This weeks song has been chosen and on Thursday night at 8.00 pm we would like to you to play You'll Never Walk Alone to show your appreciation for all NHS and Key workers. This is a little easier that last week so please print off the music you need and have a go. A link to a backing track has also been provided but this is optional.

On Thursday night at 8.00 pm across the country musicians will be playing Somewhere Over the Rainbow from their doorstep to show appreciation for all NHS and key workers. Please join us and print off the music you need and start practicing.

Please find below a document released regarding pupils sitting Examination with AQA and Pearson. CCEA have not yet released any further information.

Please find below the Principals letter concerning Examination updates concerning all pupils and parents/carers of year 11-14 pupils.

The Education Authority has produced a great resource which has been put together for all post primary pupils. Please take time to read through this document with your child.

In these difficult times we want to continue to provide support to our pupils and our pastoral structures remain in place. Below you will find useful information on support that is available.

Mrs Bell’s Pastoral Letter

ICSS Counselling Letter

CYPSP Support Pack

Living Life to the Full

INEQE :

• Animation story book explaining the coronavirus
• Coronavirus explained using images makaton

Following our period of closure, we are now in a position to reopen to accommodate the children of key workers.

Ballyclare Secondary School will open on Monday 30th March 2020 at 9.00 am

We would like to remind parents/carers that sending their child/children to school during this time should be as a last resort.

I would ask parents/carers to note the following:

• Children who attend will do so from 9.00 am to 3.00 pm.
• All children will follow the hygiene routines as stated by PHA and will be provided with hand sanitiser and materials to keep their computer clean.
• Pupils will be seated at the same computer every day and social distancing rules will be followed.
• Children will attend in full school uniform.
• Pupils will be located in the ICT Department and this will enable them to complete remote learning activities.
• The school is offering to “supervise” children in line with Department of Education Guidance. As such, pupils are not being taught and they are required to ensure they have the necessary materials with them for study. 
• Pupils will follow the proposed schedule detailed below.
• At the end of the day, all children will be brought to the front entrance hall and will be collected by parents/carers. 

Mrs K Bell
Principal

UCAS are extending May’s UCAS Undergraduate decision and reply deadlines following an announcement by the UK Government, asking universities and colleges in England to hold back from making unconditional offers or amending existing offers.

We can now confirm the new dates:

These dates have been updated in Track, and UCAS has emailed applicants to let them know if their deadlines have changed.

UCAS hope this gives students and their chosen universities and colleges the extra time they need to fully consider any decisions and offers, and ensures fairness in admissions is maintained.

Since the UK Government’s announcement, the Office for Students (OfS) have shared further guidance and FAQs with universities and colleges in England to explain exactly what is covered in the two-week pause. In addition, the Higher Education Funding Council for Wales (HEFCW) has written to vice-chancellors at Welsh universities and colleges, requesting that they also undertake a two-week pause on unconditional offers.

For all the latest COVID-19 updates, visit ucas.com.

Following the announcement regarding school closures from 20^th March 2020, our team have been working on an range of activities to continue to support you and your students.

Many of you will regularly invite us into school or college to attend Careers Fairs and deliver talks and workshops on various topics related to HE decision making and skills development. The attached overview document highlights the talks and sessions that are still available for you;

• We can virtually deliver to small groups of students still in school (sessions can be tailored to mixed year groups)
• Students can book themselves on and join sessions individually
• A library of pre-prepared resources will be made available for students to access
• We are finalising worksheets to support students working at home
• Live Chat sessions are available for students who want to find out about courses and University life.

We want to respond to what you need from us; please get in touch if you have any feedback on the topics you would like to hear about, delivery methods, and with any other ideas.

In relation to our face to face activity, we’re continuing to plan for our summer events including the Lancashire HE Exhibition, Summer Residentials, Open Days and Subject Taster Days and we will keep in touch as soon as decisions are made about whether they will take place as planned, will be postponed or will be delivered via an alternative platform.

As you would expect, it is unlikely that the Health and Social Care Taster Day (28/04), the Law Taster Day (29/04) and the Teachers and Careers Advisors Conference (01/05) will take place on campus and we will provide further detail about these events after Easter to advise how we are moving forward.

You may also hear from our Faculty of Education who have also developed a dedicated hub of resources to support engagement and learning over the coming months. The resources have been pooled from various sources and cover a wide range of different subject areas. Please do feel free to share the details with your students.

To find out more about anything in the attached overview, please reply to this email. We will continue to review how we can support you, and whilst we are very conscious of the pressures you are facing, we will keep in touch as we update our offer. We will also provide information in relation to how we are communicating with 2020 applicants about their transition and entry to University, and any other key Edge Hill messages.