Dear Parents and Students
It seems that COVID 19 is not going away any time soon and, although our safety measures are now well-established and routine, these need to be carefully balanced against the risk to our young people’s health and wellbeing and educational progress. In my last update (7/11/21), I spoke about our decision to return to single periods to improve the experience for learners. We want every student at Forrester to make the most of their time at school and to have the best possible chance to achieve success.
However, we know that the last two years have been incredibly disruptive to learning, and to other aspects of life. Students have had a wide range of experiences resulting in gaps in different aspects of their learning. We want to help everyone get back on track and to get into routines and ways of working that will support this.
This week, we will be speaking to students about being ready for learning, being respectful and being responsible, and we would really appreciate your support.
Please take some time to speak with your child to reinforce the messages below.
Be:
Ready to learn:
- On time for school
- On time with everything you need for lesson.
- iPad – charged and ready to go (iPads are coming for S1 after Christmas)
- Stationary
- Books/jotters
- Time-keeping between classes – students must go directly to class – with the move to single periods there is the potential for more learning time to be lost.
- Phones away
- phones are useful for safety to and from school but are a distraction in lessons and should be switched off and in your bag.
- Discussions about phones can prevent a good start to lesson and make it difficult to establish good relationships and a positive atmosphere (which are so important to learning)
- Phones also have an adverse impact on our ability to stay focussed
- Uniform
- Come to school in school uniform (on days when you don’t have PE)
- On PE days students should wear dark clothing, appropriate for school
Respectful:
- Respect yourself and others, (students and staff)
- Respect and appreciate the rich diversity of our school community
- Use appropriate language and tone
Responsible:
- Keep each other safe by wearing masks at all times while in the building
- Look after the building, including the toilets which are there for everyone’s use
- Keep the school clean – tidy up after yourself, in classrooms and social area
- Use bins
- Report any issues to staff
Attendance
In my last update, I spoke about the importance of regular attendance – this is a crucial factor in educational success. With so much disruption over the last couple of years, we must all do our best to keep avoidable absence to a minimum. For more information, please follow the link below to our attendance leaflet.
Forrester High School Attendance Leaflet
Finally, thank you for your continued support and positive feedback over recent weeks. I hope you have had as good a weekend as our S2 football team.
Thanks and best wishes
Stephen Rafferty
Head Teacher