"WE DON’T have a vaccine or treatment for coronavirus but we can utilise the power of education to stop systemic racism."

That's the hope of Queen Anne High School rector Ruth McFarlane in the wake of global protests at the death of George Floyd and the Black Lives Matter movement.

In the school's latest bulletin to pupils, parents and staff, Ms McFarlane says the school will strive to "raise awareness and evoke change".

She said: "Over the last two weeks, I’ve spent a lot of time reading and watching media coverage of the devastation caused to individuals, families and communities across the world from coronavirus.

"I’ve also been interested in the protests seen across the world in response to (what happened to) George Floyd.

"These protests are not a response to this incident alone but the results of decades of inequality and unaddressed prejudice. It’s no longer just the communities most affected by these challenges that see the inequality. The whole world can see it.

"Importantly, what will we do about it?

"The anger evoked by this must be channelled into positive change where we recognise the systemic racism that exists and the challenges it creates for so many.

"In school we would be discussing this in class, PSE and assemblies to promote the need for each of us to actively be the change in creating a fairer and more equitable world.

"We don’t have a vaccine or treatment for coronavirus but we can utilise the power of education to stop systemic racism.

"At QAHS we pride ourselves on being an inclusive, progressive school where young people are empowered to drive improvement and I am confident that there will be a strong feeling amongst our pupils to raise awareness and evoke change in response."

The bulletin also highlighted that teachers at Queen Anne will soon start preparing their classrooms in line with health and safety requirements and to accommodate the two-metre physical distancing rule when pupils return.

Teachers are also currently working "very hard" to enable the necessary shift from virtual learning to 'blended learning' in August.

The approach will see Queen Anne combine digital learning with teachers' efforts focused on drawing understanding from pupils while they are in school.

Ms McFarlane said: "For this approach to be successful, learners need to be supported and encouraged to take increased personal responsibility for their learning.

"Teachers need to provide clear learning content, activities/tasks and formal assessment, aligned to a termly timeframe.

"Each term will be split into three-week learning blocks with an associated assessment matched to learning within each three-week block.

"Traditionally, teachers have delivered learning in school with learners consolidating their understanding at home via homework activities and revision.

"In our blended approach, learning is flipped with learning content, tasks and assessments delivered and accessed online.

"Classroom time is then optimised to elicit understanding through active approaches: questioning, discussion, presentation, demonstration and experimentation."