Dear Parents/Carers,

First and foremost, we hope that you and your families are keeping well at this time.  Secondly, we want to thank you for all of the support that you have given your children in making sure that they keep learning as best as is possible whilst schools remain closed. 

Please see below for important information and updates regarding the current situation:

___________________________________
 

Top Tips for Teens - from the NHS, please click here

Easter Break: Rest and Quiz

As a school, we will not be setting students any work for the next two weeks.  We are aware that some students may have things to catch up on if they wish but we are taking this approach to ensure that you, our staff and your children all have a proper break.

We are conscious that Easter is often a time where families and friends get together which will not be possible this year.  However, we would like to encourage all households to take part in the Big Cheam Quiz which will be shared with all students on Show My Homework (for the more competitive amongst you, perhaps even challenge some friends to see who can outscore who!). 

The quiz includes a huge range of trivia on subjects ranging from Sports to Science and Social Care and everything in between, as well as lots of fun questions which we hope you will all enjoy.  Whether you participate is, of course, entirely optional but we hope it will provide some healthy, family-friendly fun for you all and, we hope, give the occasional laugh!

Once the scores are in, 3 prizes will be awarded for the top-scoring households in each year group.

Please note: in the event of tied scores, further instructions will be sent!  And beware the time-limit on each question…

The quiz will be released on Saturday 4^th April at midday.  All entries must be completed before Tuesday 7^th April.

Good luck to all participants!

Year 11 and Year 13

We appreciate that families of students in Years 11 and 13 will be particularly anxious about how grades will be allocated.  For information, the guidance schools are to follow has just been released and can be found: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/gcses-as-and-a-level-awarding-summer-2020

All of our students are also likely to benefit from the profile of previous years’ results at Cheam High School. It is unlikely that any school will end up with vastly different results to those achieved in recent years and, as we know, Cheam High School has a record of regularly achieving excellent results.  Please do not contact staff directly asking about grades as, currently, they are not permitted to comment on the situation until further advice is received.

If you are a parent/carer of a child in Year 10 or 12, we will update further regarding their preparations for their examination years after the break.  As always, if you have any questions or queries, please do not hesitate to contact the school. 

Online learning developments

Staff are quickly getting to grips with the various technological solutions for supporting home learning and we hope that our provision will continue to improve as we go along. We are also looking at developing live streaming of some lessons, mainly for older students but we need to ensure that this can be done safely and within the parameters of our safeguarding policy.  We will be trialling various options immediately after Easter and will update you all in due course.

We would also love to hear about the learning activities your children have been taking part in outside of the formal curriculum.  Perhaps they have taken some photos of your garden in bloom, can now cook an incredible stir-fry or are learning to juggle…?  Whatever it may be, please email secretary@cheam.sutton.sch.uk with pictures and notes if there is anything you would like to share with us.  We will update you as regards what we hope to do with what we receive following the break.

Safeguarding and Well-being

We are, of course, conscious that the current situation may be challenging for some young people and that it may continue for quite some time yet.  The Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service (CAMHS) have released a handy, accessible guide called Top Tips for Teens which you may find helpful.  The guide aims parents and carers to help young people stay happy, healthy and, importantly, keep them entertained in a positive way.  We have attached this for you.

You can find more information about how to support your child (or what you can do if you are concerned about another child) on our website, here:  https://www.cheam.sutton.sch.uk/1934/school-closure-information-and-coronavirus-management#2

Should you have any general questions or concerns, please email your child’s Year Team who will be able to signpost you to other services, be they offered by the school or other organisations, if necessary.  Please bear in mind that email accounts may not be operational over the break.

Scam alerts

We have been informed that some parents have received an email stating the following: ‘As schools will be closing, if you’re entitled to free school meals, please send your bank details and we’ll make sure you’re supported’.

We can confirm that this is a scam email and is not official. We urge parents that if you receive any emails like this, please do not respond, and delete it immediately.

School Opening Over Easter

Parents have continued to do a great job of keeping children at home but we are aware that for some, particularly those working for the NHS in the frontline, this situation is becoming increasingly challenging. Those families that qualify and really have no other option over/after Easter should continue to arrange in-school childcare via office@cheam.sutton.sch.uk.

To close, we thank you for your extraordinary efforts and support over recent weeks.

Please continue to keep in touch and we wish you all a peaceful, restful Easter break.