Well Done And Happy Half Term

12th February 2021Abigail Allen

Dear all,

We want to say a huge well done for all of the effort and hard work put in by our learners this term. We are so very proud of them all. We understand this term has been difficult, but we thought it would be be nice to share some of the work and activities that we have seen from our learners.

Please do take a watch of the following updates before you start your half term holiday. We hope they make you smile as much as we did.

Mrs Ashton would like to send you a well done message

 

Please take a watch of our ‘Wellness Wednesday’ video – What a lovely afternoon had by all, and thank you for fully taking part and sharing it with us

 

All of our learners have done exceptionally well and we are incredibly proud,  but here are a few that have sent in some outstanding pieces of work and have gained many extra positive points on Class Charts.

We really do wish you a safe and well rested half term, and we look forward to seeing you on Monday 22nd February.

Take care,

Kepier

Key Stage 3 ‘Wellness Wednesday’ Activities

9th February 2021Abigail Allen
Dear all,
Tomorrow Wednesday 10th February 2021 learners will be taking part in our first ‘Wellness Wednesday’. This will be a change to their normal timetabled lessons commencing at 1pm and we look forward to having them joining a coaching google meet to direct them to their activities, different to their normal Wednesday timetable.
Please see the attached document to provide you with information and the activities that will be available to learners.
Take care,
Kepier

Trial Exams Announcement

29th January 2021D Leighton

Due to the PM’s announcement this week that schools will not return before 8th March 2021 the trial exams scheduled for after half term will be postponed and will take place at another time.

We will be in touch when dates for trial exams have been agreed. In the meantime it is vitally important that Year 10 and 11 learners continue to work hard on their remote learning.

**A Thank You and Well Done**

27th January 2021Abigail Allen
Dear Parent/Carers and Learners,
We are now into our fourth week of remote Learning of 2021. We would like to take this opportunity to say a huge thank you to all of our parents and carers. We understand that whilst at home there is a great deal of support being offered to continue their learning.
This week we had a large number of learners completing and attempting their remote learning work set for last week and we want to say very well done for your perseverance in this new way of learning, and your engagement.
We understand that working from home is not always easy, but we really do appreciate your continued support and feedback, and we would like to take this opportunity to say thank you.
Yours sincerely,
Mrs N. Ashton
Principal

Video Update – January 2021

14th January 2021Jeremy Gartland

Video Updates for Parents

Members of the senior leadership team at Kepier have made videos to update parents on key aspects of your children’s education during lockdown.

 

1: Introduction – Mrs Ashton

 

2: Remote Learning – Mr Kilkenny

 

3: School Testing – Mr Devlin

 

4: Pastoral Support – Mr Van Lindon

 

5: Reporting Covid Cases – Mr Van Lindon

 

6: Safeguarding – Mr Devlin

 

7: Gradebooks – Mr Langley

 

8: Exams – Mr Warkman

 

9: Critical and Vulnerable Learners – Mr Warkman

Update for Parents/Carers of children currently self isolating due to Bubble Closures

14th December 2020Abigail Allen

**Parent/Carer update for learners self isolating due to bubble closures**

Dear Parent / Carer.

Key Stage 3

Following reductions to the self isolation period from 14 days to 10 days, learners in years 7,8 and 9 who were due to self isolate up until and including Friday 18.12.20 are expected to return to Kepier from Tuesday 15.12.20. We will be closed to all learners Friday 18th December 2020  due to our planned INSET day.

 

Key Stage 4

Despite recent changes to the self-isolation period (from 14 days to 10 days) which should have seen most learners returning to school on Tuesday 15th December, we have taken the difficult decision that all learners in Year 10 and Year 11 should stay at home and continue with remote learning until the end of the school day on Thursday 17th December. This is due to short-term staffing issues related to COVID-19. We apologise for any inconvenience this may cause. If you have any queries, please do not hesitate to contact us. Kepier will be closed to all learners on Friday 18th December due our scheduled INSET day.

 

Y10 Booster Classes

17th November 2020Nicola Ashton

Dear Parents/Carers of Year 10 Learners

We are committed, in these very difficult times, to ensuring that any impact of the disruption to courses of study is kept to a minimum.  To this end, we will be starting to introduce a range of Booster Classes in some subjects over the coming weeks to help learners who are behind where they need to be in terms of their knowledge, classwork and coursework assignments. 

These classes will be aimed at learners who are identified by their teachers as lacking key knowledge that is essential for success in exams.  Booster Classes will be compulsory for identified learners to attend and will take place afterschool from 3.00-3.45pm. They will run on a fortnightly timetable.   The timetable is outlined below: 

Monday  Tuesday  Wednesday  Thursday  Friday 
Week A  Business Studies (211)  Health and Social Care (220)  BTEC Sport (220) Hospitality and Catering (GO3) Creative I Media  (220)
Week B  History (213)  Geography (Main Hall) 

Learners will be informed by their subject teachers if they are required to attend a Booster Class.  It is essential that those learners attend every session that they are asked to attend and failure to attend will result in lunch passes being revoked or lunchtime detentions for the next day.  Learners will also be required to catch up on the work they miss in their own time.  

Once again I thank you for your support in ensuring that your child attends whichever classes are assigned to them and I hope that we can work together to ensure learners get caught up on any lost learning during what has been a very difficult time. 

Mr A Warkman 

Assistant Principal

Changes to the timings of the School Day for the Lockdown Period

13th November 2020Nicola Ashton

As from Monday 16th November 2020, we will be reducing the lunchtime by 10 minutes and the staggered exit of learners will start from 2.30pm.  This will be reviewed following Government advice at the end of the National Lockdown.  If you need your child to be supervised  until 2.50pm, please contact your Year Manager.

Changes to Lunchtime Arrangements

3rd November 2020Nicola Ashton

Dear Parent/Carer,

Changes to Lunchtime Arrangements from Thursday 5th November

As you will be aware, from Thursday the Government will be introducing a National lockdown.  Our priority is to keep learners and staff safe as possible.  Therefore, due to the National lockdown, we cannot continue with our previous plans.  We intended to half the year group bubbles to ensure we kept as many learners in school as possible.  We now cannot allow KS4 learners (Y10 and Y11) to visit Houghton at lunchtime.  As a result, we have had to revise our lunch time plans in order to reduce the risk of whole year groups being sent home.

Therefore, the following measures will be in place from Thursday this week:

KS3 Learners (Y7, Y8, Y9) will remain in their Coaching rooms for lunchtime.  In doing so, we significantly reduce the risk of spreading Covid-19 to the rest of the year group.  Learners can order water, sausage rolls or pop chips during their Coaching session to be delivered at break time.  Learners can also pre-order food for lunchtime (including hot food) using the Fusion Mobile Food App.  This will be delivered at lunchtime.  We can only accept orders via the app.

Y10 Learners will remain in School and use the canteen and outside pod area and can access hot and cold food from the canteen serving hatch.  Learners do not have to pre-order food but must have enough money to pay for food on their Parent Pay Account.

Y10 can also order water, sausage rolls or pop chips during their Coaching session for break time.

Y11 Learners will remain in School and use the hall and back yard.  Y11 Learners can access hot and cold food in the hall and from the serving hatch situated in the back playground.  Learners do not have to pre-order food but must have enough money to pay for food on their Parent Pay Account.

Y11 can also order water, sausage rolls or pop chips during their Coaching session for break time.

I understand this situation is not ideal, but in order to keep everyone as safe as possible, this is the best solution in what are very difficult circumstances for everyone. 

Thank you for your support and if you have any issues or queries, please contact your child’s Year Manager in the first instance.

Halloween Pumpkin Carving Competition

21st October 2020Mr D Cowie

 

This year sees the second Halloween Pumpkin Carving Competition at Kepier!  We invite you to create a carved masterpiece! There will be prizes awarded in each year group. Kepier staff will also be demonstrating their pumpkin carving talents!

Your name and year group must be written on a slip of paper next to your creation, photographed and then emailed to art@kepier.com. The deadline for entries is Monday 2nd November.

We look forward to seeing your seasonal masterpiece!

Consultation on Allowing Y10 Learners to Access Houghton Town Centre for Lunch

19th October 2020Nicola Ashton

Dear Y10 Parent/Carer

To support us with minimising the amount of KS3 learners being sent home due to mixing at lunchtimes, we are proposing to allow certain Y10 learners to leave the 

School site at lunchtime.  In doing so, we can increase the available space for other year groups, effectively halving the existing bubbles in Y7, Y8 and Y9.

Only learners who have a good Class Charts record and whom Mrs Brown as well as the SLT agree to, will be given this privilege.  Learners will still have the option of remaining in School during lunchtime if they wish to do so.

The Y10 lunchtime would be different from Y11 to avoid the mixing of these two bubbles.

Learners will need to abide by the rules and regulations concerning the wearing of face coverings in shops and their conduct will be monitored by staff and Covid officials from Sunderland Council.  If, for any reason, we are not happy with the response from the community, we may need to withdraw this solution.

If the majority of parents/carers are happy with this arrangement, we hope to implement this after half term.

Please complete this short survey by following the link below.

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdBw0ZVsQGcVHR7M63JPbOieI4ikciwr4OBrl_Tr3eKyh3QNg/viewform?vc=0&c=0&w=1&flr=0&gxids=7628