Letter from Headteacher Mr Brophy 27th November 2020
Wash Hands – Cover Face – Make Space
Dear Parents and Carers
This coming weekend is the first Sunday in advent so naturally our thoughts are beginning to turn to celebrating the birth of Christ. We have ordered Christmas trees for the Foyer and Assembly/Dining Hall which hopefully will arrive next week and they will bring a bit of festive cheer for the students at lunch and breaktimes. I know the whole school community certainly deserves a wonderful Christmas after repeatedly rising to the challenge during this term, I continue to be hugely impressed with all the students in school and the resilient way they continue to approach their studies. Well done everyone.
Year 11 Mocks
Year 11 students in school have conducted themselves impeccably during the Mock exams thus far and all their teachers are very proud of their approach.
Those Year 11 students who are unfortunately self-isolating at home will be receiving an email from the Exams Office in school with an updated examination timetable so they can complete all their examination papers on their return. Please do look out for this separate email.
Year 11 students and parents/carers should continue to be reassured by the Government’s commitment to ensure that final GCSE exams will still take place in the Summer. In school we will use the assessment data from the mock examination paper to identify areas that all students need to revisit in class so that they can be very well prepared for their real GCSEs in June/July.
If we do have a situation in the Summer which means the school is asked for formal estimated or predicted grades for our Year 11 students please do recognise we will base this information on a wide range of information from students classwork and historic data as we fully recognise how disruptive the enforced periods of self-isolation have been during the Mock exams in school.
Year 7 Virtual Parents Evening
Year 7 Online Parents Evening is on the Thursday 3rd December
Thank you to the large number of parents/carers who have already signed up to the software and made appointments to speak to form tutors. If any year 7 parents need further information about the evening don’t hesitate to contact school. email: admin@stmcollege.org.uk
Tameside Guidance on Childhood Winter Illnesses
I have been asked by Tameside Local Authority to share the following information on the huge improvement in Coronavirus infection rates across Tameside and the new tiered system in operation across Greater Manchester
Covid in Tameside
In the seven days to 22 November, there were 544 new cases with a rate of 240.2 per 100,000 people. This is lower than the seven days to 21 November when there were 565 new cases with a rate of 249.5 per 100,000.
Tameside is now ranked 7th in Greater Manchester and is now down to 50th nationally.
It’s fantastic to see the Coronavirus rates coming down in Tameside and I’d like to thank all our communities for playing their part in this. I must however stress though that it’s vital that we all continue to follow the rules and take the precautions needed to ensure all the hard work is not wasted.
Coming out of Lockdown: Tier 3
When the national lockdown ends at midnight on 1 December, Tameside will move into Tier 3: Very High Alert, as of Wednesday 2 December.
The tier system has been strengthened compared to the previous system in order to prevent a return to growing infections. Information on the restrictions that are in place across the tier system are available at the following weblink:
https://www.gov.uk/guidance/local-restriction-tiers-what-you-need-to-know
End of Term in School
Over the next few weeks we will have the following events
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Student Christmas Dinner 16th December
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Online Carol Concert in Partnership with our local Catholic Primary Schools
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Operation Shoebox Appeal
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Announcement of the winner of the School Christmas Card Competition
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Charity Foodbank Collection
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Virtual Christmas Liturgies
As we come to the end of this term and the National lockdown, we are looking forward to an ongoing return to normality in the Spring term, this will hopefully be against a backdrop of a continued reduction in the infection rate, a national roll out of a vaccine, and enhanced local coronavirus testing.
With this in mind as we continue to focus on teaching and learning we are going to be allowing students to move to different classes around the school more often in the next few weeks to allow them access to more specialist classrooms so we can continue to deliver the highest possible standards in subject specific environments. This will mean that next week students will receive amended timetables with a selection of some new rooms listed for their classes so they can have greater access to subject specific resources and materials now, and in the new year.
Finally…
As is traditional at Christmas students will be able to finish early on the last day of term, this means that on Friday 18th December school will finish at 12:15 in the afternoon.
The usual school buses that are arranged by school are currently scheduled to pick students up at this amended finish time of 12:15pm.
Have a lovely weekend and thank you all for your support.
God bless and stay well.
H Brophy
COLLEGE MISSION & ETHOS
St Thomas More RC College is a group of believers, united heart and soul in a Community which recognises the worth and dignity of all people. St Thomas More RC College is committed to developing fully the talents of all its members, in Communication of the Gospel values of peace, love, truth and justice; in Communion with Our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ.
Aims : There is a friendly and experienced teaching staff in the college that work together to support our Christian Ethos and ensure that each student is enabled to achieve their full potential. Our recent Ofsted report (February 2017) stated that all staff and pupils work harmoniously together to create a calm, purposeful and warm atmosphere. We are listed in the Good Schools Guide . The curriculum management structure in the school supports National Curriculum subject areas, Religious Education and Whole School Development. All staff are supported by a Senior Management team. There is a strong team of support staff including teaching support staff, secretaries, librarian/reprographics assistant, ICT, ADT and Science technicians, caretakers, lunchtime assistants, cleaners and kitchen staff. The collective strength of our staff ensures that the ethos and values in our Mission Statement provide all our pupils with high quality teaching and learning within a supportive environment.