Updates

Latest information on Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19):

• Public Health Wales

 

22 July 2020

End of year letter to parents. Please see the link to the letter:

http://www.emrysapiwan.conwy.sch.uk/docs/Letters_2019-20/End_of_Year_Parents_Letter_July_2020.pdf

Start dates in September are been staggered. Once a year group has started they will continue to attend from that date:

 

10 July 2020

Letter to parents/carers of Year 12. This is to share with you the arrangements for the final two weeks of the summer term. Please see the link to the letter: http://emrysapiwan.conwy.sch.uk/docs/Letters_2019-20/Year_12_Letter_to_Parents_re_Weeks_3_and_4_10_July_2020.pdf

 

10 July 2020

The arrangements for the final two weeks of the summer term for Years 7 and 8's learning and attending school will remain unchanged. We look forward to welcoming more learners back to school.

 

09 July 2020

Year 11 End of Year Traditions

Firstly, we wanted to contact you to let you know that we are thinking about you and that an important part of the planning that we are doing has been to consider our Year 11 learners. We understand that you will have a mixture of emotions, including disappointment, about the postponement of the events and traditions that we usually have to celebrate the end of Year 11.

We wanted to take this opportunity to update you about how we are planning to do things a little differently this year. We feel sorry that we haven’t had the traditional shirt signing, Year 11 presentation with parents/guardians, leavers’ hoodies and prom but hopefully we have been able to find other ways to celebrate your time in the school up to the end of Year 11.

Year 11 Prom

We will do all that we can to ensure that you still get to have your prom night. We know how important this event is to you and how much thought and planning goes into this much-anticipated occasion. We have said from the outset that we will plan to reschedule the prom that had to be postponed from June. Given the possibility of further periods of restriction in the autumn, we feel it is not yet currently possible to reschedule the prom for a set date. We do not want to raise your expectations, and families’ spending, only to find that the event may have to be cancelled due to a continuation of restrictions. We are sorry to have to share this news but please rest assured that we will continue to look for an opportunity to reschedule the prom as soon as we can. We are also considering other alternatives (such as an outdoor event) which may become possible, depending on how restrictions lift or change. We will be in touch as soon as something is possible.

Leavers’ Hoodies

The leavers’ hoodies have become an important keepsake of the time that you have spent in school with the other learners in your year group.  Mr Doyle-Howson and Mr Blackford have been liaising with the suppliers. You can now be able to access the hoodie account on WisePay.  All hoodies will cost only £10 and are to be paid for using WisePay only.  Everyone has accrued the additional 1500 Vivos to pay for the remainder of the cost.  All hoodies will be navy blue, but you must choose a size at the same time as payment. The final date to purchase and choose a size is Friday 17^th July.  All hoodies will be available for collection from the school premises on Friday 31^st July. We will confirm the details of this for you nearer the time.

Year Book

Another tradition that has developed over the years is shirt signing. Given the ongoing social distancing requirements, this does not seem possible so we have been thinking creatively about how we could come up with an alternative. We also wanted to share how the pastoral team feel about having supported you up to this point, something that we would usually do as part of the Year 11 presentation with parents/guardians.

We have decided to produce a Year Book, something exclusive for the Year 11 of 2020. This will provide the opportunity for you to share a message with the other learners in your year group. This could be a brief reflection on the time that you have spent as a year group or an opportunity to share your best wishes for the future. We thought that short and sweet messages would work best, a bit like the limit on Twitter or other social media platforms. Please email your messages, including your name and form group, for the Year Book to staff.ncs@emrysapiwan.conwy.sch.uk, by Friday 17^th July.

The Year Book will also share the messages that Mr Cummins and the Year 11 form team would have shared with you and your parents/guardians in the Year 11 presentation.

Results Day

We realise that results day will need to be different this year but that offers us a new opportunity to think about how we can make it special for you.  We will do all that we can to make results day memorable, meaningful and well-within the health and safety guidelines at the time. In addition to your learning, a very important part of your time at school has been about the friends that you have made, some of whom will be friends for life. We plan to arrange results day so that you will be able to collect your results in friendship groups and to get the chance to mark your achievements together whilst still being able to follow social distancing guidelines and keep each other safe.

In conclusion, the unforeseen and unprecedented events of the last few months have presented many challenges and we are really proud of the way that Year 11 have dealt with everything. We know that many of you will be returning to Sixth Form and we look forward to supporting you with your next steps as part of the results day. Mr Cummins has already shared with you about the information on the Year11/Sixth Form section of the school website, how to apply for Sixth Form and how to access support from Mrs Ariane Tomes, our careers Advisor. If you require anything further, please contact the school over the coming weeks.

Take care of yourselves.

Mrs Seymour & the Year 11 Pastoral Team

 

06 July 2020

Dear/Annwyl Parent / Carer

I am writing to you at the start of the second week of the wider reopening of Ysgol Emrys ap Iwan.  I am delighted to share with you that we have all had a very positive week where we welcomed back many of our learners across each of the Year Groups.  We hope to see this continue to develop as the term develops.

Term Dates

As you will be aware from the media some schools in Wales have agreed to open for a longer period of time, to give more opportunity for learners to return to schools before the Summer Holiday.  Ysgol Emrys ap Iwan is one of these schools and therefore the summer term will finish on Friday 24^th July 2020.  During this final week, we will continue to set work for learners who are working from home and support learners who are returning to school. 

Emergency Childcare

As you will be aware throughout this whole time, we have been providing emergency childcare to the children of Key Worker Parents and support for vulnerable learners.  This has been delivered in school.  Welsh Government have asked schools to continue to deliver this provision throughout the wider reopening of schools until Friday 17^th July 2020.  I will update parents on the arrangements following this date as soon as I am aware of them.

If you feel your child is eligible for this provision, please make an application through the link https://www.conwy.gov.uk/en/Ext/Edu-Covid/Education-COVID-Key-Form.aspx.  I must continue to emphasise that this provision should only be used if there is no safe alternative.  I also want to take this opportunity to thank you for ensuring that, where there are alternative arrangements, they have been made.

Returning to School

As I highlighted at the start of my letter we have welcomed many more learners back to school over the last week.  Thank you to all of you who have supported this process.  It has been great to see learners back in school and having the opportunity to ‘Check in, Catch Up and Prepare for Summer’.  The learners have responded very positively to the expectations in school and I look forward to seeing this high level of cooperation continuing as we move through the term.

The days for each Year Group are going to remain the same throughout the wider reopening and are shown below:

Year 12	Monday
Year 10	Tuesday
Year 9	Wednesday
Year 8	Thursday
Year 7	Friday

If you have indicated that your child will not be returning but you now want them to return please make sure you let us know well in advance of the day they are expected to attend school.  This means we can ensure that they are assigned to a group.  This request should be made via email to info@emrysapiwan.conwy.sch.uk   

If you require any further information on the systems we have in place please refer to the school website which has lots of information on the wider reopening of the school.  This can be accessed here (http://www.emrysapiwan.conwy.sch.uk/).  There is a video for parents and learners, a letter from myself and the revised bus timetables. 

Home Learning

I want to thank you again for your support in terms of the home learning.  I appreciate that this is not easy for parents and managing your own responsibilities and supporting your child is challenging.  I would like to re-emphasise that the important thing is to try and keep a routine of learning for your child. 

We are going to continue with the timetables that we have in place and these can be found on the schools website http://www.emrysapiwan.conwy.sch.uk/.  Please click on the link for each year group and you will find a copy of the timetable.  For Year 10 this will remain the same each week.  For Year 7, 8 and 9 it does change each week.  Teaching staff will continue to send work to you via Show My Homework.

If you are having any difficulty submitting your work there is advice on how to do this on the schools web page and you can always contact us at info@emrysapiwan.conwy.sch.uk

Planning for September

We are currently starting to turn our attention to what the wider reopening of schools may look like in September.  At present we do not have guidance from the Education Minister on this however, we are expecting this to be with us this week.  As soon as we have these details, I can assure you that we will begin the planning for September and communicate those plans with you.  As I am sure you will appreciate whatever those plans are they will require some detailed planning so please be patient as we work through them to come up with the most secure plan we can for September.

Final Points.

I would like to thank you for your ongoing support.  This is certainly not how I imagined my last few weeks at Ysgol Emrys ap Iwan.  That said, it has been very heartening to see the way the whole school community has pulled together in these extraordinary times to try and provide the best we can for our learners and the wider community.

I look forward to communicating with you over the coming weeks.  As always, please do not hesitate to contact the school if there is anything that we can do to support you.  Please contact the school on info@emrysapwain.conwy.sch.uk.

Yours sincerely

Yr eiddoch yn gywir

L. Cummins

Headteacher/Prifathro

 

29 June 2020

School Transport

It has been brilliant to have more learners in school today with the start of the wider reopening of school. We are looking forward to seeing more learners return this week.

Due to capacity restrictions with social distancing, school transport services will be limited. Therefore you will be expected to transport your own child to school wherever possible. Where this is not possible, there are limited places available on school transport. Parents and carers were asked to indicate if they needed to use school transport when they completed the return to school survey. This information has been shared with school transport.

 

26 June 2020

Dear/Annwyl Parent/Guardian

I hope that you are all keeping well.

As you will be aware the school is opening next week to a wider number of learners.  We are really looking forward to welcoming our learners in Year 7, 8, 9, 10 and 12 back to school during the course of next week.

You will receive a letter explaining the processes and there is also a video on the school website and frequently asked questions.   It is very important that you look at this information with your child so they are well prepared for their return to school.  I am aware that a number of parents are concerned about the details linked to transport.  We are encouraging all learners to be brought to school however, where this has not been possible we have informed Conwy and Denbighshire Transport so that this can be arranged and the details communicated with you.  All of this information has been taken from the survey that was sent to you at the end of the last week.  

During the next few weeks the school will continue to run emergency child care and home learning.  The arrangements for both of these areas of our work will remain exactly the same as in my previous letters.   

If you have any questions regarding the arrangements for next week or anything you would like to raise with us please do not hesitate to contact the school using the info@emrysapiwan.conwy.sch.uk email address.

I look forward to updating you on the wider reopening of the school at the end of next week.  I would also like to thank you for your ongoing support and understanding during what has been a particularly challenging time.

Yours sincerely / Yr eiddoch yn gywir

Mr L Cummins

Headteacher / Prifathro

 

19 June 2020

Dear/Annwyl Parent/Guardian

I hope this letter finds you and your families well. The purpose of this letter is to update you on our planning.

Wider Reopening of Schools

Thank you to all of you who have completed the survey that was sent to parents. It has really helped inform our planning over the last week.

We are now putting the final touches to our plan and we will be sending out a response to you with all your questions answered. I apologise for the delay in getting these answers to you. This was both due to the number of questions and the need to consult with other agencies, such as the Local Authority, on issues such as transport etc. These will be posted on social media and the schools website before the end of the day today and we will text you to let you know that they are there.

We are also looking to produce a video so you and your child can see what the school day will look like and how the school will operate following our reopening on the 29th June 2020. Again, as soon as this is available we will be sending a message to you. This will be early next week.

On Monday morning we will send a final survey out to parents to check who will be returning to school. This will go to all parents, just to confirm your choice of your child returning to school or not. This means we can make sure our planning is robust for Monday 29th June 2020.

We are really looking forward to welcoming more learners to school and appreciate your support during this planning time.

Emergency Childcare

We are currently, and will continue to provide, emergency child care over the coming weeks and whilst the school is reopen.

If you feel your child is eligible for this provision please make an application through the link: https://www.conwy.gov.uk/en/Ext/Edu-Covid/Education-COVID-Key-Form.aspx. I must continue to emphasise that this provision should only be used if there is no safe alternative. I also want to take this opportunity to thank you for ensuring that, where there are alternative arrangements, they have been made.

Home Learning

We are going to continue with the timetables that we have in place and these can be found on the schools website http://www.emrysapiwan.conwy.sch.uk/. Please click on the link for each year group and you will find a copy of the timetable. For Year 10 this will remain the same each week. For Year 7, 8 and 9 it does change each week. Teaching staff will continue to send work to you via Show My Homework.

If you are having any difficulty submitting your work there is advice on how to do this on the schools web page and you can always contact us at: info@emrysapiwan.conwy.sch.uk

We realise that access to devices and the internet has been a problem for some families. We have sent out over 100 devices so far and have some more awaiting delivery. If you are experiencing difficulties with this please send an email to info@emrysapiwan.conwy.sch.uk, contact your child’s Pastoral Leader via email or phone the school on 01745 832287 between 9am and 12pm. We will do everything we can to help.

As always I really appreciate your support throughout this really difficult period of time. If there is anything that we can do to help please contact the school and we will do our best to support you.

Yours sincerely/Yr eiddoch yn gywir

Mr L Cummins

Headteacher / Prifathro

 

12 June 2020

Dear/Annwyl Parent/Guardian

I hope this letter finds you and your families well.

As I am sure you will appreciate, whilst continuing with the ongoing home learning we are already planning for the phased re-opening of school from Monday 29th  June 2020. We have been considering this for some time and so feel now is the time to share with you our initial planning and work with you to make sure you are happy with the arrangements we plan to put in place.

To this end I have attached a link to a short questionnaire. This is being sent out via this message and by text. Please complete and return to school by 5pm on Monday. This will really help us in our planning. I must emphasise however, this is not a commitment at all at this point.

https://forms.office.com/Pages/ResponsePage.aspx?id=Ug4_TzS3ZEGUCRtgHRR5k27F0Zzf-w5CrZ9xXZeSSEpUQzhOWjRBWDk2UTBHM09XREhUU01YRUZaUS4u

I have also attached a leaflet (Back to School leaflet) which hopefully gives you more idea of the planning we have in place. We hope this will reassure you and would also be very welcome to answer any questions that you may have.

I look forward to working with you, and the whole school community, on our plans to increase the number of learners in school from Monday 29th  June.

Yours sincerely/Yr eiddoch yn gywir

Mr L Cummins

Headteacher/Prifathro

 

05 June 2020

Dear/Annwyl Parent / Carer

I hope that this letter finds you and your family well.  In today’s letter I am just going to update you on the current situation and the planning that we are currently undertaking.  Whilst most of this is moving at a fast pace I just wanted to make sure that everyone had the most up to date information.

Emergency Child Care

As you will be aware throughout this whole situation we have been providing emergency child care to the children of Key Worker Parents and support for vulnerable learners.  This has been delivered in school and has had children from across the cluster of schools in attendance.  I want to reassure parents that this service will continue throughout the coming weeks and also when schools open more widely.

If you feel your child is eligible for this provision please make an application through the link https://www.conwy.gov.uk/en/Ext/Edu-Covid/Education-COVID-Key-Form.aspx.  I must continue to emphasise that this provision should only be used if there is no safe alternative.  I also want to take this opportunity to thank you for ensuring that, where there are alternative arrangements, they have been made.

Home Learning

I firstly want to thank you for your support in terms of the home learning.  I appreciate that this is not easy for parents and managing your own responsibilities and supporting your child is challenging.  I would like to re-emphasise that the important thing is to try and keep a routine of learning for your child.  As a parent myself I realise this is not as easy as it sounds!!

We are going to continue with the timetables that we have in place and these can be found on the schools website http://www.emrysapiwan.conwy.sch.uk/.  Please click on the link for each year group and you will find a copy of the timetable.  For Year 10 this will remain the same each week.  For Year 7, 8 and 9 it does change each week.  Teaching staff will continue to send work to you via Show My Homework.

If you are having any difficulty submitting your work there is advice on how to do this on the schools web page and you can always contact us at info@emrysapiwan.conwy.sch.uk

We realise that access to devises and the internet has been a problem for some families.  We have sent out over 100 devices so far and have some more awaiting delivery.  If you are experiencing difficulties with this please send an email to info@emrysapiwan.conwy.sch.uk, contact your child’s Pastoral Leader via email or phone the school on 01745 832287 between 9am and 12pm.  We will do everything we can to help.

Wider Reopening of Schools

As you will be aware the Minister for Education in Wales has announced the wider reopening of schools from Monday 29^th June 2020 and the extension of the academic year to Friday 24^th July 2020.  The Minister has made clear that the purpose of schools reopening is to ‘Check In, Catch Up and Prepare for the summer and September’.

I want to let you know that

At this point I want to reassure all parents that we are considering all the information we have carefully.  It is clear that learners will not return to school as normal.  We will be planning for there to be smaller numbers of learners in school than normal and ensuring that all the health and safety measures required to do this safely are in place.  We do have much experience of this over recent weeks as we have been running the emergency child care I referred to earlier.  This has had substantial numbers of children on site from reception age to secondary aged children.  We will be utilising much of the details from this setting in our planning for school. 

Over the next week there will be all sorts of information coming out both from the Government, other schools and other sources generally.  Please be assured that I will communicate directly with you throughout this period of time and let you know what our plans are.  

Myself and the Leadership Team are working on the planning for this now and as we have more information and details this will be shared with you.  Mrs Williams, Deputy Headteacher, is obviously working alongside me on this so that there is continuity in the planning between now and September when Mrs Williams takes over as Headteacher.    

If you have any questions or observations at this point or as we move forward then please contact the school on info@emrysapiwan.conwy.sch.uk. 

Yours sincerely/Yr eiddoch yn gywir

Mr L Cummins

Headteacher/Prifathro

 

05 June 2020

Following the announcement from Welsh Government on Wednesday, and my brief message on Wednesday I will be writing to you today and over the next two weeks to keep you informed of our plans to increase school opening and touch base with learners.  Thank you for your support.

 

03 June 2020

As you will be aware the Minster has made an announcement regarding the wider reopening of schools from Monday 29th June. I will update you on the detail of this as we receive further information. I can assure you that we will communicate fully with you as this situation develops.

 

02 June 2020

Dear Parent / Carer

I am writing to you at the start of another half term in school.  I hope that you and your families are well.

As you will be aware we are continuing to deliver on line learning through Show My Homework. Teaching staff will continue to set work via the App and learners can complete the work as it appears on the timetable which is available on the school website.  This should help learners to maintain some structure to the day.  We are currently reviewing this provision as we reach the end of another three weekly cycle of the timetable.  I will therefore be in touch at the end of the week in a fuller letter to communicate any changes that we think are necessary.

Many of you will be aware that the Education Minister for Wales, Kirsty Williams, is due to make an announcement on schools this week.  As soon as we have this information we will be able to plan more clearly for the coming weeks.  Due to this announcement I will write to you on Friday and update you on anything we intend to do as a result of any announcement. 

As always, we are here if you need us and we can be contacted via the schools email address info@emrysapiwan.conwy.sch.uk.

Yours sincerely

L. Cummins

 

22 May 2020

As we reach the end of this half term, I just wanted to take the opportunity to thank you all.  The way our whole school community has pulled together has been inspiring to see.  I will be in touch before the start of the new term with our plans moving forward.  We are still around over the ‘holidays’ so please do contact us on the school email address if you require any support: info@emrysapiwan.conwy.sch.uk. Take care.

 

18 May 2020

Dear Parent/Carer

I am writing to you as we start the last week of the current half term.  I don’t think any of us could have imagined a half term quite like this.  The purpose of this letter is just to provide you with a useful summary of where we are at with our current ways of working.  I will also take the opportunity to update you on the messages from Welsh Government regarding schools reopening to some more learners as we go through the next half term.

Emergency Childcare Provision

We continue to provide emergency child care for the children of Key Workers and Vulnerable young people.  This provision has been operating since the start of the lock down and will be continuing throughout the May half term.  It is an essential service and we are continuing to offer this with our feeder schools.

If you feel your child is eligible for this provision please make an application through the link https://www.conwy.gov.uk/en/Ext/Edu-Covid/Education-COVID-Key-Form.aspx.  I must continue to emphasise that this provision should only be used if there is no safe alternative.  I also want to take this opportunity to thank you for ensuring that, where there are alternative arrangements, they have been made.

Learning from Home

We will continue to provide work to learners through the Show My Homework Application.  This appears to be working effectively.  We will also continue to use the timetables on the school website as a guide for what subjects learners in Year 7 – Year 10 should be following.  We realised that sometimes you have lots of work on show my homework.  This is because staff are also working in the emergency child care and need to send the work out in advance.  You are only expected to focus on the lessons that you have that day.  We are also trying to add some other activities which you might find interesting.  These can be found on the schools website.

As next week would be the May half term we will not be setting work for this week.  There will however be a number of challenges on the schools website that learners and their families my wish to engage with.

The partial reopening of schools.

As I am sure you are aware there has been much coverage in the media regarding the partial reopening of schools.   The information that we have at the moment is that there will be no partial reopening on the 1^st June 2020.  We did receive further guidance from Welsh Government on Friday afternoon which made clear that we would only move to partial reopening when the risk moved from being in ‘Lockdown’ to being ‘Amber’ according to the Welsh Governments traffic light guide. 

I can assure you that myself and the Leadership Team of the school are looking at all the measures we need to take to ensure that school is as well prepared as it can be for any partial reopening.  We will update you on the measures we are taking as we receive more information from Welsh Government.

Summer 2020 GCSE, A Level and Vocational Qualification Results.

We are still working, with guidance from Welsh Government and Qualifications Wales, on the award of GCSEs, A Levels and Vocational Qualifications for learners in Year 10 – Year 13.

We have finally received clarification that learners in Year 10 will only receive grades for completed qualifications such as English Literature.  For subjects where learners were only completing units such as Science and Welsh there will be no centre assessed grades awarded in the summer.

For learners in Year 10 and Year 12 we are seeking clarity on how your courses will be adapted to reflect the fact that you have been out of school for a number of school weeks.  Again, once a decision is made on this we will communicate this with you.

Hopefully, Year 12 all received the letter that I sent to them, if not this is available on the school website.  There have been no changes in terms of the information contained in this letter.

Free School Meals

All parents who are eligible to claim for Free School Meals should now be receiving a direct payment into their bank accounts.  This means that there is no longer a grab and go collection service at the school or at Kimnel Bay Church.  We can however still offer support for families who are experiencing food hardship and / or are not receiving this direct payment.  In the first instance please contact the school on info@emrysapiwan.conwy.sch.uk

I hope this letter just updates you on the current important areas of business in the school.  As soon as I have more information on any of the areas above I will contact you and update you.  I also hope to send out another assembly this week after the positive feedback from the last assembly.

I hope you and your families are keeping well and please, as always, do contact us via the schools email address if there is anything that we can do to help you.

Yours sincerely

L Cummins

 

18 May 2020

As we approach the end of the first half term I hope you are all keeping well. During this week we will be reviewing our plans and updating you on what we will be looking to do after the half term. Remember that you can contact us at any time on info@emrysapiwan.conwy.sch.uk. We are here and will do anything we can to help.

 

07 May 2020

Please see the latest announcement from Kirsty William the Welsh Government Education Minister. 

Situation for schools will not change on June 1st, Education Minister says

 

05 May 2020

Please find below a link to some important information from the Welsh Government.  Please remember that you can always contact the school using info@emrysapiwan.conwy.sch.uk

Five ways to help children and young people stay safe during the coronavirus lockdown

 

05 May 2020

Just a reminder that all parents whose children are entitled to a free school meal should have completed the form on the Conwy website: https://conwy.gov.uk/covidfsm

After Friday 8th May, the school will no longer be carrying out a grab and go lunch service.

If you have not received a letter from Conwy Council about applying for the Free School Meal allowance please contact the school on: info@emrysapiwan.conwy.sch.uk

 

26 April 2020

I hope you are all continuing to stay safe as we come to the end of the first week of the Summer Term.  I am sure that you are aware that since my last letter there has been much debate in the media about when schools will re-open.  We are no clearer about the answer to these questions as a school however, what we do know for certain is that we will be continuing to operate in the way we are until at least the 7^th May 2020 (the date planned for the next review of the ‘lock down’).  With this in mind I am going to focus much of this update on how we are trying to support learners working from home.

Learning from Home.

Our setting of work for Years 7, 8 and 9 is continuing to follow the ‘timetables’ on the school website at http://www.emrysapiwan.conwy.sch.uk/ .  The links to these can be found on the front page of the school website as shown below.

If you click on the page for each year group there is a time table for last week and a timetable for this week and the week after. 

These should be used to help structure the day.

They are there to help learners know what they could be working on.  Please do not feel every task has to be attempted. 

All the work to support the timetable has been sent out using Show My Homework.  Teachers have put out lots of work which may cover more than just this week so please do not feel that all the work should be completed all in one day or week.  We want learners to make sure they are also taking time for physical activity, spending quality time with their family and supporting their own well-being. 

If you have any questions regarding the above please email us on info@emrysapiwan.conwy.sch.uk

Our setting of work for Year 10 will continue.  Year 10 learners will continue to get work set by their teachers for their option subjects.  As well as work ‘sent out’ via Show My Homework.

Mr Williams (Assistant Headteacher) and Mr Jones (Pastoral leader) have added some information onto the school website.  This explains how learners in year 10 can be working on their Skills Challenge work and their Teamwork Qualification.  Making use of the time now to make progress on these areas will really help learners.

Learners in Year 12.  We are reviewing the work for Year 12 to try and help learners to continue to make progress during this difficult time.   On the Sixth Form Page we have added a Sixth Form remote learning section.  Please follow this and you will find a timetable of activities to support your studies.    

Mr Seymour has also added a blog showing what you can be working on during this time.  Please do contact Mr Seymour or your subject teachers if you have any questions.

There are also links to other sites which you may find useful during this time.  It really is important that you continue to study in order that you are ready to return to school when we are able to.

Year 11 and Year 13.  We are currently putting some information on the school website to support you in making your next steps be that Sixth Form or College for Year 11 or University or other destinations for Year 13.  As soon as this information goes live we will send an email to you showing how you can access it.  I will also write to you to update you on any further news about how and when your grades will be awarded.  

We are going to continue to operate our learning from home provision in the way that we currently are until the end of this three week cycle and we will then review how this is going.  I absolutely appreciate what a challenge learning from home is.  All we ask is that learners try, as best they can, to stay in the habit of learning so they are ready when it is appropriate for learners to return to school.

Access to Digital Resource:  As many of you will be aware we have been trying to ensure that as many of our learners have access to computers or devices as possible to be able to complete their work.  I will be sending out a questionnaire to identify how many people are still struggling with this.  It is my understanding that Welsh Government are looking to support schools with appropriate resources.  If you do not receive an email about this by the end of the day on Monday please contact the school via email info@emrysapiwan.conwy.sch.uk or by phone 01745 832287 (Between 9am and 1pm) weekdays and let us know if you do not have any device or internet access.

Free School Meals

I am really disappointed that I am writing to you again and saying that the provision we have is still a grab and go service for Free School Meals.  I have been informed that letters for direct payment into your bank accounts are on their way to you from the Local Authority.

I realise how frustrating this is for some of our families however, we have no other ways to distribute the food or the financial resource at this time.

As the ‘lock down’ continues if you are experiencing difficulties accessing food, staff are linking with all the food banks in the area.  If you do need help please contact the school or the Pastoral Leader for your child and we will do everything we can to help.

Emergency Child Care

We continue to offer emergency child care for Key Workers. 

If you feel your child is eligible for this provision please make an application through the link https://www.conwy.gov.uk/en/Ext/Edu-Covid/Education-COVID-Key-Form.aspx.  I must continue to emphasise that this provision should only be used if there is no safe alternative.  I also want to take this opportunity to thank you for ensuring that, where there are alternative arrangements, they have been made.

Conclusion

As many of you will already be aware the school is doing all that we can to support the community in this challenging time, including the production of PPE for the NHS.  I would just like to thank all of you who have been able to contribute and / or shown you support.  It really is appreciated.

If there is anything we can do to help during this challenging time please do make contact with us.

 

20 April 2020

Dear Learner

I am writing to you at the start of the new term.  This is clearly the oddest start to a term ever!

I hope that you and your families are keep well and staying safe.  This really is the most important thing for everyone to be focussed on at the moment. 

As we start this new term I want you to know that I understand that learning at home is not the same as learning in school and you should not worry about this.  I certainly don’t want what we are asking you to do to impact negatively on your well-being and I hope this letter will reassure you of what you should be doing.

For the next few weeks we have set a timetable for all of you in Year 7, 8 and 9.  The timetable is on the school website (direct link:  Home Learning). The timetable is just to provide you with some structure and also make sure that you are not putting too much pressure on yourself.  Basically we are asking you to focus on Numeracy and Literacy activities in the morning and a couple of your other subjects later on in the day.  As well as this we have put some Physical Education Resources and Well Being resources on the timetable.  Please do this study as you wish throughout the day.

Work to support the timetable will be set using ‘Show my Homework’.  You can also communicate with your teachers using this App or by emailing the school on info@emrysapiwan.conwy.sch.uk.

If you need any equipment to support your learning such as books, pens, paper or anything else please contact the school on the email address above and we will help you get access to this.

For learners who are in Year 10 and Year 12 we will be setting your work on Show My Homework.  Your teachers will set you tasks that will help you to continue to make progress towards your examinations next year.  It is important that you have a go at the work set and continue to communicate with the teacher.  Again, we realise working at home is not the same as studying in school.  If you need help please ask for it.  

We are missing you immensely and are looking forward to the time that we can all be back together in the school. 

Yours sincerely

L. Cummins

 

19 April 2020

I hope that you and your families are keeping safe. I will be writing to you tomorrow about the learning we have planned for the next couple of weeks. We will still be using 'Show My Homework' as the tool to get work out to learners.

We are going to be making sure it is manageable and adding some ‘fun’ tasks for the learners. More information will follow tomorrow. Please contact the school on info@emrysapiwan.conwy.sch.uk if you have any questions.

 

05 April 2020

I write to you as we arrive at the end of another term in school.  Whilst this has been a far from normal end to the current term I did want to take the opportunity to update you on our work as a school and our plans as we move forward.  Below is some important information regarding this.

Before I move onto the practicalities of the current situation I wanted to take the opportunity again to thank you all for your support and your kind words during this difficult time.  It has been amazing to see how the whole school community has pulled together and supported each other in so many ways.

Child Care for Key Workers

We continue to provide ‘child care’ for the families of key workers.  This is a really important way we can support the National Mission.  Again, I am grateful that this is only being used as emergency child care and this is ensuring that the system can be operated safely.  We will continue to deliver this service throughout the holiday’s including Good Friday and Bank Holiday Monday if there is a need.

If you feel your child is eligible for this provision please make an application through the link https://www.conwy.gov.uk/en/Ext/Edu-Covid/Education-COVID-Key-Form.aspx.  I must continue to emphasise that this provision should only be used if there is no safe alternative.  I also want to take this opportunity to thank you for ensuring that, where there are alternative arrangements, they have been made.

Free School Meals

I am really sorry that I have not been able to bring you more positive news regarding Free School Meals this week.  I really do appreciate this is a less than perfect solution.  I am being assured that a better solution is on its way and as soon as I have any information I will let you all know.

Free schools meals can be collected from school, Kinmel Bay Church - St Asaph Avenue or from your local Primary School.  You will receive a text asking where you are likely to pick the food up from.  Anyone can collect the food on behalf of others and food can be collected for two days at a time.

Free school meal provision will continue throughout the Easter Holidays.

Online Learning

As we are all aware work has been set using Show My Homework.  The response to this has been excellent.  However, as we now enter the ‘Easter Holidays’ we will not be setting any further work to be completed during the break.  It is fine for learners to continue working on tasks that have been set, if they wish to.  We will also send out, via Twitter / Facebook and any other means some challenges learners might want to do.  This is totally optional.

Support

There will still be key support staff available throughout the holiday period and, as always, we can be contacted via the schools email address:  info@emrysapiwan.conwy.sch.uk.  This email address will be monitored during office hours throughout the holidays.  There is also lots of information on the school website in the Support for Families section.

We will be here to support you, however we can throughout the holiday so please don’t hesitate to contact us.

Examinations

We have today, Friday 3^rd April 2020, received some more information on how learner’s grades are to be calculated for examinations in Year 10, 11, 12 and 13.  I will be sending out this information to every learner in these year groups on Monday 6^th April 2020.

General Information.

I will be in touch again towards the end of next week just to keep you up to date on the current situation.

Thank you again for all your support at present.  Do let us know if we can help in any way during this testing period.  Please do pass on our best wishes to our learners, keep safe and look after each other.

 

03 April 2020

As the school draws to the end of the current week it has clearly been anything but a normal end to the Spring Term.

The next letter from the Headteacher will be sent out over the weekend and will explain what will be happening in school over the next two weeks.

Thank you all for your support. Take care.

 

30 March 2020

I hope that you and your family are keeping safe.  I just wanted to write to you in what will probably be the first of a weekly communication designed to keep you up to date with any developments and make sure that, as a school community, we are able to support each other through these challenging times as much as we can.

I firstly want to thank you all for your support to date.  It really has been appreciated.  Please keep in touch with us using the info@emrysapiwan.conwy.sch.uk email address.  This is monitored each day.  We are also answering telephone calls when we are able to.  Please also make use of the school website which has lots us useful information on it which will support you and your child during this period of ‘closure’  The school’s website address is http://www.emrysapiwan.conwy.sch.uk/.

‘Childcare Provision’

The school has been open this week, as directed by the government, for the provision of childcare for vulnerable students and those with parents who are classified as ‘key workers’ (NHS, police, food delivery services, etc.)  We have had a very small number of learners in school, supervised by staff.  The ‘childcare’ provision will be open again this week and also over the Spring Break.  If you feel your child is eligible for this provision please make an application through the link https://www.conwy.gov.uk/en/Ext/Edu-Covid/Education-COVID-Key-Form.aspx.  I must continue to emphasise that this provision should only be used if there is no safe alternative.  I also want to take this opportunity to thank you for ensuring that, where there are alternative arrangements, they have been made. 

Free School Meals

Free schools meals can be collected from school, Kinmel Bay Church - St Asaph Avenue or from your local Primary School.  You will receive a text asking where you are likely to pick the food up from.  Anyone can collect the food on behalf of others and food can be collected for two days at a time.  I realise that this is not an ideal solution and I am working with the Local Authority and Welsh Government to come up with a better system as soon as possible. 

Free School Meals provision will continue throughout the Easter Break. 

Supporting Learners from Home

It has been fantastic to see how many learners have logged onto Show My Homework and had a go at the range of tasks that are there.  As a parent of a secondary-aged child I know this is not the easiest of tasks, but learners and parents are doing a great job.  At the moment we just want learners to continue to engage as well as they can.  Teaching staff will continue to set tasks until Friday 3^rd April in the first instance and will provide as much support as they can through the Show My Homework messaging service. 

Support for Learners and Families

We are doing everything that we can to try and keep in touch with families and learners.  This will involve general emails and texts as well as individual telephone calls to check everything is ok.  Please feel free to contact us at any time through the school’s email and Pastoral Leaders can be contacted through the following email addresses.  If you have changed your email address recently please email info@emrysapiwan.conwy.sch.uk giving your full name and your son or daughters name so we can amend our records and keep you up to date.

Year Group	Link Person	Email Address.
Year 7	Ms A Hickey	staff.ahi@emrysapiwan.conwy.sch.uk
Year 8	Mr Doyle	staff.ddh@emrysapiwan.conwy.sch.uk
Year 9	Mrs Garth	staff.dmg@emrysapiwan.conwy.sch.uk
Year 10	Mr Jones	staff.moj@emrysapiwan.conwy.sch.uk
Year 11	Mrs Seymour	staff.ncs@emrysapiwan.conwy.sch.uk
Year 12 and 13	Mr Seymour	staff.jps@emrysapiwan.conwy.sch.uk

 

Learner Wellbeing

This is not an easy time for anyone at present and children will be no less anxious or uncertain than adults.  Please do let us know if you would like any additional support from our support team at any stage over the next few weeks - we will also be posting further support material on our website over the next week or so.

Qualifications

You will have heard much speculation about how learners in Year 10, 11 12 and 13 will be awarded grades at the end of this academic year.  We are waiting for the final guidance from the Government before we communicate any information with our learners.  This will ensure that they receive one clear message.  As soon as I have this information I will be in touch.

Thank you again for all your support at present.  Do let us know if we can help in any way during this testing period.  Please do pass on our best wishes to our learners, keep safe and look after each other.

 

26 March 2020

We are aware that there is still some uncertainty regarding examinations, which have now been cancelled for the summer. As soon as we receive more information on this we will let you know.

Please see this link to the latest FAQ from Qualifications Wales:  https://gov.wales/how-schools-will-work-during-coronavirus-pandemic.  If you have any specific questions please don’t hesitate to email the school on info@emrysapiwan.conwy.sch.uk. Take care.

 

25 March 2020

We hope that everyone is keeping safe.  Don’t forgot that you can still contact us on info@emrysapiwan.conwy.sch.uk.  If there is anything we can do to help at this time we will try our best.  We are currently putting together a section of the website with useful links for parents and this will go live later today.  We will let you know as soon as it is.

 

23 March 2020

Free School Meal Provision

During the current situation the aim is to provide all eFSM learners, who are not self-isolating, with a Free School Meal. 

• Provision for learners will start from Monday 23.03.2020
• This Free School Meal will be provided by SHIRE catering as normal.
• Learners will receive a package of lunch to take away and eat at home.
• Parents of FSM learners will receive a text message on a Monday asking if they want a free school meal for the week to which they need to respond. They should also state where they are wanting the meal to be collected from by responding to the text message.   
• The collection point at Ysgol Emrys ap Iwan will be the Pod situated to the rear of the DT classrooms.

Collection Times

To avoid a large gathering and to maintain social distancing learners need to collect their lunch at the following times.  It is really important that these times are strictly adhered to.

Year Seven	12.00pm
Year Eight	12.15pm
Year Nine	12.30pm
Year Ten and Year Eleven	12.45pm
Sixth Form	1.00pm

Learners who live in the Local Community will collect their lunch from Ysgol Emrys ap Iwan.

A second collection point will be a Kimnel Bay Church.  There will be volunteers and staff from Ysgol Emrys ap Iwan to help provide the Free School Meal.

Learners should attend the collection point which ensures they are able to maintain social distancing.

If you have any questions regarding the above provision please do not hesitate to contact us at info@emrysapiwan.conwy.sch.uk.  Please put FSM in the subject heading of your email to help us to deal with this quickly.

This provision will be reviewed each week.  We are starting with something which is simple and achievable.

We, as always, appreciate you support at this difficult time.

 

22 March 2020

 

22 March 2020

Please follow the link below to register a need for provision to provide care for children of key workers. Please remember that this should only be used where there is no alternative available. This will ensure the wellbeing of all staff and pupils.

• https://www.conwy.gov.uk/…/Ed…/Education-COVID-Key-Form.aspx

 

 

21 March 2020

 

20 March 2020

We write jointly as Conwy’s Secondary Head Teachers to inform you of the next steps following further guidance from Welsh Government and Conwy Authority around school closures and opening in response to the coronavirus crisis.

As you are already aware schools will be closed from the end of the day 20/3/20 for a 4 week Easter break. 

Following a joint planning day on Monday 23/3/20 at school and cluster level, from Tuesday, schools will re-open for a new purpose.  This purpose is to provide care for the children of essential/key workers where there is no other available childcare provision. 

Essential/key workers have been defined as :

• health workers – all those employed within the NHS
• blue light / emergency service officers
• social care workers
• supermarket delivery drivers
• prison officers and other prison staff
• probation service staff
• teaching staff and teaching assistants

We strongly recommend that if you are a keyworker and are able to provide alternative childcare provision for your children then you do this rather than send them to school.  School is operating as a ‘last resort’ childcare facility for parents that don’t have another option.  We will rely on your honesty and clarity in this regard and hope that you would not put school staff and any other children at unnecessary risk.

Schools will also be providing a school meal for students eligible for free school meals, and we will forward details of these arrangements to you early next week.

Transport will continue as usual to support this and both this and the provision needed will be continuously monitored over the coming weeks.

Thank you for your continued support in this difficult and challenging time.  We wish all our pupils and families our best wishes over the next few weeks.

 

20 March 2020

We are now working through the final arrangements for supporting all our learners during the extended closure of the school. We are working on the plans for Key Workers with the LA and details will follow shortly. Thank you for all your support to date.

16 March 2020

Coronavirus Planning

Following the announcement made by the Prime Minister in relation to the Coronavirus on Thursday 12th March, I wanted to write to parents and carers to inform you of our current intentions over the next few weeks.

Our approach to whatever may happen in the coming weeks and months will be based on the advice and guidance given by Public Health Wales, the Welsh Government and the Local Health Professionals. We havebeen following all advice throughout this situation and will continue to do so.

 Staff are currently working on preparing for all eventualities including the possibility of a partial or full closure. A partial closure would mean closing the school to some year groups and a full closure would obviously affect all learners. Again, we would only take the decision to close the school if we were asked to do so by one of the agencies. A partial closure may be necessary if we have a high number of staff who are required to self-isolate.

The school website will be used to support parents / carers and learners should it be necessary to close the school and / or update this information. All resources / support materials will be available from the website.

We are aware that this situation will cause particular anxiety for learners in Year 11, 12 and 13 in terms of their examinations. We will do everything we possibly can to support the learners during this difficult time

Current Medical Advice

If you have symptoms, the current advice from the Government is stay at home for 14 days if you have either:

• a high temperature and / or
• a new continuous cough

We would want everyone in our community to follow this advice. Please continue to report absence of learners to the school in the normal manner to ensure that we can monitor the situation across the school.

Contact Details

If you have a new email address or phone number please inform the school as a matter of urgency, as it is important that we can communicate directly with all parents and carers.

I am determined that we support learners and their families as effectively as we can. I appreciate your support and understanding whilst we look after all the young people in our school.

Please do not hesitate to contact the school should you have any queries.