Dear Parents and Guardians
We hope you are having a good week and that the elders in your family feel a sense of relief as and when they
receive their vaccinations.
Here are the key updates for this week.
Return to school date
You may have heard that 8th March is currently being mooted as the date for the wider re-opening of schools. However, in these unchartered territories of a global pandemic, the DFE and SAGE are still having a healthy debate as to how realistic this is. We will of course keep you informed when we have something more concrete to share.
PPE dates
As per the letter that went out to Year 10, 11 and 13 parents on Friday, the PPE dates have been scheduled to start on 8th March for Year 11, the 22nd for Year 13 and 25th March for the Year 10 POR. Of course, these dates may change depending on the plans for the wider re-opening of schools.
End of consultation for GCSE, BTEC and A level exams
The consultation for the grading of GCSEs and A levels, closed on Friday. We now have a four-week wait for Ofqual to publish their final guidance on exam grading and once again, we will share the findings of this with you in due course.
Mental health
This week is Children’s Mental Health Week. The Student Leadership Team have put together some great resources on their Instagram account @theholtschool, please do encourage your daughters to check it out. Heads of Year are leading assemblies this week on how to express yourself, and PSHE lessons have focused on students writing their own self- care plans. Ideas for these plans include catching up with friends, exercising, fresh air, downtime with family and good time management with school work.
Holt@home half dozen
Mental Health Week links nicely with our Holt@home half dozen project. Led by Miss Harris, students are invited to complete the six challenges, which include exercise, languages, art and baking to name a few. Entries mean House points and all entries are to be submitted by the end of this half term on the House Teams pages. Good luck!
Year 9 Parents’ evening tomorrow
We look forward to seeing our Year 9 students and their parents/guardians tomorrow night to discuss progress so far this year and also GCSE options for Year 10.
Year 9 options from next week
From 8th February, the Senior Leadership Team will have appointments via Teams with every Year 9 student to discuss their options with them before they submit their final choices via the Sims app after half term. The teachers will “call” the students out of their lesson in time for their appointment.
Best wishes
Anne Kennedy and Katie Pearce