FAQs – Frequently asked questions

(last updated on 16.06.20)

To support parents, we have collated these FAQs (Frequently Asked Questions).

School closure

Why is school closed?
The government has said that all schools must remain closed to most students until further notice. The school is currently open for the children of key workers and for vulnerable students and offering some ‘face to face contact’ to ‘support remote learning’ for Year 10 and Year 12. Parents of these year groups have been emailed information about this.
How long will the school be closed? When will it re-open?
The government has not made a decision about this yet. We will update parents via MyEd messages and the website homepage when we have more information. The most recent guidance has focused on ‘face to face’ contact with Year 10 and 12 from Monday 15 June. Ms Feltham has written to parents of Year 10 and 12 to update them about this.
If parents would like to read the full government guidance on wider opening, it can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/closure-of-educational-settings-information-for-parents-and-carers/closure-of-educational-settings-information-for-parents-and-carers
I am ringing about school closure. I am a frontline worker (NHS, social care, teacher, police, armed forces etc). I need a place for my child at the CGA Key Worker Provision.
Please email CGA@clapton.hackney.sch.uk with your name, profession and child’s name and we will get back to you regarding a place at the CGA Key Worker Provision. Please provide at least 48 hours’ notice of any requests for places.
Our Key Worker Provision offers two possible timetables for students: 8.30-3pm or 10-2pm. Students cannot arrive/depart at any other times.
My child is unwell at home. Do I need to report this to the school?
No – we recognise that parents are doing their best to support students with home learning. We completely recognise that if students are unwell, they will not be able to complete work at home.
My child was due to go on the cancelled ski trip. Is there any new information?
Yes – parents are being contacted to arrange refunds.

Communication with school

How do I use MyEd? My MyEd account is not working?
Please email cga@clapton.hackney.sch.uk explaining your query or call 020 8985 6641 (10am-2pm)
Why are staff calling me from withheld numbers?
We are having to making very high numbers of calls to make sure that we can support all CGA families. At times, this will mean up to 50 different teaching/support staff across the school are making calls to parents at any one time. These staff have kindly agreed to use their own mobile phones to do this because they are working from home. They have to withhold the number to ensure that they are not sharing their personal mobile numbers with parents.

FSM vouchers and support with food

My daughter gets FSMs. Will I get a voucher from the school?
The Government has set up a new voucher scheme run by a company called Edenred. This new system has been in place since 6 April. Eligible families will receive a £30 digital voucher by email every two weeks for each CGA student in their family. This system applies across year groups Year 7-13.
It is really important that we have the correct address, mobile number and email address for all parents. Please contact the school if any of these change.
I have not received my FSM voucher.
Step 1 - Please check your inbox and your junk/spam boxes for emails from noreply@edenred
Step 2 - We could only use one email address in the system. Do we have an email address for another parent? Please check whether they have the digital voucher in their inbox/junk
Step 3 - For some sixth form students, where there was no response from parents about parental email addresses, we will have sent the voucher to the student email address. Has your daughter received the voucher? Please check with her.
Once you have checked all the above or if you think that perhaps some vouchers are missing (e.g. for families with 2 students you should receive £60 but maybe you only received £30 in error)
Step 4 – Email cga@clapton.hackney.sch.uk or call 020 8985 6641 (10am-2pm) for further assistance
Where can I spend the Edenred FSM vouchers?
- Tesco
- Morrisons
- Sainsburys
- Asda
- Waitrose
- M&S
- Aldi
Do I have to spend the full value of my voucher in one shopping trip?
Yes. The only other option is that when you are emailed your e-code and choose which supermarket you would like to use, there is an option to choose to spread this across the listed supermarkets e.g. £10 Tesco voucher and a £20 Sainsburys voucher.
My Edenred voucher has not arrived. How will the school ensure that I get all the vouchers my child is entitled to?
Students who are eligible for FSM receive a £30 fortnightly e-code from the Edenred system. This is emailed to a parental email address. There are a small number of parents who have opted to receive a paper Tesco voucher instead. E-codes are issued every fortnight.
I don’t want a digital voucher. Can’t the school just send me one like before.
Posting the vouchers was a temporary system that the school put in place until the Government set up the national voucher scheme. This is a digital scheme so all vouchers will be emailed. If you need some help with using the digital voucher, email cga@clapton.hackney.sch.uk or call 020 8985 6641 (10am-2pm) for further assistance.
We are struggling with buying food. We have a food emergency. We can’t wait for the voucher.
Sources of food support:
Hackney Foodbank – There are 5 Foodbank centres in Hackney
Phone: 020 72542464
Email: info@hackney.foodbank.org.uk
Monday: Hoxton Foodbank Centre
St John's Hoxton Crypt, Pitfield Street, N1 6NP
Tuesday: Hackney Central Foodbank Centre
St Luke's at Hackney, Homerton Terrace, E9 6RT
Wednesday: Upper Clapton Foodbank Centre
St Thomas' Clapton Common, Oldhill Street and Clapton Terrace E5 9BW
Thursday: Stoke Newington Foodbank
St Mary's New Rooms accessed via the Quiet Garden, Stoke Newington Church Street, N16 9ES
Saturday: Florence Bennett Centre, Cherbury Street, N1 6TL
Foodbank Referral agencies:
Staff can offer you support in knowing where to access food from and how to collect it.

Citizens Advice Hackney
300 Mare Street, London E8 1HE
Phone: 020 8525 6350

Salvation Army
70 Mare Street, Hackney, E8 4RT
Phone: 0208 9854410
Email: cambridge.heath@salvationarmy.org.uk

Children's Health Care Centres and Health Visitors Hackney - several centres across Hackney
Website: https://www.hackneylocaloffer.co.uk/kb5/hackney/localoffer/service.page?id=6EIHGM08aX0
If you need further support with food, please email cga@clapton.hackney.sch.uk or call 020 8985 6641 (10am-2pm) for further assistance.

Home Learning

What work is school setting for the closure period?
There is a regularly updated message about school closure on the homepage of the website. There is clear information and guides for parents on how to support this on the Home Learning page of the website. https://www.claptongirlsacademy.com/logins-resources
Please also refer to the Home Learning update letters that have been emailed to parents. These are all available here: https://www.claptongirlsacademy.com/letters-to-parents
Are there plans for the school to start using Zoom/Microsoft teams for lessons while the school is closed?
We are not currently offering live/video lessons to all year groups for several reasons.
- We are trialling the use of Microsoft Teams to deliver live lessons to Year 12 from Monday 22 June to Friday 17 July.
- We are also trialling the use of weekly pre-recorded video lessons for some Year 10 subjects from Monday 22 June to Friday 17 July.
We have made the decision to use satchel:one (previously Show My Homework) as the platform for our home learning during the school closure. We have made the decision not to use virtual classrooms with students in Years 7-10 for the following reasons:
- Virtual classrooms pose safeguarding risks.
- Our approach gives flexibility to students to work at their own pace and when they have access to devices or a quiet work place.
- Satchel:one is accessible to almost all our students.
- Not all our staff and students have access to the necessary IT. Some are sharing devices and others do not have devices with cameras and microphones.
- Many staff are caring for small children and other dependants and cannot commit to specific lesson times.
- This approach has allowed us to focus efforts on supporting students and families facing significant challenges/hardship including food shortages, bereavement and safety issues.
We will not be using Zoom as a platform to deliver any form of contact with students due to national and international concerns about safeguarding and security of student and staff data.
How do I use satchel:one? I don't have a satchel:one log in? My child can't log in to satchel:one?
Please email SMHW@clapton.hackney.sch.uk with any queries about log ins.
Show My Homework was renamed satchel:one over the Easter holiday. Nothing has changed about how parents and students should use this platform.
I don't have a computer or internet access at home, and I am worried how my child will do their work.
Please email cga@clapton.hackney.sch.uk or call 020 8985 6641 (10am-2pm). We can provide printed work-packs and loaned academy Chromebooks (academy supply permitting).
What is happening about Year 11 and 13 now that exams are cancelled? I received a letter about the new Year 11 and 13 exam arrangements and have questions about this.
All parents were emailed a letter about this this on Friday 3 April. Please read this letter for more information. https://www.claptongirlsacademy.com/letters-to-parents
We cannot discuss predicted grades with parents. Further information about results day will follow.
Year 11 Results day – 20 August
Year 13 Results day – 13 August
I requested a work-pack, stationery, a Chromebook several days ago and it hasn’t arrived.
We are processing requests as quickly as we can. Please bear in mind that most deliveries are being posted and the post is generally slower currently. Chromebooks are generally only being delivered on Tuesdays or Wednesdays. We are prioritising KS4 and 5 students but do have some for KS3 students. We will use a waiting list system once we have issued all available Chromebooks.
What feedback is being offered to students?
Teachers are providing feedback for all year groups. The nature of the feedback will vary from subject to subject e.g. it may include quizzing, self and peer assessment, individual feedback or holistic feedback to the whole class.
Each week on satchel:one (previously SMHW) students will be set work by each subject. This will outline whether feedback will be given that week and the format of this. Instructions will be provided for students to support them with this.
This is the text from the recent home-learning letter about KS3 feedback:
We understand that students need feedback to understand how well they are doing and to feel motivated. From Monday 1 June, subjects will be providing feedback for KS3 students. The frequency and type of feedback has been decided by individual subjects depending on what is appropriate for their subject and what is manageable in terms of staff workload. Each week, subjects will explain on satchel:one what feedback students will receive.
Feedback after half term will include teacher comments on work submitted via satchel:one; whole class feedback on work submitted via satchel:one addressing common strengths and misconceptions; clear success criteria so students can assess their own work; results from quizzes completed on websites such as satchel:one and Hegarty Maths; comments on project based work to be submitted online or on return to school.
If students have been asked to upload work to satchel:one they can do so by following these instructions which will be provided in student notices after half term. Please be aware that teachers will not be able to reply to individual questions about the work; we will give clear instructions and ask students to read these carefully.
My daughter is following the school timetable but finishes quickly/ does not finish in time.
We know that all our students will work at different paces and that this is particularly true when they are working away from school. It is to be expected that students will not all complete work at the same time.
From Monday 1 June, KS3 home-learning has been divided into three categories to support student prioritise their work.
Text from the recent KS3 letter:
Core learning is the most important work for the week. Students should prioritise this piece of learning for each subject. For some students, this will be all the work they are able to complete and if they complete this they will not fall behind.
Desirable learning is what students will ideally be able to complete in lesson time. However, it is not compulsory, so we ask that students do their best with this work.
Opportunities for further work are suggestions for students who would like to do more.
If you daughter would like more work, we would suggest looking at:
- Student notices for ideas of additional activities
- The Home Learning sections of the website for links to online materials relating to different subjects
- BBC Bitesize and the National Oak Academy which both have plenty of online resources and lessons
If your daughter is struggling because she feels she has too much work:
- Please tell her not to panic. We appreciate that everyone is doing the best they can.
- Tell her to do what she can. If this means that some days she does not get through her full timetable, that is fine.
- On return to school we will support students to catch up with everything they have missed.
I have a query about a specific piece of work my child has been set.
Please email all queries to CGA@clapton.hackney.sch.uk or call 020 8985 6641 (10-2pm)
Guided Preferences (Year 9 only)
What is happening about Guided Preferences?
Ms Cook (Assistant Headteacher) leads on Guided Preferences and will be contacting Year 9 students and their families between now and the end of term.
Parents of students whose subjects have changed since closure were emailed on Wednesday 3 June. All other students will be able to confirm their subjects from Monday 8 June. To do this, either ask in the fortnightly contact call or email cga@clapton.hackney.sch.uk and you will receive an email response.
Which Science pathway will my child be on in Year 10?
The decision about which science pathway students are entered for is made by the Science department. The Science department will be putting students into 8 sets from September which typically divide entries as below. However, final decisions about whether students take 1, 2 or 3 Science GCSEs are not made until Year 11.
- Sets 1 and 2 will sit 3 separate GCSEs (Biology, Chemistry and Physics)
- Sets 3, 4, 5, 6 and 7 will sit 2 combined GCSEs (which combine Biology, Chemistry and Physics)
- Set 8 will sit GCSE Biology
Sets will be designed based on teacher assessments and will be reviewed throughout Year 10 to make sure all students are in the most suitable class for them. Given the school closure, we are aware that there may be more movement than normal between sets. It should be noted that not all schools offer the opportunity to take 3 separate science GCSEs and therefore students are still able to take A-levels in Biology, Chemistry and Physics having completed combined science. This also does not discriminate them from university courses such as medicine.