Dear Parents and Guardians

I hope you are having a good week. 

As we prepare for well-being week next week I thought it was timely to share some reminders about the support we offer and our responsibility around safeguarding. Secondary learners are in small tutor groups which meet at the start of each day. The tutor or homeroom teacher gets to know their tutees well and has a holistic understanding of how they are doing.  They don't necessarily teach the children in the tutor group as secondary learners move between specialist teachers throughout the day. The tutor should be the first port of call for any pastoral issues. Tutors are supported by Year Leaders . Year Leaders run the Personal  Social Health Education programme with their tutors to help learners with their social and emotional development. Year Leaders also use a restorative approach to deal with learner issues and offer support when learners make mistakes. In addition to this pastoral system we have on site counsellors who can help learners navigate the challenges of adolescence.  Please do read on to see Zanthe and Dan's Wellness Tips in each newsletter. 

Safeguarding is our responsibility to our community to keep people safe from harm or damage using appropriate measures. Every school designates specific adults to be the safeguarding leads and these are the people who deal with issues when somebody is at risk of harm or damage either from themselves or others. They then follow guidelines to help those involved.  We want all learners to feel safe and it is important to us that they share anything that makes them feel uncomfortable or unsafe. You cannot learn effectively if you feel uncomfortable or unsafe. We introduced Speak Up as a way for learners to share concerns about their own or somebody else's safety or well-being. It is there to support them to share any concerns they have in a private and confidential way and only goes to the safeguarding leads.  At Nexus we use the Ministry of Social and Family Development Sector Specific Screening Guide to  guide us through any safeguarding issues. As parents and guardians you can help by discussing things that can go wrong to help your child have the vocabulary to express things if they need to.  Take time to discuss the strategies you use as adults to increase your resilience and deal with difficult situations. 

We know all to well that academic success and emotional well-being are intrinsically linked.  Learning can only take place when there is psychological safety. As parents and guardians you can really help by providing some structure and routine at home; a quiet space where a learner can study without distraction, discussing learning not just  grades, helping use calendars and prioritising competing deadlines.  The Canvas App  is a great way of helping your child organise their learning by looking at the assignments set and the deadlines approaching. Logging into the Canvas website will give you better oversight of their progress with completed assignments and feedback being visible.  We would love to know more about how you and your children are using Canvas and ask that you complete this short survey for us. Your Canvas login credentials should have been sent to you by email. If you cannot find these, please contact our IT department.

Please remember you can see grade summaries via the Engage Parent Portal and the Y11 and Y13 trial exams results should now be visible there . If you have trouble logging in, please contact Learner Services. 

Our well-being week will further support learners to look at self-care; strategies to build resilience and ways to look at their own well-being and the well-being of others and we look forward to continually strengthening our partnerships with you going forward. Please look at the activities the NCG are offering as there really is something for everyone!

Wishing you all a lovely weekend

Best wishes

Dr Heather

Head of Secondary