Letter to Year 11

20th March 2020

Letter to Year 11

Dear Students, Parents and Carers of Year 11

I am writing to you following the government’s announcement on Wednesday evening that schools are to close until further notice and GCSE exams will not take place this summer. We appreciate that this news will have come as a shock and we know our students are likely to be feeling disappointed when they have been working so hard in preparation for their GCSEs in May and June.

At the moment we do not know exactly how grades will be awarded. We can reassure you that the government are working on a mechanism that will be fair and will not disadvantage students in being able to make their next steps. Whatever decisions are made over the next few weeks, we will continue to support you and your children and ensure that they are able to achieve their potential and have their effort recognised.

The school already holds a lot of data about students’ current and predicted achievement, from lots of sources, including coursework and mocks, but also your teachers’ knowledge of their work and assessment of their potential. It is likely that teacher assessment and predictions will form the main part of final grades. So although there is a lot of uncertainty and many unknowns, it is really important that students continue to complete the work and revision programmes, guided by their teachers, over the coming weeks. We know that students typically apply themselves and have increased focus on their learning at this time of year, in the last months of year 11

As soon as information becomes available from the government, we will write to you immediately in respect of what happens next. Our advice and expectation is that all students will continue studying from home. Your teachers will continue to support and care about you – you are still part of our school and year community even though our contact will be via email and the internet. We are all very proud of what you have achieved to date and know you will demonstrate the grit needed to accomplish this last phase.

At the right time in the future we will ensure that we celebrate all of our Year 11 students and recognise their hard work over the past 5 years of Secondary school.

Yours faithfully,
Jon Angell
Principal, City Academy