Update from the Principal

Dear parent / carer

I hope you and your family are well.

I wanted to provide you with an update on the potential return to face to face teaching at Abbeygate. You may have heard the recent announcement from the Prime Minister where he stated he hoped it will be safe to commence the reopening of schools from Monday 8th March. The certainty that this statement does give us is that we will not be returning to College before this date, so remote learning continues. It was also announced that two weeks' notice will be provided prior to any return, so you can be assured that we will be in touch as soon as we are made aware of any change in circumstance.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank you for your unwavering support. It has been heart-warming to receive your messages of thanks and support; I have passed these on to colleagues and they have been really appreciated.

Colleagues all tell me that our students are doing incredibly well and making real progress in their A level subjects, even in these most challenging circumstances. Our Year 13 students have just completed their second set of mocks, remotely, and are demonstrating all the skills and resilience which I am convinced will stand them in good stead for their future. Our Year 12 students continue to retain their enthusiasm and are making great progress in their transition to A Levels despite missing the end of their Year 11 studies and having spent relatively little time at Abbeygate. All of our students deserve real praise for their mature and committed approach to their studies.

However, the longer this lockdown continues, the more difficult it will become for our students. We want to work with you to make sure we retain the enthusiasm that they have demonstrated so far and we would really appreciate your support. You can help by talking to students about their studies, showing an interest in what they are learning, encouraging them to engage in online lessons through answering and posing questions, and encouraging them to keep their cameras on. The more you can help us encourage our students to engage in the lessons, the better their experience is likely to be. We know it's hard but thank you.

We all need help and support at different times in our lives and please remember that we are here for our students. If you know of anything that is getting in the way of them being successful, please do encourage them to speak to their teachers and / or SAM and I can assure you we will do everything we can to help and support them.

Best wishes,

David Gartland
Principal
Abbeygate Sixth Form College