Dear Parent/Carer,

SNS Home Learning Week 7

I hope this letter finds you and yours well. The glorious weather we are experiencing provides some consolation and provides a welcome treat in these challenging times. So much has happened since we closed the school doors to most of our school community and yet, in so many ways time appears to have stood still. As always, we send our thoughts and good wishes to all those who have suffered in some way as a result of the pandemic. In these most worrying of times, the strength and resilience of our community has shone through and has given us strength. We have adapted the way we live and work, a small sacrifice to ensure we do our part in reducing the transmission of the virus and stay as safe as possible.

As ever, I am very grateful for all your wonderful continued support. Thank you also to those of you who have generously made the time to write to us showing your appreciation, it means a great deal to the team as many of our teachers and support staff, like yourselves, are juggling working from home whilst managing their own family responsibilities.

Reopening Schools

The debate around the reopening schools extending to include the return of more children continues and whilst there is much angst, it is positive that we are thinking about it and there is some light ahead as we start to take the road to returning to the ‘new normal’. We are all hoping and praying that the country is over the worst of what has been a horrific and devasting time for many. We are keen to see the staff and students come back and whilst we know their transition back will pose its own challenges, I am hopeful that together we will approach this next phase stronger than ever. Our community safety is crucial. We will only open when the advice states it is safe to do so, and we have made all the necessary adjustments we can to support social distancing guidance and will continue with strong emphasis on regular hand washing.

As the school makes plans to return, I am keen to consult with parents by setting up an SNS Parents’ Consultation Group to discuss reopening. I would like representation from each year group, as whilst much of the national debate appears to centre on students from exam years, I would like to reassure you that all our year groups are important to us. We are ever-mindful that the of impact of school closure is felt by all our young people. If you are interested in joining the consultation group, please email admin@sns.hackney.sch.uk by Monday 1st June. We will then organise our first online meeting.

SNS Home Learning

As you know we are continually reviewing our provision. All year groups are receiving tutor sessions through Microsoft Teams, please do encourage your child to participate. Joining in with these sessions helps our community stay connected in some form and I am pleased to hear that many of our students have engaged well with their tutors in this way. Home learning will be the main source of learning for all our students for the rest of the academic year and we are seeking to implement sessions which we hope will increase student participation and engagement. In Year 12 we have a programme of online teaching sessions and we are rolling this out into Year 10, starting with our core subjects. Please click here for information about the Year 10 English, Maths and Science lessons from the first week in June in more detail. We kindly ask that you to go through this information with your child.

Curriculum maps are being reviewed and updated by departments in readiness for the next half term. As always please check these plans together with the Satchel One (formerly known as Show My Homework) platform to access the tasks and upload completed work. If you have any subject-related questions, please contact the named person on the curriculum plan.

SNS Home Learning Project

Thank you to everyone who has supported our project to show appreciation for our key workers and to also produce material as a record of this time. Your poems and photographs of our community clapping for the NHS are very much welcomed. Presently, these are being compiled to produce lookbooks of appreciation to deliver to our local Trust. This week we launched our ArtWell Workshop. The workshop will have a different theme every week and the materials required will be readily available at home. It is all about being creative with limited resources and most importantly, having fun. We hope that you will encourage for child to take part. A selection of outstanding effort and craftmanship from each week will be displayed on the School’s Instagram page. At the end of the term, all the works will be displayed in an online gallery to celebrate everyone’s creativity and achievement. We look forward to receiving your submissions via creativeproject@sns.hackney.sch.uk.

Support beyond SNS

Clissold Covid-19 Mutual Aid is a voluntary neighbourhood group coordinating help for those affected by Coronavirus / COVID-19 in Clissold Ward. Please find attached more information on how to access support.

SNS Staffing Updates

I am pleased to inform you that Sophie Preedy is appointed as my new PA. Sophie has worked at SNS for the past seven years and many of you know her as our Office Manager and Attendance Officer. We wish Sophie all the best in her new role and I look forward to working with her.

Happy Eid

This weekend sees the month of the Ramadan draw to a close. I hope all of you who observed the month of prayer and fasting had a fulfilling experience despite our present circumstances. I and the SNS team wish you all a happy Eid.

Finally, our theme of the week is nature. One of the positives to come out of this period is our renewed connection with the simple things in life. This quote from American novelist Alice Walker, I find captures so perfectly the beauty of what nature offers:

In nature, nothing is perfect and everything is perfect. Trees can be contorted, bent in weird ways, and they're still beautiful.

I wish you a lovely half-term. Keep well.

Zehra Jaffer