Dear Parents and Carers
Year 11 Parents / Carers Consultation Evening – 2 February 2021
We are pleased to be able to confirm that we will be holding our Year 11 Parent/Carer Consultation Evening on Tuesday 2nd February 2021 between 4pm and 7:30pm. Due to the ongoing restrictions in place due the COVID 19 pandemic, we will be using video appointments through the School Cloud online system. This platform has been successfully used by a number of our own staff as parents, local schools, both primary and secondary to deliver similar events and we are confident it provides an excellent forum to complete such an important evening. Students are encouraged to be part of the call and take part in the appointment. The system allows for parents /carers to be in two locations, yet be part of the same appointment call should this be required.
School Cloud – Key information for parents
- On the evening of Sunday 24 January 2021 we will open the booking system at 7pm for parents and carers to begin making appointments and it will remain open until 7pm Sunday 31 January 2021
- Parents / carers should use their child’s christian name and surname and date of birth to login to the following website to book appointments. The link to the website is here: https://durringtonhighschool.schoolcloud.co.uk/
- Each appointment will start exactly at the allocated time and will be 5 minutes long, ending promptly at the end of the 5 minute session. There is a countdown timer on screen to alert you to the remaining time; teachers do not have control over this/can’t extend or pause the timer. There is a short break between appointments to prepare for the next consultation.
- There is a function to allow parents to raise any particular points with staff, they can be shared in advance of the appointment with the teacher to maximise the available time for discussion.
- Parents and carers are able to access the same appointments from separate locations using seperate devices if needed. This is a benefit as it means more parents/carers can be directly involved in this important evening.
- Science – For trilogy students (this meaning they are doing 2 GCSEs) – only one appointment should be made. This must be with the member of staff that teaches the majority of the lessons.
To enable as many parents/carers to access appointments the initial release will allow parents/carers to make a maximum of 5 subject appointments; we will release a further tranche of appointments on 28 January 2021. Please be assured that if you can’t get all the appointments you want (for example because a number of staff teach two or more full GCSE classes) you will be able to email the specific members of staff to request a call-backs. Please click on the link below for a guide on how to make appointments using School Cloud
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1c1vI8S0ULp4a2wt4Y13seiK7VbTvIpug/view?usp=sharing
If you experience any issues accessing the School Cloud website or require additional guidance booking a parents evening appointment, please contact the schools IT support team on support@itservices.dmat.education.
If you do not have access to the internet, please could you contact the school on 01903 244957. Please leave a message outlining your child’s name, tutor group, contact number and a list of the 5 subject teachers that you wish to speak with.
We are aware that the Year 11 Parent / Carer Consultation Evening is such an important event for students, parents and carers and staff in sharing key information to allow our students to progress further. The School Cloud platform requires few system requirements and we are confident that you will find the system efficient and effective and that it will allow us to complete the event despite the current lockdown restrictions. Along with this letter are further details and instructions of how the evening works and the system requirements for the IT that you will be using.
GCSE grades this summer
As you will be aware, the government has decided that Y11 students will not be sitting their GCSE exams in the normal way, this summer. In place of these exams a student’s grade in a subject will be based on their teacher’s assessment of the standard at which they are performing. As students need grades to continue to the next stage of their education or training, or into employment, the government is seeking the views of parents, carers, teachers and school leaders on the best way to assign these grades.
We would really appreciate it if parents and carers could put forward their view on this by completing the consultation which can be found via the link below, before 11:45pm on 29th January.
We will continue to update you with further information and developments on this as they are released to us. The consultation evening will be focussed solely on the academic progress of your child and their recent mock examinations. Please note that the discussions must focus on this and not the potential organisation of the examinations / assessments.
Our students have worked so hard and applied themselves so diligently to their studies, we want to ensure that the process is as fair, rigorous and credible as it can be. By putting forward your views, you will be contributing to the outcome of this consultation.
We remain fully committed to supporting each and every member of our Year 11 community and are all working together to minimise the impact of the current restrictions and looking forward to this key event for our students and families.
Yours sincerely
Mr J Fuller
Deputy Headteacher
