Dear Parents/Carers,

The spring term has passed very quickly with our children being involved in lots of focused learning together with a whole host of extra-curricular activities.

We have had a series of assemblies looking at the origins of Burns Night, Holocaust Memorial Day, Children’s Mental Health and celebrating diversity through the LGBT+ History month.

Careers’ Education has continued to be a feature of this term. Our Year 9s have taken part in a DT workshop, where they created a city out of a variety of different media.  Along with creative skills, they used team working, negotiation and problem-solving in order to deliver their finished project.  Our Y11s have had a visit from Ontic Apprenticeship opportunities whilst Year 8 students enjoyed a theatre production on careers in the NHS.

It is important that all Year 11 students now complete their college application forms – please do contact the school if support is needed.  A reminder also for our Year 10 students regarding Work Experience – this year it takes place on week commencing 1st July.  It is a fantastic opportunity to experience the world of work, and also gain a reference for future college and apprenticeship applications.

Year 9 Parents’ and Options Evening took place on 15th January; Year 9 students are now working towards deciding on their options for GCSEs.  We would like to thank you for your support in helping them with their decisions. Please do contact Mr. Fuller if you have further questions.

 

Reports and Parents’ Evenings:

Year 11: Year 11 reports will go home week beginning 11th March.

Year 10: Year 10 reports will go home week beginning 11th March.

Year 9: Year 9 reports will go home week beginning 11th March.

Year 8: Year 8 reports will go home week beginning 11th March.  Year 8 Parents’ Evening is on 15th April.

Year 7: Year 7 reports will go home week beginning 11th March. Year 7 Parents’ Evening will be on 26th February.

Attendance:

We have a school target of 96% attendance; however, our current attendance has dropped to 88% which is a real cause for concern. Can I continue to ask for your support in ensuring that your child attends school and is on time. The difference that good attendance can make to a young person is significant in terms of academic progress and developing strong interpersonal skills.  If your child becomes unwell during the school day, we will ensure that they are seen by a qualified first aider.  In order to both support the school and prevent a potentially unnecessary journey, we would ask that you wait for contact from the school before collecting them.

Communication:

Our reception staff work extremely hard to meet the needs of our students and parents. There are times which are particularly busy, especially morning, break and lunchtime. Could I ask all parents and carers to exercise patience when calling the school; our reception staff will try to answer your query as soon as possible. Please remember that teaching staff will be working in classrooms and/or on duty.

In order to communicate effectively between school and home, should you have any queries, could I please ask parents and carers to contact subject teachers and pastoral leaders in the first instance.  It is reasonable to expect a reply, either by telephone or email within 72 working hours. Should you need to make an appointment, can you please contact the relevant member of staff beforehand; the school is not able to make ad hoc appointments and does not want to disappoint parents who arrive at school, hoping to see someone immediately.

It is important to stress the need for communication between home and school to be polite. Sadly, we continue to receive verbal and written communication from a small group of parents who are rude and abusive. The school, like all other public bodies, has a clear set of expectations regarding visitor behaviours  and it is upsetting to have to raise this once more. I thank you for your cooperation in this regard.

And finally...

It remains for me to wish you all a very happy Spring term break. We look forward to seeing you all when the school reopens on Monday 19th February at 8.30am.

Kind regards

Karen Clinton