Daily update 20th April 2020 – A new term!

Welcome to term 5.  We hope that you were able to enjoy some relaxation time in the Easter holidays.  Remote learning continues from today.  We are just finalising some improvements and will be in touch shortly about the tweaks we have made to this system.  We appreciate that remote learning is easier for some that others and that every home situation is different so please do talk to us if you are finding this difficult.  There is a useful blog that can be accessed in the link below for parents to support home learning:

https://www.parentkind.org.uk/blog/10567/Supporting-learning-not-home-schooling

Our teachers have been looking at lots of ways of resourcing our home learning for every year group.  You might have seen some of the press surrounding the launch of an online school called Oak National Academy and you might have also seen the BBC provision that comes online from today.  Our teachers will continue to look at all of the resources available and direct our students to the most appropriate learning for them.

Free School Meals and access to resources announced by the government for Year 10

You might have seen in the press that an announcement was made on Saturday night that some Year 10 students, who meet specific criteria, will be provided with a laptop to support their learning remotely during this time.  There are, however, no further details yet about how or when this will happen.  We believe that the main criteria that will be used will be linked to eligibility of free school meals.  The information below sets out who is likely to be eligible for free school meals and I would urge anyone who is not already in receipt of free school meals, but who fulfils the eligibility criteria, to apply now using the link below.

Your child may be able to get free school meals if you get any of the following:

  • Income Support
  • income-based Jobseeker’s Allowance
  • income-related Employment and Support Allowance
  • support under Part VI of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999
  • the guaranteed element of Pension Credit
  • Child Tax Credit (provided you’re not also entitled to Working Tax Credit and have an annual gross income of no more than £16,190)
  • Working Tax Credit run-on – paid for 4 weeks after you stop qualifying for Working Tax Credit
  • Universal Credit – if you apply on or after 1 April 2018 your household income must be less than £7,400 a year (after tax and not including any benefits you get)

https://www.gov.uk/apply-free-school-meals


Year 11 and 13

The Secretary of State has confirmed that this year’s GCSE students will get their results on Thursday 20 August, while those who are awaiting A level results will get theirs on Thursday 13 August. These dates are the same as those published at the start of this academic year.

We intend to continue to support all of our students in Years 11 and 13 with their learning and next steps.  Both year groups will have a ‘Futures’ package of work to complete, details of which will be found on the Year 11 and 13 team pages from Monday morning.  This will then be set through their tutors on Teams (on Tuesday morning) and is designed to support learning on real-life issues such as personal banking and finance, applying for jobs and household challenges.

Year 13 will be supported by Mrs Barber and Miss Yarsley on their specific destinations and they will be contacting individuals to this end this week.

Year 11 will have a package of English and Maths to complete, available from Tuesday morning.  Both of these subjects are specifically important as they relate to any course that students will be going on to study from September, whether that be in our 6th form, at college or for an apprenticeship.  This work will be set through their English and Maths teachers.  Whilst these activities and tasks will not be compulsory, students will receive feedback in order to make progress in these areas.  It will help them to retain a routine of learning and stop their brains from going rusty!

For those students who have applied to our 6th form, we have almost finished finalising this and intend to communicate this with students on Thursday and Friday via school email, to confirm places.  We anticipate that class teams will then be set up, ready to go for Monday 27th April.  Any enquiries about 6th form courses and places should be directed to Miss Warburton (kate.warburton@nkacademy.co.uk) in the first instance please.

As always, if you have any questions, or concerns please contact us via enquiries@nkacademy.co.uk or on 01522 881010.

With very best wishes,

Jo Tunnicliffe

Headteacher

NK Academy