News

Year 10 Update

FAO Year 10 parents and carers:

Good afternoon. I am writing to you to discuss our plans for Year 10.

We are very proud of the efforts of students, parents/carers, and staff – everyone has contributed towards ensuring work is completed with great energy and effort. Our Year 10 online work will continue to be the key part of our offer to students – this will continue to be set in its current format until the last hand-in date of Friday 17 July. 

Moving forward, we would like to develop our support for online learning through on-site work at the school for Year 10 pupils. You will need to sign up for your child to be part of the on-site provision, so please read this e-mail through and follow the sign-up instructions at the end of the e-mail.

On-site catch-up invitation

We will offer individual support to selected students who are behind on their work, so they can catch up. These sessions will run from Monday 15 June – Friday 19 June, and will be by telephone invitation only. This will not only support students, but will also ensure lessons can restart efficiently when we do return, so everyone in the class is in a similar starting place.

On-site programme for Year 10

All Year 10 students will be offered one day per week in school. If you choose to sign your child up to this programme, there will be a face-to-face online induction during the week beginning Monday 15 June. Students will be on site once a week for a full day from the week beginning Monday 22 June.

What we will do 

The programme will be focused on providing support and supplementary work in Maths, English, Science, Geography and History, as well as some support for option subjects. This will not replace the online work which is being set, which will remain the cornerstone of work for Year 10. 

How it may work 

• We ask that you sign your child up or inform us that they will not be attending for the first two weeks of this programme, for attendance on the weeks beginning Monday 22 June and Monday 29 June. When we know how many students will be taking part in the programme, we will plan carefully and then complete an online induction with all pupils who will be on the school site.

• Students will come into the school as a House group each day, from Monday to Thursday. Currently, this would be: 
  • Monday – Arwenack 
  • Tuesday – Killigrew 
  • Wednesday – Gluvias 
  • Thursday- Pendennis

• On Fridays, we may offer some support for our smaller option subjects, and a chance for students to come in and catch up if they are behind. This will be done by individual arrangement. 

• The school day will run as normal, from 8.40am – 3.25pm. The day will be separated into five learning blocks; there will be plenty of breaks and a lunchtime. 

• Students should bring their own equipment, a water bottle, and a packed lunch for the day. We would ask that students wear a clean school uniform each day they attend. 

• We would encourage parents/carers to make private arrangements for transport to school, but if this is not possible, school buses will run from Constantine and Mawnan, Flushing and Mylor, and Perranwell and Ponsanooth, operated by our good friends at OTS. We are currently working to confirm the bus provision from Stithians. 

Safety precautions

In preparing the school for this increase in numbers, we have spent a considerable amount of time going through the Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) and risk assessments for opening the school. 

We have also made a short video displaying how we have prepared the school for more students – you can access this video via the following link: https://youtu.be/OGygFXuc8RY. This may be updated if we use more spaces on the school site, but the core principles will remain the same. An updated video will be presented during the online induction.

Below are the key precautions that we are setting out: 

• Any student attending school must be free from symptoms, and come from a household where no person is displaying symptoms.

• The building and classrooms have been redesigned to ensure they are as safe as possible, with one-way systems in place.

• Two-metre social distancing will be maintained in all areas of the school. This means for most classrooms our class size will be eight, but there are some larger spaces which can accommodate more than this.

• We have increased our cleaning routines and have sanitiser, paper towels and wipes in each classroom, at the entrance to the school, and in the corridors.

• Students will be in the same group for the duration of the day, in the same classroom where possible, with limited contact with different members of staff. 

• Breaks and lunchtimes will be in set areas, with social distancing and separation of the groups maintained.

FAQs

Please click the following link to access frequently asked questions regarding safety measures: http://penryn-college.cornwall.sch.uk/parents/letters/

Next steps

Please let us know if you would like your child to take up their place, or if they will not be taking this place for the first two weeks of the main on-site programme, for the weeks beginning Monday 22 June and Monday 29 June. Please also let us know if you require school transport. Please send your reply to secretary@penryn-college.cornwall.sch.uk before 12.00pm on Friday 12 June. It is important that you provide with us this information as soon as possible, even if you choose not to send your child into school, so we can plan accurately and carefully.

If you wish to talk anything through, please do not hesitate to contact me via pwalker@penryn-college.cornwall.sch.uk. I will ring you back to discuss any queries you may have.

Take care and best wishes.

Paul Walker

Headteacher