You will no doubt have heard of last night's updates relating to the impact on schools with regards to the Coronavirus. We wanted to give you as much clarity as we can on how they will relate to Hazeley students and parents.

All Schools will close on Friday for most students

As you know from previous correspondence, we have been preparing for this for some weeks by ensuring that students have the skills and knowledge to access learning online. We do not want this to be “just to get by work”, our staff are committed to making this a highly valuable experience. Our students will be learning as they are teaching, and we very much want to turn this challenge into an opportunity. We hope that you as parents will support us with this by helping your child create good habits and encouraging them to overcome the inevitable teething problems.  If access to a computer is a problem, then we will be able to loan some out. If you do need support with IT  equipment, then please email IT Support - its@thehazeleyacademy.com .

Key Workers and Vulnerable Students

We expect more details in the next few hours as to the definition of “key worker”. When we have this clarity we will be ensuring that we have the staff and resources in place to look after their children so that they can continue their crucial work. We will also be contacting the families of those classified as vulnerable students to ensure that they are also supported. We believe these to be those in care, supported by a social worker, or those students with Education and Health Care Plans.

Many of our staff have also volunteered to support local primary schools who may have more children requiring childcare. An example of Hazeley values truly coming to life.   

Examinations 

At the time of writing it is still not clear how students who were expecting to sit exams this summer will be assessed. It has, however, been made very clear that students will not be in any way disadvantaged and they should continue to revise hard so that they are prepared for whatever eventuality. This may be exams in the autumn, teacher assessments or another mechanism not known yet. Our staff will be working hard to support the emotional aspect of this uncertainty with students today.

Free School Meals and Sanitary Wear 

FSM VOUCHER SCHEME

The Academy is supporting parents with their free school meal entitlement through the use of the government’s Supermarket Voucher Scheme run by Edenred.   Each family, that is currently in receipt of benefits-related free school meals, will be sent an eGift code to a working email address which can be redeemed at one of the approved national major supermarket partners. Information on how to redeem the voucher will be included in the email you receive.  The value of each voucher is £15 per week for every eligible child.

 

Further guidance on the vouchers and how to redeem them is available by following the link below:-

https://www.edenred.co.uk/Documents/DfE/DfE_FreeSchoolMeals_ParentCarerFAQs.pdf

Should you have any difficulties accessing the vouchers, or in the event that you have not received a voucher for an eligible child, please contact the academies finance department via finance@thehazeleyacademy.com

Please note that during the school closure period our response time to queries may be slower than usual, however we are working hard to field queries as promptly as possible, and will be ensuring all eligible children receive their entitlement to free school meals support.

Thank you for your continuing support.

Fraud warning - free school meals

The Department for Education has been informed that some parents have received an email stating the following:

'As schools will be closing, if you're entitled to free school meals, please send your bank details and we'll make sure you're supported'

This is a scam email - no one should respond to it and it should be deleted immediately.

If any students are struggling to access sanitary wear then they should email Medical@thehazeleyacademy.com and our Academy Matron will support where possible.

Supporting Each Other 

During this period of challenge I hope that we can all be the great role models that our children deserve by helping them navigate this new way of learning; assisting the most vulnerable; supporting our NHS staff/key workers; following the health expert's advice to keep our hands clean and implementing the advice on social distancing.

Please note that we will still be closed to years 8, 9, 10 and 12 on Friday 20^th March.

Kind regards

Mr Nelson