News

Due to reduced staffing levels the school will be closed to year 7 students for the remainder of this week.  

This will allow the school to remain open as usual for years 8 to 13 with appropriate staffing levels.  We will review this on a daily basis and inform parents of any updates.

Year 7 has the highest number of students who are already self isolating for 14 days.  Therefore this will have the least impact.

As you will be aware, the government yesterday released updated advice on the measures in place to limit the rate of coronavirus infections.

Currently at Burnside we have no confirmed cases of coronavirus amongst staff or students.  At the time of writing there are 3 confirmed cases in North Tyneside.

We do however have a number of students and staff who are following the government’s guidance on self isolation because they are reporting either a:

• new continuous cough and/or
• high temperature

This is now having an impact on our ability to open as normal for all students.  

Staff and students who have taken the decision to self isolate must now do so for 14 days.

Government advice is also that if staff, young people or children become unwell on site with a new, continuous cough or a high temperature they should be sent home.

We are currently following all of the government’s advice to educational settings and making every effort to remain open whilst still ensuring that staff and students remain safe.

Students who are self isolating will be able to access work here. On this page students from all year groups can find specific work for all subjects that they can complete at home. 

This is a challenging situation for everyone and is changing by the day.  The school is in regular contact with the local authority and public health and will do everything necessary to continue to ensure the safety and wellbeing of the school community.

Please find below resources from each department to support students in working from home during the school’s period of closure. In addition, teachers are in regular contact with their classes via both email and their Google classrooms. If you have any questions that are not covered by the FAQs below, please contact the school via homelearning@burnsidecollege.org.uk

Other FAQs

As a parent I can’t always access the Burnside lesson slides, why is this? Most lessons on Google slides are set so that anyone within Burnside has instant access but email addresses from outside the organisation require permission. Staff will be more than happy to share the slides with parents too but the quickest way to access them is if the student logs on themselves as then they will have instant, automatic access to the work.

Should my child be trying to follow their normal timetable? For some students, they may feel that following their normal routine is comforting in these unprecedented times. For these students, trying to stick to the school day and working on the subjects as they would have had them in school will be a positive thing. However, although the amount of work students are being set will reflect the number of lessons on their timetable (for example, if they are only taught a subject once a week they will only be set an hour’s worth of work for it) there is no expectation that they stick to their normal timetable if this is not possible. We know that many older students are now being called upon to look after younger siblings and therefore cannot stick to a regular routine. Either way, students may find it useful to download and use this weekly planner to organise their time.

Should I be helping my child with the work? Although we would always welcome any parents working with their child, there is absolutely no expectation that you do. All work has been set in such a way that students can do it independently. We are aware that many parents are key workers and are at work during the day, others are being asked to work from home and many others have younger children to care for during the day.

My child isn’t sure if they are in a Google classroom or not; how do they find out? Students automatically received email invitations to their Google classrooms in September and many teachers have re-invited them in the last few weeks. However, the best person for them to contact if they think they need to be invited again is their classroom teacher.

I have a child in Year 10; what exam boards do you use so I can support them with additional work? Please find here all exam boards in use for the current Year 10s.

Will you be setting work over the Easter holidays? No, staff will not be setting additional holiday work. However, students should use this time to catch up on any work missed before then. However, if students want to challenge themselves, many subjects have extension work suggestions in the section above.

Following the government’s most recent guidance to stop “all non-essential contact” the school have taken the decision to postpone the year 10 (17.3.2020) and year 7 (24.3.2020) parents evenings. There are currently no confirmed cases of coronavirus amongst staff or students at Burnside.

Please check the latest government guidance for further information.

If any students are worried about meeting the options deadline, be it due to self-isolation or not having a computer at home, they can email their choices to Ms McGovern and she will enter them into the system for them. Please also note that we are not using the parental approval button this year.

We are delighted to share our Weekly Bulletin for Friday 13th March 2020.

Click here for government guidance on the Coronavirus outbreak.

In light of yesterday’s announcement by the Prime Minister, I would like to take this opportunity to confirm that currently the school will be open as normal next week. Government advisors stated yesterday that the evidence for closing schools is “quite weak”.

However, it is possible that the government’s new advice on self containment may impact on the normal running of the school, particularly if a high number of staff are unable to attend work.

Please rest assured that the school is receiving daily updates on the situation from public health professionals. We will continue to communicate with parents and provide updates if the situation changes.

This is a worldwide pandemic and the worries, fears and challenges we are experiencing are also being faced by communities just like ours in countries around the globe.
We have ensured that all students in the school have received a science lesson around coronavirus this week so that they are educated on the facts.

The Prime Minister once again repeated yesterday the importance of hand washing. Please take the opportunity to speak with your children at home about the importance of good hygiene to reduce the risk of spreading infection.

Bookings are now available for our upcoming year 10 Parents’ Evening which will take place on Tuesday 17th March 2020, from 4.00pm until 7.00pm. The booking system will close at 1.30pm on Tuesday 17th March 2020.

A guide is available to help you to make bookings here or at the bottom of this page, and a direct link to the Parents’ Evening System is here.

If your child has more than one teacher for a subject you only need to book an appointment with one teacher.

If you are unable to log in, please ensure that you are using the email address that we have on record for you. If you have any questions or difficulty making a booking please contact ict-support@burnsidecollege.org.uk for assistance.

We look forward to seeing you.

We are delighted to share our Weekly Bulletin for Friday 6th March 2020.

Burnside College Uniform Consultation

Burnside College Just Giving Page for Sport Relief

Bookings are now available for our upcoming Year 8 & 9 IAG (Information & Guidance) Evening which will take place on Tuesday 10th March 2020, from 4.00pm until 7.00pm. The booking system will close at 1.30pm on Tuesday 10th March 2020.

The Year 8 and 9 IAG Evening on 10th March will have two parts. The first will be an appointment with your child’s form tutor to discuss their attendance, punctuality, behaviour and progress. These are bookable through the parents evening booking system. The second will be a presentation from senior staff about the options process. They will take place every half hour and you may attend either before or after your form tutor appointment. This presentation is an essential part of the evening but you do not need to book onto a specific presentation.

To book an appointment or to let us know if you are unable to attend, please click here.

A guide is available to help you to make bookings here or at the bottom of this page.

If you are unable to log in, please ensure that you are using the email address that we have on record for you. If you have any questions or difficulty making a booking please contact ict-support@burnsidecollege.org.uk for assistance.

We look forward to seeing you.