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Coronavirus Update 20/03/2020

Please see the latest communication below...

Dear parents and carers,

Where do I start? It has been a surreal week. It has been an extremely challenging time for us, like it has been in all parts of society. For young people though, I think it must be very hard to fully comprehend what is happening in the world and how to make sense of it all. With schools closing so abruptly it feels like the rug has been pulled from under their feet. Young people in years 6, 11 and 13 will have been feeling a whole range of emotions today as they completed their final day in their schools and colleges. It is hard for all young people, but especially those at these key transition points. 

Today we held as much of a traditional 'leavers day' as we could do for Year 11. They have been an absolute joy to be around today. Students and staff have laughed, cried, reminisced and said many 'thank-yous'. It was wonderful listening to students and staff speak so fondly about the impact they have had on one another during their time together at UCC. Our Year 11 students are a deeply impressive group of young people who I know will go onto achieve amazing things in their lives. I am immensely proud of them.

We have finally been provided with some guidance on how qualifications will be awarded this summer. The details can be found at this link. I feel that a sensible and pragmatic approach is being taken by using a range of factors to allocate grades; hopefully the most significant of which will be teacher assessments. I expect further information to be released on exactly how this will work in the forthcoming weeks.

It feels strange that we said goodbye to students today and we do not know when we will see them next. Our teachers will start setting work on Monday for the lessons they were due to teach. We will do our best to set accessible but challenging work in line with our curriculum plans. Students can communicate with their teachers through Show My Homework and our staff will endeavour to respond and provide feedback when they are able to. 

I cannot thank the UCC community enough for the incredible messages of support and thanks we have received. We are so grateful and it has helped us tremendously throughout this week. We will send out communications on a regular basis during this period of closure via the school newsletter. 

All that is left for me to say is that I hope you and all your families stay safe and well during this challenging time. Stay positive, act kindly and look out for each other. 

Yours faithfully

Mr Solly