Dear Parent / Carer,
RE: KS3 Update, Academic Review Contact and End of Summer Term Schedule
I would just to take this opportunity to thank you all for the support that you have shown throughout this difficult time and to congratulate you all on the continued resilience displayed by our students and families
throughout what has been such an unprecedented time for us all.
The last few months has proved to be challenging for us all, in so many different ways. I am so proud of the way that all members of our Workington Academy family have conducted themselves and the way in which the vast majority of our students have continued to take responsibility for their own online learning whilst at home and have continued to make progress, achieve success and to produce some outstanding pieces of work, that we cannot wait to celebrate properly and to put on display, once we return to school.
We have continued to follow the ever-changing UK Government Guidance throughout the closure period, which has led to us continuing to provide childcare provision for the children of Key Workers in our Hub and we have
also been able to successfully re-open partially to enable some face to face contact for our Year 10 and Year 12 students, who are due to sit exams next year.
However, we are aware that unfortunately the re-opening provision, as directed by the UK Government, has not led to our KS3 students being able to return to school prior to the Summer holidays. As the UK Government
have recently announced, they are hopeful that all students will be able to return to school in September and we are currently awaiting further guidance from them in relation to this. We will continue to update you on this
matter and our plans to bring back all students to Workington Academy in a safe and sensible manner, as soon as we have received this guidance and we are able to do so.
I want to assure you that despite our KS3 students not currently being able to return to our school building, they continue to be at the forefront of our minds, our planning and provision. For the remainder of the Summer
term, we have produced the following schedule for our KS3 students, with some exciting events and projects for them to engage in:
It is essential that our Year 9 students continue to work on their GCSE Bridging work for the remainder of the summer term, which is helping them to prepare for the start of their KS4 studies in September. For Year 7 and 8 students, as of Monday 29 June, they will begin work on a themed cross-curricular project titled ‘Investigating West Cumbria – Past, Present and Future’. Further information has been shared with students in relation to
this project on Firefly and within their virtual assemblies.
Information in regards to other notable events detailed above, will also be shared with students via Firefly, as well as promoted on our Workington Academy website and Social Media sites in the coming days and weeks.
To supplement the contact that has been made with students and parents throughout the closure period via a range of communication channels, all KS3 students and parents/carers will receive a personalised Academic
Review phone call during the course of the next three weeks.
The purpose of this phone call is to review and to gain feedback on student engagement and progress made in the online learning set throughout the closure period and to support students in preparing for their return to
school in the new Academic Year. Please be assured that there is nothing to worry about in relation to this phone call and that this is designed to be a positive experience and a further support mechanism for all of our KS3 students and families. Where possible, the phone call will be conducted by your child’s Form Tutor, their Director of Learning or one of their subject teachers, who would ideally like to speak to both yourself and your child together.
As always, if you do have any queries, worries or concerns in regards to anything detailed within this letter or in relation to your child’s education at Workington Academy, please do not hesitate to contact myself, our Senior Leadership Team or your child’s Director of Learning.
I would like to thank you for your continued patience, commitment and support throughout this time and please know that, along with the education of your children, we will continue to keep their physical and mental health at the forefront of all of our decision making over the coming weeks and months ahead.
Yours sincerely,
Mr D Bird
Headteacher
