Dear Parents and Students,   Update as of 0732 on Thursday 14 May 2020 I hope you and your loved ones are well and enjoyed a great Liberation weekend.   What do we know?

• Our teachers have completed all their work to collate evidence to award Centre Assessed Grades.  Obviously we have never had to undertake such a task before and I thank them for all their efforts.  The data is now being analysed to see if there are any anomalies before it goes to the sign off team.  At this stage, I and a number of senior staff will go through each student, subject by subject.  Ofqual have yet to confirm the process of signing off the Centre Assessed Grades.  However, when that confirmation comes I am confident we are in a very good position to provide the information required for our students.
• Ofqual are shortly to announce a consultation regarding the Autumn Exam series.  Thus, I am not yet able to provide any clarity as to when these exams will occur and in what subjects.
• Equally, Ofqual have not made any statement as yet for the Summer 2021 exam season. I know our Y10 and Y12, and their teachers, are naturally anxious to receive clarification.  As always, as soon as I know I will tell you.
• We are delighted by how our Years 7 and 8 are working.  In talking to my Year 7 class each week, I am amazed by their positivity, energy and resilience. I know Mr Palfreyman and Mrs Hughes are very proud, as we all are.  Yesterday’s JCGtv has some lovely work from the Year 8 Puppetry project in Drama.  I also know that parents have responded so positively to be given the ‘power’ to recommend achievement marks for their daughter.  If you think your daughter deserves one, please do send your commendation to Mr Palfreyman.  The commendations we have already received make great and often poignant reading.  Please do resist any pressure from your daughter or indeed any bribe she may offer to award achievement marks.  Although they could be helpful to you as a reward in encouraging certain actions or behaviours should you need it.
• It’s really helpful for us and our students if parents know what’s being put on Show My Homework.  It gives you the information on what work your daughter is being given, how she is doing it and what problems she may be encountering, which you can feed back to her tutor.  We do appreciate that not every day is always a great day.  And that’s the same for all of us.
• Thank you to all those who completed our Annual Survey, the results of which will be out after half term.
• Fee Deferment: please do contact me directly if you wish to defer the payment of fees for the next three months.
• Financial Assistance:  if you have suffered a significant and dramatic reduction in your income due to the lockdown, please do contact me in the strictest confidence and we will send you the application form for Financial Assistance.
• Good luck to our Year 12 for their end of year exams next week.  The students and teachers are testing the process this week so I hope all goes smoothly. I know each and every student will endeavour to do her very best in this most challenging of circumstances.
• Challenge Week Refunds:  We are working our way through refunds. These will be paid electronically (to those who use Paypal) for all trips over the next few days with the exception of the Dorset Trip and Animal Lovers*. Please be aware that not all refunds are processed simultaneously so not all parents will receive funds at the same time. Not all refunds will be £160 as some partial refunds, depending on the activity chosen, have already been given. *We are working on claims for the Dorset Trip and Animal Lovers in order to process maximum refunds in due course. We apologise for the delay.

• Planning for a Phased Return:  The Minister for Education has stated schools will be closed until the end of May.  This is not the same as they will then be open on 1 June.  Indeed no date has been set.  The Minister will obviously be guided by the advice she receives.  However, should schools begin to reopen, it is very clear we will do this in a step by step way. The College will not be as it was for some time.  My overriding principle is to do everything we can to ensure the safety of our students and staff.  The need for social distancing also plays a huge factor in our planning.  For example, a class of 24 students now becomes 3 classes of 8 students due to the size of the classrooms.  I’m sure you can begin to see the complexities of this.  We have an ‘Unlock lockdown’ team in place who are going through the intricacies of what a phased opening may look like, and I will share more of our planning in the coming days and weeks.

  And finally, thank you to everyone who has supported our sixth form runners who, with their VCJ counterparts, have raised £4,072 so far and are so close to their total of £5000.  What’s even better is that Saltgate Giving has generously agreed to match it.  I know our girls have loved running for two great causes, Brightly and Caring Cooks.   And finally, finally, Saltgate have also very kindly invited all students, staff and parents to The Saltgate Speaker Series, which kicked off last week with esteemed economist Vicky Pryce.  The next instalment is this evening with leading epidemiologist Dr Hannah Fry, who will explain the numbers behind the pandemic and hopefully share with us her insights on when restrictions can safely be lifted and the obstacles that may present themselves along the way.  Hannah is extremely well regarded in her field and has been a regular feature in our homes in recent weeks as she has been providing her expert opinion on various news programmes.   By way of background, Dr Hannah Fry is an Associate Professor in the Mathematics of Cities at the Centre for Advanced Spatial Analysis at UCL, where she studies patterns in human behaviour. Her research applies to a wide range of social problems and questions, and at this virtual event, she takes on Covid-19 and shares with us insights from a piece of work conducted by her and her team two years ago, where they carried out a modelling exercise of the impact of a theoretical pandemic in the UK.  For more information on the series – please click on the following link: https://saltgate.pagetiger.com/speaker-series   To register for today’s speaker please Click here. I should add, Dr Fry is a superb role model for our students, someone who has forged a brilliant career in STEM.  In amongst the excellent speaker series, there is a speaker on 28^th May who may well resonate with many of us as parents; Elaine Halligan’s talk is entitled ‘Family in lockdown - How to thrive’.   Take care (and please keep adding photos of what brings you joy to our Instagram account JCGJersey).   Yours, Carl Howarth Principal