Blog 11.12.20 - Milford Haven School

As most of you will be aware by now, Welsh Government announced yesterday that all secondary schools in Wales are instructed to close their doors to pupils after today for the rest of this term. This means that today will be the last day that pupils can attend school site before Christmas, with the exception of those who have been instructed to isolate.

Although the school building will be closed we will very much still be operating, but now virtually as we have done earlier this year. From Monday December 14th to Friday December 18th work will be set for all year groups to complete independently at home, and as always you can contact us if there is anything you require our support with. We will be returning to the curriculum model that we used during lockdown, with AOLE specific subjects setting work each day.

Live lessons will also be available everyday and will be delivered to each year group at the same time every day, as follows:

Year 7 – 10:00

Year 8 – 11:00

Year 9 – 12:00

Year 10 – 13:00

Year 11 – 14:00

Year 13 – as and when appropriate and agreed with pupils.

Live lessons are being promoted so pupils can ask questions immediately, rather than email/message. Teachers may also use screencastify/video or Loom to deliver the teaching and tasks, then go live to answer questions, if pupils have any.

We know that there will be mixed reactions to this news, however we are confident that our Milford Haven School family will continue to do what it does best – look after each other in tough times and ensure that we all do everything possible to protect our community. Stay safe, and please look out for more updates on our usual platforms.

Over the Christmas break we would be grateful if you could please use this time to ensure that your child is fully equipped to return to school in January. This includes full and correct uniform, details of our uniform policy can be found on our school website, as well as their own set of equipment. As we move into 2021 many of the systems we have in place to reduce the spread of Coronavirus will remain in place, including asking pupils to have their own essential school equipment (pen, pencil, ruler etc) which is not to be shared with other students.

Covid 19 has impacted all of us this year, however it most certainly has not stopped us getting into the festive spirit here at MHS! There were sadly many events that had to be either cancelled or tweaked this term to be Covid safe, but as you will see in today’s blog our staff team have worked hard to keep the school calendar alive and bring you as many of our annual Christmas celebrations as is possible.

Thank you all for your incredible support and engagement with our Santa Fun Run this year. As previously mentioned we sold out of places in just 3 days, and it has been a pleasure to see so many of your photos reflecting what a true community event this was. This is your 12 month warning to start training for next year!

Christmas Jumper Day

Every year we traditionally hold a Christmas Jumper Day at MHS, and 2020 is no exception. Apologies for the short notice, but following the announcement yesterday we made a last minute change to move our Christmas Jumper Day to today, to try and maintain some sort of normality for the children on what is now their last day on school site this term.

The money raised has over the years gone to different charities, this year all funds raised will be split across the four chosen House charities- Sandy Bear, PATCH, Greenacres and Get the Boys a Lift. Due to Covid 19 we have been very limited in the fundraising opportunities available this year for us to raise money and support these fantastic local causes, so thank you for your support.

Traditionally the MHS Christmas Concert marks the start of the festivities for our school family, and although we cannot hold this event in its usual format we will be bringing you an online version over the last week of term. Entitled ‘A different kind of Christmas’, every day over a 5 day period we will be sharing with our school community festive readings and a selection of musical performances. This special online event will begin on Monday December 14th, please keep an eye on our social media platforms and school app for further updates.

During these difficult and ever changing times of CVD19 we have worked hard to keep our school calendar alive, however there are some face to face events that simply cannot be replaced with online or remote alternatives.

Sadly, due to the current restrictions in place, we have had to postpone the Senior Certificate Evening which was calendared for Thursday 17th December 2020.

Given the nature of the event and it’s audience, combined with the restrictions which are likely to be in place following Christmas, the proposed new date for the event is Thursday 1st July 2021. We will of course review this closer to the time, but we are ever hopeful that we will be in a very different position towards the end of this academic year.

For any Year 11 and 13 leavers who wish to receive their certificates before the event in July, they can be collected from the Main Office from 1st Dec onwards.

We have attached below some useful information from Welsh Government for parents and carers. This includes details on the Track & Trace system currently in operation, and also when and for how long you may need to isolate.

https://gov.wales/…/test-trace-protect-information-for…

All parents and carers in all year groups have been issued login codes for our school app WEDUC, this is one of the easiest ways to keep in touch with us and stay up to date with school life.

Please contact us if you need any support getting started with the app, or have any trouble logging in, so we can help you get connected.