self-swab please refer to the Mass Testing Guidance for Specialist Settings for further information about options. Results (which take around half an hour from testing) will be shared directly with the individual participant. The school will inform the pupil of a positive test result. Parents or legal guardians will also be informed. The pupil (and parent) will also receive a text and/or email notification of a positive or negative result from the online NHS system. Tests are free of charge and we will send you further information and a consent form
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Internet Filtering and staying safe on line
Broadband, mobile and WiFi providers offer filters to limit the inappropriate content a child might see. As these typically have to be set manually, you’ll find a comprehensive list of parental control guides on the Internet Matters website, or call your internet provider for assistance.
For parental controls, which allow you to you to determine what sites and apps your child can access with their smartphone, tablet or laptop, there are several paid options, but Google's Family Link is the most comprehensive, and it's free. It also lets you set limits on how long a child can spend on their device and even allow you to monitor exactly how they’re using it. Parental controls can take care of the possibility of children running up expensive bills, by letting you set spending limits. Or you can set up your child’s phone so they can’t spend any money at all.
Remember that no filter or parental controls tool is 100% effective, and many of the risks that young people face online are because of their own and other’s behaviour. It is therefore important to talk to your children about staying safe online, encourage good behaviour and make sure they know that they can turn to you if they get into any difficulty. The ThinkYouKnow guide is a useful set of things to consider in addition to filters and controls
- Talk to your child about what they’re up to online. Be a part of their online life; involve the whole family and show an interest. Find out what sites they visit and what they love about them, if they know you understand they are more likely to come to you if they have any problems.
- Watch Thinkuknow films and cartoons with your child. The Thinkuknow site has films, games and advice for children from five all the way to 16.
- Encourage your child to go online and explore! There is a wealth of age-appropriate sites online for your children. Encourage them to use sites which are fun, educational and that will help them to develop online skills.
- Keep up-to-date with your child’s development online. Children grow up fast and they will be growing in confidence and learning new skills daily. It’s important that as your child learns more, so do you.
- Set boundaries in the online world just as you would in the real world. Think about what they might see, what they share, who they talk to and how long they spend online. It is important to discuss boundaries at a young age to develop the tools and skills children need to enjoy their time online.
- Keep all equipment that connects to the internet in a family space. For children of this age, it is important to keep internet use in family areas so you can see the sites your child is using and be there for them if they stumble across something they don’t want to see.
- Know what connects to the internet and how. Nowadays even the TV connects to the internet. Make sure you’re aware of which devices that your child uses connect to the internet, such as their phone or games console. Also, find out how they are accessing the internet – is it your connection, or a neighbour’s wifi? This will affect whether the safety setting you set are being applied.
- Use parental controls on devices that link to the internet, such as the TV, laptops, computers, games consoles and mobile phones. Parental controls are not just about locking and blocking, they are a tool to help you set appropriate boundaries as your child grows and develops. They are not the answer to your child’s online safety, but they are a good start and they are not as difficult to install as you might think. Service providers are working hard to make them simple, effective and user friendly.
We recommend resources such as Internet Matters, The UK Safer Internet Centre, Parent Zone, Think You Know and the NSPCC as excellent places to find advice for developing good habits and keeping your child safe whilst on the internet
Don't forget, if children are taking their devices out of the home, it's worth bearing in mind that they could connect to public wifi, for example, in a shop, cafe or restaurant. Look out for the Friendly WiFi symbol which shows that the wifi has filters in place.
Sufra Food Bank
Woodfield is also a referrer to Sufra Foodbank. A charity that provides support to vulnerable families in need of additional help. They provide essential food and toiletries to families experiencing an acute crisis. The size of their food parcels depends on the size of the family that needs support but typically last between 5 to 7 days. They also offer other support such as:
- Community kitchen - hot meals being delivered to those without cooking facilities as well as the elderly and isolated.
- Advice services & refugee support
- NHS Emergency Food Aid Service - food packs for patients
- Community garden
This is a confidential service and any referral will be treated with strict privacy within the school. If you would like to discuss further, please contact Patsy.
Annual Reviews of EHC Plans
Annual reviews, in the current circumstances, need to take a different form. A review meeting, even if by necessity briefer than usual, can be carried out as advised by the Coronavirus Act 2020 for the Secretary of State for Education. due to the need to assign some staff from working on annual reviews to delivering the rapid testing program, the timeframe for delivering annual reviews may be adjusted. You will be well informed of any changes.
In order to complete the Annual Reviews of EHC Plans this academic year, Woodfield School will conduct reviews, virtually or over the telephone rather than face-to-face where this can be done following the guidance on reducing transmissions of coronavirus (COVI-19). Therefore parents or carers will not be invited into school for a review meeting.
An invitation e-letter will be sent out with more details as your child's' review approaches. (Please note that the Local Authorities have stated there is a backlog with amending ECHP’s). We will be happy to chase it up for you but just so you know ultimately it is the Local Authority who updates the EHCP. You will be entitled to a draft copy of all reports.
Please note; we have a change in our GDPR policy as to how we send review paperwork of your child to you. We will no longer send reports to parents’ personal email accounts. As of September 2020, we will only use your child’s email set for all correspondences for Annual Reviews. This encourages access to knowledge and sharing of information in a safe and controlled way from us to you.
Should you have any questions or concerns, please email on wf-senreviews@compasslp.co.uk or contact the school and speak with the SEN Administrator who will be more than happy to support you.
Proposed dates for reviews:
Autumn Term 2020 - Oct -Dec (Year 14, 13 and 9)
Spring Term 2021 - Jan - April (Year 9, 13, 12, 11 and 10 )
Summer Term 2021 - May- July (Year 10, 8 and 7)
Assistance from local councils
Local councils have set up guides for residents with regard to how to access a range of assistance over this time, be it medical, financial, business or even how to volunteer to assist others.
You can view these offerings from local councils by clicking the links below.
Brent
Barnet
Harrow
Ealing
Camden
Westminster
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Makaton is a language programme that is used in conjunction with speech to aid the pupils’ understanding of language and help them communicate with each other more effectively. Makaton is used across the school in lessons and break times. We would love for you to learn some signs so that you can sign with your child. See the We Talk Makaton website for more.
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Have a safe half term break
Nick Cooper
Important dates
Term dates are subject to change, parents and carers will be informed of any changes.
If you would like hard copies (paper) of any document on our website, please contact the school office and they will arrange this
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