St George’s is a safe
place to achieve, have
fun and to develop St George’s is a safe
place to achieve, have
fun and to develop

Family Consultation Results

Click Here for COVID-19 Information and Resources

Transport: Dear families, I am aware that there are real difficulties with transport at this current time and I don’t underestimate how difficult this is for you. Unfortunately, we have no influence over the organisation of transport. We are only able to liaise regarding supporting escorts with behaviour management once on the bus etc.

COVID – 19 Update:

Dear students and families,

We have been working hard planning for the start of the school year and cannot wait to see our students again. We have been considering the best way to support young people with this transition either in coming back to school and for those joining us for the first time. We fully recognise that the COVID 19 Pandemic may have had a profound effect on your family and your child so I wanted to share with you our plans.

Mental Health has been defined as ‘A positive sense of well-being which enables an individual to be able to function in society and meet the demands of everyday life; people in good mental health have the ability to recover effectively from illness, change or misfortune’ (Mental Health Foundation 2005). It is our duty as a school to support mental wealth as an anxious child is not a learning child. We aim to promote:

• The capacity to enter into and sustain mutually satisfying personal relationships
• A continuing progression of psychological development
• An ability to play and to learn appropriately for their age and intellectual level
• A developing sense of right and wrong
• The capacity to cope with a degree of psychological distress
• A clear sense of identity and self-worth

(Carpenter, Happe and Egerton 2019)

Despite being supported with home learning, those young people who have not been accessing school will have experienced the ‘five losses of routine, structure, friendship, opportunity and freedom’[1] described by Professor Barry carpenter in his think piece A Recovery Curriculum:  Loss and Life for our children and schools post pandemic, through their time out of school and, as they now begin to return to school in greater numbers their well-being and attendance will need to be encouraged and supported though a graduated response. As attendance grows, the curriculum offer at St. George’s School will by necessity grow and change. Young people at whatever developmental level will be supported to:

• revisit prior learning and experiences;
• be challenged to remember and re-engage;
• be challenged to apply what they know, understand and can do;
• develop the levels of fluency and accuracy previously attained

across the social, emotional, personal and academic curricula of the school, and achieve the objectives and outcomes expected for them.

All of our learners will need a holistic recovery, some may need a focused recovery intervention programme, personalised to their needs; others may need a deeper and longer lasting recovery period, enabling a fuller exploration of the severity of their trauma and emergent attachment issues.

In moving through the recovery phase and beyond we will consider the following key points in our planning, development, and delivery of our ‘recovery’ curriculum:

• We will prioritise the physical, mental, and emotional well-being of our young people, staff and families as we recognise that good health and well-being is fundamental to ensuring that young people can engage effectively in their learning
• We will support re-connection with friends, the environment, expectations, and staff, factoring in play; physical activity; outdoor learning; enjoyment and relaxation, and building relationships and resilience
• We have reviewed the school’s curriculum intent and re-aligned this where necessary during the ‘recovery’ phase
• We will maximise opportunities for communication and dialogue with young people and their families about the curriculum and as changes take place
• We will focus initially on learning across literacy, numeracy and health and wellbeing with increasing and sequenced content and learning experiences within both the National and wider curriculum. Students will be given wider access as and when it suits their learning needs
• We will provide a variety of approaches for young people to demonstrate their learning, skills, knowledge and understanding across the curriculum
• We will extend our ability to work with young people and families to evidence the learning that has taken place and to identify the next steps in learning in light of the above
• We will ensure we use the principle of equity to provide additional and appropriate support where it is most needed to maximise learning and address the impact of other vulnerabilities
• We will focus on sustaining, promoting, and developing the skills that will increase the capacity of young people to learn remotely where this remains necessary, making sure that remote learning equips them to make a successful return to school when the time comes

I hope you can see that an awful lot of preparation and risk assessing has taken place to ensure we can minimise risk to students and staff alike. We will continue to dedicate ourselves to safe working practice as students, families and staff are always at the forefront of all we do. We have developed a COVID 19 handbook and have updated it according to current guidance and will continue to do so.

The latest advice on Friday 28-08-20 was in relation to the recommendation that, students and staff who are able to do so, should wear a face covering when moving around communal areas where social distancing is not possible e.g. corridors. This is now a generic life skill in our community e.g. in shops and community facilities. Our students would find it very difficult to have rules which come and go in line with local conditions so we will be promoting consistency and asking all in the school to wear a face covering, if they are able to, in the corridors when transitioning from one place to another. This will not be a requirement in lessons and when outside. Please can you ensure you let staff know if you feel your child cannot wear a mask when moving around the corridor and we will respect your wishes. If your child is able to wear a face covering, please supply a neutral one for them to wear each day. We ask that they do not bring ones with anything which will confuse or scare their peers.

Apart from a face covering and essential items, we are asking that students do not bring unnecessary items into school from home. This is to prevent cross contamination both into school and back into your homes.

We will be keeping in close contact with families to let you know how things are going but will be doing so either by email or phone. For the same reason as above, we will not be using physical home-school books to avoid cross contamination. Please make sure we have your up-to-date contact details.

Some of our students find theoretical learning very difficult and need to experience an activity in the true setting. We will contact all families to ask permission to teach and learn in the community if that is an appropriate way forward for a individual e.g. work experience, Bodster, shopping etc. No student will be offered such an opportunity until we have your full permission.

Finally, for the moment at least, I have a heartfelt request. Please ensure your child does not arrive at school earlier than 8.45 a.m. We do not have supervision before this time to ensure they are safe and healthy. We need to avoid young people arriving in the entrance hall and mixing without supervision with other young people outside their ‘bubble’.

Please click on the link below to take a look at our plan of action to keep all at St. George’s safe and healthy.

Thank you all for your continued support at this difficult time.

Best wishes,

Sue Holman

Our Mission

High standards are achieved through high expectations, robust target setting and high attendance

Staff, students and stakeholders alike treat each other with tolerance, compassion and respect.

St. George’s practises a Total Communication approach valuing and listening to all

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September 2020

MMonday	TTuesday	WWednesday	TThursday	FFriday	SSaturday	SSunday
3131st August 2020 Close Summer Holidays 27th July 2020 – 31st August 2020All day Read more	11st September 2020 Close Development Day 1st September 2020All day Read more	22nd September 2020 Close Development Day 2nd September 2020All day Read more	33rd September 2020	44th September 2020	55th September 2020	66th September 2020
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Upcoming Events

• 19th October 2020: October Half Term
• 23rd December 2020: Christmas Holidays
• 4th January 2021: Development Day
• 15th February 2021: February Half Term

OFSTED Reports

St George’s School Published ReportDownload

St-George’s School Final Inspection Report Cover LetterDownload

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Contact

St Georges School
Watergate Road
Newport
Isle of Wight
P030 1XW

Telephone: (01983) 524634

Designated Safeguarding Leads:
Steff Gleeson Deputy Head
Sue Holman Headteacher
Dave Piggott Safeguarding Governor

E Mail: Bev Martinez. office@stgeorges.iow.sch.uk