THE White Horse Federation has pledged that all its schools – including the eight schools it manages in Melksham – will offer “high quality” and “high motivational” education during lockdown and beyond.
The multi-academy trust’s pledge also promises to approach all areas of school life from a “Covid-safety” point of view; and to look after the wellbeing of students and staff.
The pledge was outlined by the CEO of the White Horse Federation, Dr Nicholas Capstick, during an online broadcast about ‘lockdown learning’ during the first week of Covid restrictions, when children switched to online learning at home.
During the broadcast, the CEO acknowledged that the home-schooling output was “not perfect yet”, but explained that the multi-academy trust was working “tirelessly” to evaluate and improve the service.
Dr Capstick also said that the trust was “committed” to looking at the individual needs of each student to ensure that they were being met.
“The bottomline is that we want teachers broadcasting on a daily basis for as long as required so we don’t have gaps in children’s learning,” said Dr Capstick.
The White Horse Federation’s secondary director, Christopher Belli, added that the trust’s secondary schools, which includes Melksham Oak Community School, are offering as close to their normal timetable as they can on a daily basis.
Whilst the majority of children are accessing lessons from home, schools remain open for vulnerable children and the children of key workers – with the trust prioritising the limited number of spaces they have to those children recognised as “vulnerable”.
Dr Capstick explained that whilst these children at school were being supervised by support and pastoral staff, they are receiving the exact same service as those children learning from home.
“Teachers are live streaming from their homes to students at home and in school,” he explained.
According to the trust, the schools’ online learning output has been praised by parents and carers, with some describing the output as an improvement and “more structured” compared to the output in the first lockdown last year.
White Horse Federation manages Melksham Oak Community School, Seend Primary School, Bowerhill Primary School, St Mary’s in Broughton Gifford, Shaw Primary School, St. George’s Primary School, The Manor Primary School, Forest and Sandridge Primary School.
