Weekly Mailing to Parents and Carers
Friday 5 March 2021
Dear Parents and Carers We are really looking forward to welcoming your children back to school next week. I’m including again some links to all recent letters explaining return to school arrangements for each Year Group for ease of reference below.
Where parents and carers have not provided consent for their child/children to be tested, those students should return to school the day after their Year Group has been tested as per below. Year Groups 11, 12 and 13 - Return Date - Tuesday 9 March Year Groups 10, 7 and 8 - Return Date - Wednesday 10 March Year Group 9 - Return Date - Thursday 11 March Please also note that testing appointments for Lateral Flow test 1 next week are now confirmed and we are not able to consider any more late consents for this test. We will not be revisiting test 1 once initial testing appointments have taken place. Any student who misses test 1 will 'catch up' with testing via their test 2 and 3 appointments. After test 3 we will move to home testing and consenting parents, carers and Post 16 students will be provided with test kits by the school. The consent form for Lateral Flow Testing will be reopened to parents and carers from Monday 8 March 2021 should you not already have given consent, have reconsidered and wish your child to have a test and home tests from test 2 onwards. Please remember that face coverings are now compulsory in all indoor spaces at Cotham including classrooms. The Government has said that this is a temporary measure until the end of March when they will review it. I am grateful for your support in ensuring your child comes to school with a clean face covering each day. This week’s other important information for Parents/Carers and students as well as updates on events, activities and opportunities is contained below for your reference. I wish you and your children a lovely weekend, Ms Jo Butler Headteacher |
Important Reminders |
Timetable reminderWeek commencing 8 March is Week B Year 7 Parents Evening - Tuesday 9 MarchYr 7 Parents Evening will be held on Tuesday 9 March and will be an online event with virtual appointments made through our existing PES system. If you haven't done so already please book appointments to discuss your child’s progress with their teachers, by 7pm on Monday 8 March. INSET day postponedStudents should attend school as normal on 1 April. The new date will now be in May. We will confirm the new date as soon as possible. Early school closure moved to Thursday 1 April.Students are to remain in school for the full day on Wednesday 31 March. Thursday 1 April will now be the last day of term for students and all students will finish at 1.45pm. Friday 2 April is a bank holiday and so students are not expected to attend school. |
Covid-19 |
Cotham School COVID-19 Testing Privacy StatementCotham School has updated their Privacy Notices on the school website to include a COVID-19 Testing Privacy Statement. Click here to view the Notice. Parent information on COVID prevention and what to do if you or your child develops symptomsTo keep your child and other children safe it is important that children attending the school site do not come to school if they
It’s really important that we are made aware of any students who have tested positive for COVID-19 immediately on receipt of the test result. Parents and carers can either:
We also need to know if your child is isolating because either they or someone in the household or support bubble has symptoms or has recently tested positive. It’s important that we understand who has symptoms, the date on which the symptoms began, and if they’ve accessed a test for Covid-19, when the date of the test was. |
Important and New Information for Parents and Carers | |
Polite reminder to Parents/CarersIn our continued efforts to minimise the spread of the COVID-19 virus, can we please remind Parent/Carers not to come into School, unless you have a booked appointment with a member of staff. This is to protect yourselves and members of the school community and we thank you in advance for your cooperation. Guidance on the use of face coveringsFrom Monday 8 March, new advice applies to the use of face coverings in Secondary schools in England. Further information can be found in the guidance for schools. Family COVID-19 testing from homeNHS Test and Trace announced earlier this week, that all adults in households with school and college age children without symptoms can now access regular rapid coronavirus (COVID-19) testing. Test kits can either be collected or ordered online, as set out below. Parents and other adults in households with children at school or college, who do not have symptoms, can now access regular, rapid coronavirus (COVID-19) testing. This includes childcare and support bubbles. Tests are fast, easy and completely free. There are different ways for a household, childcare or support bubble to collect their test to take at home, twice-weekly:
School UniformPlease can we remind parents and carers to check their child's school uniform is in good order prior to returning to school next week, including school shoes. A number of students may well have outgrown items during the lockdown. A reminder of the school's uniform requirements can be found here. Our uniform suppliers are Harris Sports Ltd linked here and Monkhouse Schoolwear Specialists here. Any donations of good condition second hand uniform are gratefully received. Please be aware that hoodies are not permitted in school; students must bring a suitable coat to ensure they are warm enough throughout the day. PE kitStudents need to continue coming into school wearing their school PE kit on the days they have PE and will need to remember to bring spare shoes and a plastic bag as more students will be going off site for their PE lessons and therefore may get muddy shoes. Students should also wear PE bottoms that have pockets so that they can place their masks in their pockets for the physical activity, but then wear the masks when they are listening to instructions, watching modelling and are on the coach. GCSE Pod Parent Webinar - 10 March 2021 5pmOn 10 March at 5pm we are delighted to host our latest parent webinar. During the session we will explore how parents can support their child's learning using GCSEPod with information around: • How to access the Pods • Podbooks and how to quiz your child • What to expect if your child is given homework on GCSEPod • Check & Challenge and self-assessment • Hints and tips on home learning “I just wanted to say thank you for your informative webinar, GCSE pod looks like a fantastic tool, it gives us a huge sense of relief to have access to all these additional learning tools!” - Feedback from a parent. Spaces are limited. Registration is required and can be accessed: https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_jSiwLSHrQoaBENqym-f_LQ For More information on GCSEPOd see our GCSEpod parents page on our digital platforms portal. Kids read more when we Turn On The SubtitlesWe wanted to let you know how this brilliantly simple, free, small change to children’s existing TV viewing habits can drastically improve their reading skills. Here is Stephen Fry to explain the benefits of turning on the subtitles in more detail. www.turnonthesubtitles.org/parents Based on an academic study of 2,350 children, 34% became good readers with schooling alone. But when exposed to 30 minutes a week of subtitled film songs, that proportion more than doubled to 70% - a copy of the study can be found here
There are lots of studies about the benefits of subtitles. This is just one. Go to turnonthesubtitles.org/research to find out more. Spring is in the air, let’s get gardeningIt’s time to start planting! Miss Smith and Mrs Webb-Martin from the Inclusion team are planning to run gardening for a well-being project at school to support positive mental health for our students. We are looking for any donations of spare/old gardening tools, pots, seeds etc. that you may have at home. Please contact us on 0117 9198000 or email info@cotham.bristol.sch.uk Themed Lunches in MarchWe have St Patrick's day on Wednesday 17 March and will be selling some Irish themed foods and on Thursday 18 March, we are doing an India Day and will be doing an Indian themed menu for students to enjoy. Message from GWR regarding servicesFollowing the Prime Minister’s confirmation that all schools and colleges will return on Monday 8 March, we are reassured that all key school and college services will be operating.
Many are already running, but where they are not, we are advised that they will be reinstated in time to support students and returning staff.
Over the last year, GWR have worked closely with colleges and schools as well as their colleagues on mapping these services. As restrictions ease over the course of the coming months and more passengers return to the railway, GWR have said that they will continue to restore services to their timetable Sign- up to your SENECA Parental Account and help our school!! - SENECA is a brilliant resource for your child and you!!Please find below information on supporting your child using the digital platform SENECA. We are aiming to get at least 200 parents to create accounts so that as a school we gain greater access to a range of support from SENECA. Currently we have a low number of parents signed up so we cannot gain access to these enhanced features. You may be aware that many Faculties are using SENECA Learning to support our students’ digital learning. Seneca offers high-quality free online learning courses for students to study from a computer, tablet or phone. The courses are suitable for students aged 13 and above and cover KS3, KS4 GCSE and KS5 A Level subjects. SENECA also provides free parent accounts. The free parent accounts allow you to track your child’s learning and help make conversations about school and learning easier. SENECA’s parent accounts also allow you to learn alongside your child if you wish to do so. This might be helpful in supporting you to work with your child on areas of their school work that you are less familiar with. We are aiming for more parents to create a parent account as this will enable us to access further opportunities from SENECA and the Department of Education which will help all students at Cotham. We are aiming to have 200 parents and carers create accounts so that we can link more closely with SENECA. You can sign up for a free SENECA parent account here: Seneca have made this handy 2 minute video to help you get started. Or you can read how to get your free account if you’d prefer. If you have any questions about how SENECA works, you can get support from the SENECA team using the live chat on their website or you can email them at learnmore@seneca.io KS3 and GCSE ScienceIf you would like to further support students working at home with their classwork and homework as well as revision we have a stock of revision guides for all year groups. Please order on WisePay through the school website. Important Once purchased, we will need a few days to process the order and these will then be available to collect from student reception between 10.00am and 11.00am. Please wait until your child receives an email confirming that they are available to be collected before sending them to school. Library updateAll physical library loans have been automatically renewed until after lockdown. Please ignore any automatic email reminders from our system. Happy World Book Day from the Library To celebrate World Book Day 2021 we have updated our Library Catalogue to include some World Book Day podcasts and activities. This also includes a link to the virtual World Book Day vouchers. If you would like to receive a physical voucher please email library@cotham.bristol.sch.uk and we will pass one on to you next week when school reopens. You can borrow 5 items at a time, books will be automatically returned after 2 weeks. Sign in should happen automatically using your school email address. Please email library@cotham.bristol.sch.uk if you have any problems. TOO MUCH SCREEN TIME? TIRED EYES? Pop in your earbuds and take a break. Try listening to an audiobook from our ePlatform, free Audible Stories, or something from Bristol Libraries.
If you would like to read from the Secondary list please click here to find out where to find the books (includes link to free public library resources). Click here for more information on our ebook service. This platform includes lists of useful resources including our Mental Health Wellness collection here. Click here for information to support students with dyslexia when accessing our ePlatform. We are also following the Bristol Teen Book Award for Year 9 and above. The awards ceremony has been postponed due to the current lockdown For information about where to find the titles click here. During lockdown all library books can be returned to:
When school reopens we will continue to offer a Click and Deliver service. All students are able to make requests for all other library books by using our library software AccessIt or by emailing us directly. Click here for a step-by-step guide about how to reserve a book. Post 16 students must arrange their own textbook loans by using these booking forms: Year 12 (Collection Point is the Study Hub in Charnwood) Year 13 (Collection Point is the Y13 Upgrade in Charnwood). Word of the weekEach week at Cotham School we promote a Word of the Week. This is to help students expand the range of vocabulary they use. Please find the word for the week ahead by clicking here. |
Forthcoming Events |
Reminder: Saturday 6 March 2021 10:00 – 12:00 Careers and Opportunities Fair at Badminton SchoolStudents at BEP schools in Years 9-13, their parents and staff are invited to Badminton School’s Careers Fair which will be hosted online on their Firefly platform. Speakers include Rebecca Powell from Freckles Child Care; Captain Aimee Reynolds from the Army; Marcus Burnett on Hospitality and Studying Abroad; Alex Richards from ASK Apprenticeships. For more details email: ASkyrme-Jones@badmintonschool.co.uk
Thursday 11 March 09:00 – 10:00 Let’s Explore…. Boosting Brain Power with Dr Hannah CritchlowAre you intrepid enough to explore your brain? The 1.5 kg mass that sits inside your head holds memories, emotions and instructs how to interact with the world. But how exactly does it operate? Can you enhance your brain power to ramp up mental activity? And can you protect it against trauma? Join Dr Critchlow to take a journey through the nervous system, using mind-boggling experiments to discover how to boost brain power, enhance resilience and improve your mood. Hannah Critchlow is an internationally-acclaimed neuroscientist with a background in neuropsychiatry. She regularly appears on the BBC TV and Radio, most recently as Science Presenter in Family Brain Games with Dara Ó Briain. She has written two books: Consciousness: A Ladybird Expert Guide (Penguin) and The Science of Fate (Hodder) which made The Sunday Times Bestseller list in May 2019. This session is for students in Year 10 and above and there will be opportunities to ask questions. Book your place here. Nicola Morgan Webinars for parents of teenagersOpen for bookings: webinars to help you understand and support your young people. They are aimed at parents, teachers and other adults who live with, work with or care about young people of secondary school age. For more information, follow this link: Nicola Morgan Webinars Details and booking link: THE POWER OF SLEEP: how to supercharge a brain, whether teenage or adult! Nicola Morgan shares strong science to help you and your teens get the right amount of sleep – the what, why and HOW. 18 March at 7.20pm Tuesday 23 March 2021 7.00pm - 8.00pm FREE WEBINAR for Cotham School Parents & Carers- Keeping Children Safe Online During Covid-19Keeping Children Safe Online During Covid-19: a webinar for parents and carers at Cotham School. Tuesday 23 March 2021 at 7.00pm - 8.00pm Technology is a huge part of our young people's lives, with many positives and risks to consider. Screen time amongst young people has reportedly increased by 500% during lockdown, so keeping young people safe online has never been more important. Online issues such as bullying, hate speech, fake news, sexual harassment and exposure to upsetting content have increased at an alarming rate during the pandemic. Cotham School is excited to welcome leading online safety organisation, Digital Awareness UK, to deliver an online safety webinar to help our parents and carers feel empowered when it comes to supporting their children in their online lives. During the 1 hour webinar, Digital Awareness UK will talk you through: 1. Popular online apps and digital wellbeing trends 2. Critical issues for you to be aware of 3. The practical steps you can take to protect your children from online risk and to encourage happy and healthy tech habits There will also be plenty of time to ask questions about any concerns you may have in the home around online safety. Please follow this link to sign up and for more information. Junior Bake Off is back!Do you love baking? Are you aged between 9-15 years old? If you’re bonkers about bread OR have a passion for pastry then you could be baking in the famous white tent in 2021! If you or someone you know is ready to dough battle, then why not apply here now! Filming would take place from July 2021, but our applications close on Sunday 28 March 2021. A healthier and safer school runThe UK’s Chief Medical Officer recommends children do 60 minutes of physical activity each day. And, the Department for Education has said encouraging active travel to school helps “to enable pupils to be physically active while encouraging physical distancing.” Sustrans Big Pedal - the UK’s largest inter-school cycling, walking, wheeling and scooting to school challenge is a great way to get children active which is important for physical health and mental wellbeing. Active school runs also help to reduce congestion and air pollution outside the school gate. So swapping the car for active travel can make the school run healthier and safer for everyone. Whether schools are open or not, your pupils can participate in Sustrans Big Pedal. Pupils learning remotely can take an active journey from home or complete a physical challenge instead of an active school run. The theme for Sustrans Big Pedal 2021 is amazing journeys. As well as getting active, children will be encouraged to see their local area from a new perspective, learn about the benefits of active travel and discover amazing journeys to school from around the world. |
Student Wellbeing and Safeguarding |
Exploitation Awareness Sessions for ParentsFree online webinars for parents and carers from Avon and Somerset Police
Exploitation Awareness for Parents - It can happen to my child!
Exploitation Awareness for Parents via MS Teams
Maybe you would like to know more about all the above or some of the above. The prevention officer from TOPAZ exploitation team, Avon and Somerset Police is bringing you 60 minutes virtual awareness/guidance sessions. To book a place, please click the links below: This is a perfect opportunity to increase your awareness. Urgent Safeguarding Alert Dangerous Chat RoomsWe first alerted our networks and the public last year, to dangerous activities happening on Omegle. Following recurring press reports, and concerns from parents and safeguarding professionals, we’re again pushing this alert to our networks. Content from Omegle is now being shared by popular influencers which could encourage young people to visit this platform. We’re aware of instances where popular influencers are livestreaming reaction videos of them using the platform. What are anonymous chat rooms? Anonymous chat rooms are online spaces where people can chat with strangers. People can communicate via instant messaging and video chat, some of these platforms use random matching to pair users. Young people are likely to use these chat rooms and chat room apps because they seem fun, and the randomisation of people can be exciting. As young people spend much more time online due to ongoing restrictions, there is an increased chance that they will come across these sites. We’re aware of content from Omegle being shared widely across other platforms with trending hashtags, which could drive even more traffic. Despite young people seeing platforms like these as fun, they may not see the risks from those online with malicious intentions. For more information, follow these links: Dealing with cyberstalking: How to lock down your digital privacyOnline stalking (cyber stalking) is carried out in the digital world using a variety of methods. They will discuss this problem in detail and reveal how you can improve your online privacy. https://www.comparitech.com/blog/vpn-privacy/cyber-stalking/ Off The Record (OTR) Resilience Lab for Parents/ CarersOff The Record (OTR) Resilience Lab for Parents/ Carers has started again on Wednesdays at 8pm. The Resilience Lab is for parents/carers of 11-25 year olds who live in Bristol or South Glos who would like time to reflect on their own ability to manage stress and adversity and learn some tools and techniques to support them in doing this. Please email rhea@otrbristol.org.uk to register your interest. Supportive Parents Wellbeing HubSupportive Parents have launched their Wellbeing Hub for young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND). In these challenging times, it is more important than ever to ensure we are taking care of our wellbeing. We think the Wellbeing Hub is a brilliant resource for children and young people with SEND and hope you agree! The Wellbeing Hub - What is it? The Hub is an online portal created by Bristol’s SENDIAS Service, Supportive Parents, which provides young people with access to information about local services which can support wellbeing. It is full of helpful videos and information from wonderful partner organisations across Bristol, showcasing a range of activities and opportunities to get involved with. The Wellbeing Hub is based on the 5 Ways of Wellbeing - a national initiative that focuses on the 5 steps we can take to improve our wellbeing: CONNECT - BE ACTIVE - KEEP LEARNING - TAKE NOTICE - BE CREATIVE You can find a link to The Wellbeing Hub here. Reporting Bullying and Safeguarding concernsWe have brought our methods for reporting bullying in line with the South West Grid for Learning. This means there is now a link to something called Whisper on our website here. Please use this to raise any concerns you have about the safety or wellbeing of a child. There is a function to do so anonymously. HappyMaps website - Providing resources for parents and carers around children's mental healthHappyMaps is a website providing a one stop shop of resources around children's mental health from babies to young adults and includes websites, videos, books, Apps and links to ways to find counselling and other support. The website was funded by NHS England with input from specialist services (CAMHS) and local charities and is supported by Bristol Mind. Please click here to view the website.
Please click here to view this month’s online safety newsletter. Annual online Safety Booklet including an overview of key parental controlsThis guide will help you set up parental controls to provide your child with a safer online environment. Please click here to view the guide. |
Subject Area News |
Visual Arts - Sandwich Art!Year 10 have been doing some really creative artwork for their remote learning and thought you might appreciate seeing their efforts to end this remote period on a positive! Click to view Sandwich Art by Year 10. Artists of the WeekClick here to view art created by our Artists of the Week from all year groups. |
Post-16 |
Spring assessmentsA huge well done to our Y13 and Foundation students for completing their Spring assessments this week. We know any kind of assessment is stressful, once again we have been extremely impressed with your resilience and maturity. Return to schoolWe are so excited to welcome our P16 students back to school. Aimi Potter has sent a more detailed video update to students this week. COVID safety measures remain largely unchanged, with the main difference being wearing face coverings in lessons. Lessons will resume as normal on Tuesday 9 March. Due to an extended tutor time for years 7-11, P16 lessons taught at Cotham will start at 9am for the first week back; lessons taught at RGS will run as normal. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact a member of the P16 team. Year 13 A Level Film StudiesOur students have had some success again at the Moving Image Awards held by the British Film Institute in London. After they won Best Film Extract in 2019 with Seb Wright's film Silva, this year they have received a special commendation "to acknowledge the high standard of work entered to our Moving Image Awards competition this year” for two pieces of work: Meg Bowron's "Burning Up" and Tom Bradshaw's "Two Heads are Better than One." |
Student Careers |
For careers and opportunities please visit our website and for the latest updates and information please click here. There is no shortage of excellent opportunities for post 16 leavers. Another bumper crop of activities and opportunities await you in this week's Careers Bulletin. Post-16 Virtual Work Experience (VWEX) opportunities can be viewed here. If you have any questions regarding student careers please email |
Useful Links and Information |
Previous weekly mailingsPlease visit our website to find information previously circulated within our latest weekly mailings. Early school closures INSET days Assessment calendars 2020/21Please find Assessment Calendars for Y7-11 below. These outline school assessments for each year group. Please note that the dates provided are for guidance only and may vary slightly based on each individual class’s needs. GCSEpodClick here to access GCSEpod which contains lots of revision resources for most GCSEs. Students self register through the website using their name and school details. Diagnostic questionsClick here to access. This site contains self marking quizzes with lots of templates including some from a range of exam boards. It’s easy to make your own questions in Microsoft PowerPoint too. Students sign up with their school Google account using the G+ button to automatically create a school account. EdmodoEdmodo is an application that can be used on both mobile devices and in the web environment to create an online community of practice. Edmodo is a free social learning platform that allows students to access the course content uploaded by their teachers. SenecaAll students and teachers now have free access to Seneca - a revision and homework platform making studying more fun. Seneca is an interactive way to learn official course content. Their web app covers 150+ exam board specific courses condensing what students need to know for their exams. The software is able to identify gaps in learning. For instance, when you get a question wrong, the platform will repeat the topic in different formats and their smart algorithm has proven to make students remember topics 2x faster. Seneca is totally free for students, teachers and parents. You can sign up via senecalearning.com Library accessThe library system is available to access from home at https://uk.accessit.online/cth05/ . Please log in to the site to gain the full advantage of the online library resources, such as OneSearch. Please email us on library@cotham.bristol.sch.uk for your username and password. Free school mealsTo apply or check if your child is eligible for Free School Meals please click on this link. If you have any questions or need assistance please do not hesitate to contact Mrs Hopkins at Student Reception. Contact detailsPlease note the following contact numbers and email addresses if you need to contact the school:
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