Dear Parents and Students, Update as of 1358 on Friday 12 June 2020 I hope you and your loved ones are well. So how should we as a College respond to the death of George Floyd? We know that members of our College community, including students and former students, have been deeply affected by the tragic death of George Floyd and the concern and depth of feeling that is unfolding across the world. I'm so proud of those who have contacted me with their thoughts and ideas. I'm equally inspired by one of our own teachers, Mrs Atkinson, who spoke so powerfully at the recent Black Lives Matter demonstration in Jersey. Mrs Atkinson has kindly agreed to share a video of her speech on JCGtv today. JCG has had since its very beginnings a commitment to equality and social responsibility. This is now expressed in our value of Belong. Indeed one of our founders was William Smith, a Methodist lay preacher, son of a Ghanaian chieftain's daughter and a Yorkshireman who is celebrated for his role in freeing over 33,000 slaves. However, we have an important role as an educator to continue to empower our students to think critically, confront prejudice, understand bias whether conscious or unconscious and in doing so become people who can make our world better. While we work hard to create a welcoming environment where everyone feels they belong, we cannot be complacent. We can always do more and always be better. To this end, we are considering our response to the Black Lives Matter movement, particularly with respect to our curriculum, and to reflect on whether there is more we can do within College to provide opportunities to explore these issues. For example, we are reviewing our curriculum as our students are telling us they simply do not feel sufficiently informed. As one Y10 student told me 'I have realized that me and many others have never learnt about black history and the slave trade. Some of my friends do History GCSE and they have been taught about it, but many others do not choose this as a subject and won’t have the chance to learn about it.' While we do include these topics in our KS3 curriculum, it is clear that there is a desire to know and understand more. Whatever we do, I want it to be sustained not transitory or tokenistic. I also want it to be student-led. With the help of Mrs Atkinson and Sufia in Y12 and Sarah in Y11, we will be holding a zoom conversation next week at 4pm on Friday 19 June so we can share our thoughts and listen to each other’s views and ideas. If your daughter wants to be part of this conversation, please ask her to email Sufia (s.oregan10@jcg.sch.je) and we will send a zoom invite. What do we know?
- It has been so lovely to welcome back staff and Year 10 students to College this week. It's gone very well and while it is different and a bit weird for all of us, the students have responded brilliantly. Equally, I have enjoyed talking with teachers who are genuinely elated after teaching their first face to face lesson in 12 weeks. Keeping the doors open has made the College well ventilated. It has also made its occupants feel very cold now that the weather has changed. So we quickly dispensed with students wearing summer dresses to instead wearing something much warmer. Chef also pulled out all the stops on wet Wednesday and served Sticky Toffee pudding, which seemed to do the trick.
- We were audited this week on our compliance to the Government strategy for safe opening. The judgement was as follows: 'The school has carried out extensive planning and preparation for this safe exit phase and is implementing their Work Safety Plan as detailed. Good communication has been maintained with all parties and regular review of processes is being carried out by the Headteacher with his Senior Leadership Team. The school is very well prepared and operating safely as observed.'
- We are so excited for Monday when we welcome back our Year 12 students.
- Should the Government announce any further lessening of restrictions, we have developed a plan that will enable us to see more of our students. It remains our aspiration, and that of the Education Minister, that we shall endeavour to see all our students at some point before the end of term if at all possible. I will inform you on the plan for your daughter as soon as any announcement is made.
- Next week is Exam Week for Year 7 - 10. I wish every student success. Remember they are designed to be diagnostic to help us plan for your return. As parents, it would be very helpful if you could discuss with your daughter about spreading the exams through the day rather than doing them straight away. Having a fresh brain is as important as knowing the material.
- Exams 2021: Recent communications from OfQual suggest they are planning for GCSE and A level exams to go ahead as normal in 2021. They are not currently looking at reduced course content but are looking at increasing the number and range of questions students can choose to answer. This is obviously a hugely important issue for our Year 10 and Year 12 students and us and we will keep you regularly informed as the picture becomes clearer. What I can say now though is that we will do everything we can to ensure our students are absolutely prepared for whatever assessment provision is put in place.
And finally, you may have seen on Tuesday's JCGtv a video fronted by Jacque Rutter, our new Head of Performance and Creativity, about the 'Forget me Knot' project. If you haven't seen the video I would encourage you to do so. The project, created and led by Mrs Rutter, is designed to help our students to articulate their thoughts and feelings around Covid-19 and the lockdown and in turn contribute to what will be stunning art installations. Equally, the Government is encouraging all schools to involve their students in this project. We are all going through a momentous time in our lives. There has been much sadness and anxiety. Yet, there has been a blossoming of kindness and creativity too. I know I will want to leave behind some things but also want to cherish and remember other things. The 'Forget Me Knot' project seeks to enable our young people to do the same. It has been wonderful seeing Year 10 embrace it this week and we plan for all our students to participate when they are back at College. I don't know about you but as we ease the lockdown I find myself thinking about the good things I have learnt about myself, my loved ones, our island and the world; I want to keep those good things locked down so they don't float away. Take care. Yours, Carl Howarth