HOME LEARNING: PHASE 1

Newsletter Of Kingsthorpe College During Unprecedented Times

VOL . 1 , NO . 1 3RD APRIL 2020

NEWS &FEATURES

Headteacher 's Message

PAGE 1

Teacher Blog :

Working From Home

PAGE  2

Home Learning Heroes

PAGE  3

Young Enterprise

Success

PAGE 4

Virtual Staff Pub Quiz

PAGE 4

Keeping In Touch

PAGE 6

Headteacher's MessageBY MRS GIOVANELLI

If I rewind 6 weeks to the start of Term 4, I neverthought I would be sitting writing this newsletterin these circumstances. In fact, I don't think anyof us imagined we would be l iving as we are now.However, despite these strange andunprecedented times, the core of KC remains as italways has done. Relationships underpinned withoptimism, determination, clarity, andthoughtfulness continue to drive the work weundertake at the College - even if this work looksdifferent to the work we started in February. Atour heart is a belief that everything is possible,and I want to thank everyone involved with theCollege for making this a reality in spite of thechallenges we are currently facing.

Easter Arrangements

PAGE 5

Teacher Blog:Working From HomeBY MR SAVILL

mes Lopez

KINGSTHORPE COLLEGE | PAGE 2 Dream Big , Work Hard , Stay Humble

In fact no real rush to do anything. A massive contrast to everyday life in a modern secondary school. I’m sure I wasn’t the only one who found the idea of working from home somewhat appealing when it was first proposed; although of coursewe would all much prefer if it was under contrasting circumstances. The chance to complete your daily tasks in your living room armed withjust your laptop, wearing whichever comfies you fancy and having constant access to the food in the kitchen (I’ve certainly taken advantage ofthe latter...) Now I’d certainly be lying if I said the first couple of days were not enjoyable and particularly peaceful. I set a slightly later alarm for themorning and my daily run was a few miles longer to make the most of my daily allowance of one session of exercise; my two huskies werevery pleased about this! I didn’t have to start my day by questioning my tutees about any behaviour points they may have received theprevious day or quizzing anyone about why they were late. There was no need to rush my breakfast (the first one or the second) and I wasfeeling fresh and ready to get started on the tasks on my list. After logging into the school system and addressing the numerous emails fromstudents the work could begin. My productivity levels were through the roof, I was typing away, creating resources, inputting data and finallygetting the feeling that I have enough time to complete the work I need to; it was very unusual. The next couple of days followed a similarpattern and there have certainly been numerous benefits to this new way of life, particularly the amount of work that can be completedwhen you are completely uninterrupted and fully focused. A week later however, it’s clear that this kind of daily routine is certainly not whyany of us got into teaching. Now I’d certainly be lying if I said the first couple of days were not enjoyable and particularly peaceful. I set a slightly later alarm for themorning and my daily run was a few miles longer to make the most of my daily allowance of one session of exercise; my two huskies werevery pleased about this! I didn’t have to start my day by questioning my tutees about any behaviour points they may have received theprevious day or quizzing anyone about why they were late. There was no need to rush my breakfast (the first one or the second) and I wasfeeling fresh and ready to get started on the tasks on my list. After logging into the school system and addressing the numerous emails fromstudents the work could begin. My productivity levels were through the roof, I was typing away, creating resources, inputting data and finallygetting the feeling that I have enough time to complete the work I need to; it was very unusual. The next couple of days followed a similarpattern and there have certainly been numerous benefits to this new way of life, particularly the amount of work that can be completedwhen you are completely uninterrupted and fully focused. A week later however, it’s clear that this kind of daily routine is certainly not whyany of us got into teaching. Our department is now as well-resourced as I can remember; we’ve had the opportunity to refine systems and finally got around tocompleting those tasks that we’ve wanted to for months but have never had the opportunity to. I’m sure everyone has more energy and isnot feeling quite as exhausted as everyday teaching can often leave us. I do believe however, that this period away has reminded us of thethrill that draws us back to school every day. The daily interaction we get with our students, those lightbulb moments that we see when anew concept is fully understood after a period of struggle and often many mistakes. The unpredictable and often amusing comments andquestions that our imaginative students come out with and the humour and energy that the young people bring with them every day. Eventhose times when you think you’ve given yourself ten minutes to eat your lunch after setting up for the next lesson only to be visited by astudent who needs some help with their homework or is having issues with a friend and has come to you for some counselling. While thesethings do take up a large amount of our time and energy, none of us ever think twice about prioritising the needs of our students.  There’sno point developing the best resources in the world if you don’t have the opportunity to share them with enthusiastic students on a day-to-day basis. What this very uncertain time will hopefully do for many of us is allow us to reflect on what is important in our lives and why we love teaching.Although we do sometimes feel the urge to complain about certain classes or student behaviour, the daily interaction and unpredictability iswhat makes this job different to anything else. So, enjoy the extra free time you may have, the more relaxed and peaceful days, and theopportunity to broaden your daily activities and when this is all over, we can start again with renewed enthusiasm and gratitude for the jobwe’re very lucky to have!

With schools currently being closed to most students and staff,we find ourselves adapting to a life of working from home on adaily basis. I’m sure most of my fellow teachers are already usedto completing a large amount of work from home after years ofpractice but this is certainly something very different. No needto rush to beat the Boughton Green Road traffic in the morning,

We have been so impressed with the commitment that everyone hasshown to getting to grips with this new way of schooling. It 's beenhard for everyone - teachers, students and parents! Whilst we want to thank every student for what they have done sofar, we would l ike to say a particular well done to the students below(keep your eye out for some post over the next day or two!):

Home Learning HeroesBY THE QUALITY OF EDUCATION TEAM

KINGSTHORPE COLLEGE | PAGE 3 Dream Big , Work Hard , Stay Humble

Onsite LearningBY TEAM KC

Thank you to all those parents who have followed the government advice tokeep their children at home where at all possible. Those students who havebeen onsite have been undertaking a range of activities, as well as keepingup to date with the work set by their teachers. Please look at our Twitterfeed to see what we have been up to. https://twitter.com/qoe_kc You can also view our very own KC Vlog on YouTube.Search for QoE at Kingsthorpe College to find our channel.

Young Enterprise SuccessBY MRS FISHER

Congratulations to the Post 16 YoungEnterprise group - “Hanabi”- who havemade it through to the County Finals on the28th April . This is a tremendousachievement especially in theseunprecedented times. The final will ofcourse be “virtual” and we wish them well -we're keeping our fingers crossed!

Virtual Staff QuizBY MISS OLD

Thank you to Miss Old who kindlyarranged a virtual staff quiz onWednesday evening. Over 15 teams tookpart, with representation from bothteaching and support staff. This proved tobe a lovely way to reconnect during thisstrange time. Competition was fierce with teams fromthe PE department and Hums department(with a MfL guest!) winning joint firstplace.

KINGSTHORPE COLLEGE | PAGE 4 Dream Big , Work Hard , Stay Humble

Easter ArrangementsBY MRS GIOVANELLI

Home Learning - A Parent Perspective Having given most of my time to my KC family over the last couple of weeks, Itook the opportunity earlier this week to spend two days at home with mythree daughters - aged 9, 8, and 6. I have been a teacher for almost 15 years and I have to say, I think those twodays were some of the hardest of my career! Trying to keep my girls occupied,on task, and engaging with the materials they had been set by their school wasno easy task. It certainly made me realise just how hard it is to keep ourstudents learning away from school. So please do not give yourself (or yourson or daughter) an overly hard time at home - we know how tough it is, andwe know that this situation is far from ideal in terms of our students'learning. Whatever you can do with your son or daughter is enough, and thereis as much value from reading and creating together, and talking and sharingtogether as there is completing a worksheet. Please give yourself permissionto have a break from a schedule both during term-time and especially over theEaster holidays. When we do return to school, we will be making sure that wehelp students transition back from home learning to school learning and wewill be making sure that no student has been disadvantaged by not being inschool for the duration of the closure. Staff Communication Over Easter I am sure you will all support my instructions to staff to have a rest over theEaster break. As such, there is no expectation for them to work during theholidays and I have asked them to take their holiday as usual. The weeklycommunication that we have been providing will therefore take a two weekpause. That said, we do have staff on site throughout the Easter break so youwill always be able to speak to someone if you urgently need to do so. Inaddition, if you have any concerns about the safety of a child, you are alwaysable to contact a member of the College Safeguarding Team by calling theschool reception number.

KINGSTHORPE COLLEGE | PAGE 5 Dream Big , Work Hard , Stay Humble

Keeping In TouchBY TEAM KC

Please note that we have asked members of our KC team tomake contact weekly with every child and / or their parent. The purpose of this call is to check in with you all , and see howyou are getting on. In addition, we will be able to help you withany queries and if we can't, we will certainly be able to pointyou in the direction of someone that can!

Final ThoughtBY MRS GIOVANELLI

What has struck me most this week isjust how much our school is built onrelationships. Above all else ineducation, this sense of connection withone another seems more important thanever - a sentiment beautifully capturedby this quotation from 'Winnie thePooh'. Whatever happens, you can be sure thatKC will continue to do all that it can tosupport its students, parents, staff andcommunity over the coming weeks.

KINGSTHORPE COLLEGE | PAGE 6 Dream Big , Work Hard , Stay Humble

We have asked our staff to call you on school mobiles. This means that, atpresent, it will show up as a 'Withheld Number' on your phone. Please doanswer though as it 's important we keep connected with everyone in ourcommunity. We are currently looking at ways we can change this so that youknow the call is from us.