28 April 2021

Awarding of Grades

I am pleased to say that students have made a really good start with their mini assessments and teachers have commented on how impressed they have been with their positive attitude to their studies. I would also like to take this opportunity to remind you that any concerns about the determining of grades should be communicated to either subject teachers or Year Managers in the first instance or there is a dedicated email address which can be used: exams@collingwood.surrey.sch.uk.

Dates for your Diary

I am sure you are aware of what is being asked of staff this year in connection with the procedures for awarding grades to students and the very significant additional workload involved.  We are exploring ways in which we can try to provide some additional time for staff to assist in the mammoth job of collating, preparing, moderating and recording grades.

With this in mind, one action I am going to take is that we will be utilising the two half-day closures that we cancelled earlier in the year and that these early closures will now take place on Thursday 13 May and Tuesday 25 May (on both days College will finish at 12.30pm).  We have moved departmental meetings on to these nights to give colleagues two sustained periods of time to help with the myriad of complex tasks associated with the grading procedures.  Staff are currently investing huge amounts of their time in connection with this process and this action is just a small gesture to try to alleviate some of the pressure involved.  Students will be set work to be completed at home at these times.

Regular Asymptomatic Coronavirus Testing Remains Vital

In this week’s meeting with Surrey Heath Heads it was reassuring to hear that currently there are no confirmed cases of Coronavirus in any of the Surrey Heath schools and hence no bubbles of children having to self-isolate at home.  This indicates that the measures we put in place and maintained are working.  In respect of this, can I remind you of the need for students to continue to test twice weekly in order to identify asymptomatic cases of Coronavirus and prevent the spread of the virus.  Many thanks for your continued support on this matter.

Mr Tanner - Principal