Dear Parent/ Guardian,
Re: School day early finish on Tuesday 11th May 2021
I hope you and your families are well. On the date above there will be an early finish time for all students other than those in Year 7 whose parents request a supervised study place for the afternoon. Students entitled to a free school meal will be able to collect a packed lunch. Students will be set additional homework to complete on the early school closure day. A full school bus service will run with buses departing at the earlier finish time of 11.30am.
The early school closure will be in place to complete essential work for the summer qualifications process. As you may be aware this summer the process for the awarding of qualifications, including all GCSEs, A Levels and BTECs has been altered by the Department for Education. Rather than externally set examinations and non-examined assessments (‘coursework’) schools are required to complete a detailed and complex process as specified by examination boards. This complex process must be completed within a specific window to enable students completing their qualifications this summer to be issued with grades. We have made the decision across our Catholic multi-academy trust to allocate one early finish day per school to ensure that collaboration and moderation of approaches can take place at school level.
I would like to thank all parents and students for their understanding and supporting schools as they work to complete this unprecedented process.
Best wishes
Neil Lockyer
Chief Executive Officer, St Thomas Aquinas Catholic Multi-Academy Trust