Category: News

Dear parent/carer,

I am writing to inform you that we have been advised that a Year 8 student has tested positive for COVID-19.

We have been in communication with our Local Health Protection Team and the Local Authority and are following their guidance. Students in Year 8 must now self-isolate until they return to school on Wednesday 7th October which will be 14 days from any potential contact in school. We have been asked to stress that students must remain at home and not leave the house. They must not socialise with others. The rest of the family do not need to self-isolate at the moment, unless one of the family becomes symptomatic. A COVID-19 test is only required if a person becomes symptomatic. Any positive tests must be reported to school to help us control the spread of the infection.

Due to issues of confidentiality the name of the student cannot be shared.

Brothers and sisters in Years 7, 9, 10 and 11 are allowed to attend school as normal, so long as they do not display symptoms of COVID-19. The school will remain open as normal for all year groups other than Year 8.

We are in regular contact with the Local Health Protection Team and Local Authority; should we receive further advice we will contact you immediately.

This is such a disappointing start to the new academic year, but possibly one which was inevitable given the rising cases locally. Students who are self-isolating will now access work that is available on Frog and must regularly check their school emails regarding lesson arrangements.

Further information will follow regarding live Teams lessons.

Please see attached the Remote Learning strategy, which is also available on our website.

If you have any concerns regarding the above, please get in touch with your child’s Director of Studies:

mairsile.griffin@priestnall.stockport.sch.uk – Bridgewater College
bernard.delaney@priestnall.stockport.sch.uk – Imperial College
jason.kneen@priestnall.stockport.sch.uk – Rylands College
adam.morrison@priestnall.stockport.sch.uk – Urbis College
arron.mccourt@priestnall.stockport.sch.uk – Victoria College

If you have any queries about Remote Learning please contact Mr Clarey:
tim.clarey@priestnall.stockport.sch.uk

We wish all our students and their families well during these challenging times.

Yours faithfully,
Craig Burns
Headteacher

Dear Parent/Carer,
September 2020

Year 7 Photographs

I am writing to inform you that the School Photographers, Gillman and Soame will be in school on Monday 21^st September 2020 for the Year 7 individual photographs.

Please could you ensure that your child arrives to school in full and correct uniform on Friday as follows:

• ties worn correctly
• shirt tucked in
• top button fastened
• blazers on
• no makeup or jewellery

The photographic session will take place between 9.30am and 12.30pm.  The photographs will be available for purchase a few weeks later.

Should you have any queries about school photographs or any other matter, please do not hesitate to contact me on 0161 432 7727.

Thank you for your continued support.

Yours faithfully

Mrs H. Drury

Primary Curriculum Co-ordinator

 

Click the link below for The Covid 19 Advice for parents.

Covid 19 Advice for Parents in GM

This year, Priestnall School will be offering its first Virtual Open Evening. This is currently in production and will be shared with prospective parents/carers and their children within the next few weeks.

Following the virtual evening, you will have an opportunity to ask specific questions or have a discussion with a member of the Transition Team. Unfortunately we have been informed by Stockport Local Authority (LA) we are unable to offer personalised tours as we had planned to do. Please see statement from the LA: We are all aware that this is the time of year when parents/carers are looking at schools to decide upon their options for the on-going education of their children. In light of Covid, the ability for schools to welcome non-pupils has been significantly impacted. The priority has to be safety for all. This means that parental visits to secondary schools will not be undertaken this year as in previous years.

We are looking forward to sharing all the great things that are going on here at Priestnall and hope to see you in person very soon

Kind regards,

Craig Burns
Headteacher

All year 11s are to arrive at school in full Priestnall PE kit on Thursday 3rd September.

Classes 10y and 8y are also required to arrive at school in Full Priestnall PE Kit on Friday 4th September.

Government and LA guidance advice is to wear PE Kit on PE days and not to use the changing rooms.

Compulsory jumper and optional joggers/leggings for warmth.

Wet weather indoor plan for days when it rains, due to students remaining in kit all day.

Business Studies GCSE Results

On checking results received from Edexcel for this subject it has come to our attention that the exam board has incorrectly allocated grades to some students.  We have submitted an official appeal and hope to receive amended grades in the near future.  Students that have been affected by this are students with candidates’ numbers 5116 –to- 5213.  We will re-issue Statement of Results via Frog.

Dear Parent/Carer,

I hope this email finds you all well. I am writing to let you know about the Priestnall Easter Development Challenge.  It is being offered to all students as an opportunity, so it is voluntary. That said, we believe it contains an array of activities that could really benefit your child over the next two weeks. The challenges are not necessarily academic, rather they are about developing your child in other ways to prepare them for the wider world. Not least, they are geared towards developing empathy and team work skills, and promoting community spirit at this difficult time.

Students can complete as many challenges as they like, maybe just choosing the ones that they fancy. We are confident that they will find something in there they’ll like. They should simply follow the instructions in the booklet and remind them to Tweet us with their challenge completion photos @priestnallsch.  We can’t wait to see them.

Should you have any questions regarding the Easter project, don’t hesitate to contact me.

Wishing you and your families a wonderful Easter break.

Miss J Halfacre,

Assistant Head Teacher/ Curriculum Leader: History.

March 19^th 2020

Dear Parents, carers and students,

You will no doubt be aware of the news announced last night regarding school closures from Friday and the decision to cancel GCSE examinations.  I know this will be causing great anxiety for all our families and we will provide more detailed information to you as soon as we receive this.

School will be open tomorrow (Friday 20^th March 2020) for Year 10 only as we make plans for the foreseeable future.  We have a significant number of staff absent from school for a number of reasons linked to the Coronavirus and are therefore only in a position to safely open for one year group.  We are prioritising Year 10 as they are half way through the first year of their GCSE courses and have a significant amount of work to collect from school.  We would also like to offer them guidance and support during these very challenging times.  This year group may not return to school until Year 11 and we are concerned that they could potentially miss out on months of their education.   Our Sport Relief non-uniform day planned for Friday 20^th March 2020 has been cancelled.

As you are aware, from Monday 23^rd March 2020, we are able to offer support to families where students are potentially ‘vulnerable’ or where you as parents/carers are regarded as ‘key workers’ i.e. NHS staff, parents who work for the emergency services or are involved in other key aspects of work for example making deliveries of key supplies.  An exact list will be published by the government later today. It would be most helpful if you could email us at supervision@priestnall.stockport.sch.uk if you believe your son/daughter will require supervision from Monday 23.03.2020.  Please include your child’s name, year group and your job role in the email.  We would appreciate a reply no later than 11am on Friday 20^th March 2020.  This will help with our planning as we outline plans for the supervision of students in school and for providing work for students at home.

We have held assemblies with Year 11 this afternoon to thank them for their hard work and dedication to preparing for their GCSE exams that were due to start in a few weeks’ time.  The government has made the decision to cancel these exams.  We reassured students that this isn’t the end and we look forward to welcoming them back to Priestnall School in the very near future to say a ‘proper goodbye’, whether that’s through a Prom or Leavers’ event.   We are really sad to see them leave.  Please do not hesitate to contact us if you need any further support or guidance with your child over the next few months.

I have been overwhelmed by the amount of support and kind words parents have sent into school; it has been very much appreciated.

I wish you and your family best wishes and good health for the future and look forward to seeing you soon.

Kind regards,

Craig Burns

Headteacher

Dear Parent/Carer,

We would like to invite you to our Key Stage 4 Options Evening to be held on: Thursday 12^th March 2020 from 6pm to 8pm.

During this evening you will have an opportunity to hear about the arrangements for the curriculum in Years 10 & 11 and be able to talk to teachers directly about the course requirements for particular subjects.

As you will appreciate from the information that you receive on the evening and via the Options booklet, our Key Stage 4 curriculum is based firmly around a commitment to maintaining a broad, balanced and appropriate learning pathway for all of our students. This includes enabling our learners to secure the “Gold Standard” English Baccalaureate (EBacc) where appropriate.   During Options Evening we ask that Parents/Carers and students assemble at 6pm in the following locations for a Presentation by a member of the School’s Senior Leadership Team:

Bridgewater (9B1/9B2), Imperial (9I1/9I2) in the Main Hall.

[Please enter via the School Reception Entrance]

 Rylands (9R1/9R2), Urbis (9U1/9U2) and Victoria (9V1/9V2) in Café Mersey.

[Please enter via the Recreation Centre Car Park Entrance]

We hope that you will be able to attend this event with your son/daughter and discuss options choices with them, and with us, so that appropriate decisions are made together.

An electronic version of the Options Booklet is available via the school’s website and Learning platform; this provides information about the subjects in Years 10 &11.  A hard copy of this will be issued on the evening with the most recent Interim Report.

It is never too early to start thinking about opportunities post-16 and to help explore these, representatives from local sixth form colleges will be in the school library.

From experience we know parents find the Options Evening extremely useful and we look forward to meeting you. Please contact Mr Stirling, Assistant Headteacher, if you would like further information.

Yours faithfully

Mr C Burns
Headteacher

Dear Parents/Carers of Year 7

Dressing as a Book Character: Thursday 5th March

Thursday 5th March is World Book Day, and in celebration of this event we will be holding a week of events at school to encourage our students to keep reading for pleasure.
We would like to invite all Year 7 students to attend school on that Thursday dressed in the costume of a character from their favourite novel. All students in costume will receive a certificate and there will be a prize of a book token to the winning costume. We are also asking for a £1 donation for our Well Being Centre.

We would like to remind parents, carers and students of Priestnall’s dress code and request that all costumes are appropriate and must relate to a novel, rather than a television, film or game character. The character can be from a current book, or from the student’s favourite book as a younger child.

We hope the Year 7 students will enjoy the day celebrating their favourite books, and we thank you in advance for your support.

For more information about the activities we have planned please click here.

Yours faithfully
Mrs R Mekonnen
Literacy Co-ordinator

World Book Day Letter 16th Feb 2020