Headteacher Update

May 2023

Year 11 have been amazing this week! They have sat the first batch of their summer examinations and approached each day confidently, maturely and with a quiet determination to do their very best. I am delighted with their attitude and it is good to know that the vast majority are doing everything they can in school, at home as well as in the exams to give themselves every chance of achieving a great set of results in August. There is still a long way to go and they need to make use of all the revision materials provided to them as well as utilise the revision timetable that was given out during the Year 11 Parent Consultation Day; remember that all the topics they need to revise are in this pack. If they haven’t done so already they should go through each topic and rank how confident they are and then seek support from their teachers next week, before study leave, in the areas that they are least confident.

Year 10 will start sitting their exams shortly after half term and should now have completed their own revision timetables, again these were shared at the Y10 Parents Consultation Day. Getting this done sooner rather than later will help them prepare not only for the Y10 exams, but also help in the long term preparation for next summer.

A reminder for Year 7 parents to book appointments for the Year 7 parents’ evening, which will take place next Tuesday. You can book appointments here.

Thankfully, verbal abuse towards staff in school is rare, but sadly there have been 2 occasions in the past 2 weeks where social media has been used by two students to make very hurtful and potentially damaging statements about staff. Any student posting abusive and malicious comments about staff will be suspended as it is wholly unacceptable. Our Behaviour Policy has been adapted to make this clear, although it would already fall into the category of verbal abuse to staff.  As I said, these incidents are rare, but students who share or like these posts, or indeed if they are simply in a group where malicious comments are being shared need to understand the damage such comments can have on an individual.

Finally, next week is our special awards week and we will be celebrating independence. Students who show a determination and willingness to be independent in lessons will be rewarded with a ticket which will go into a draw next Friday and one luck student will win a £50 voucher. Being able to work and think independently is so important, as is reflected in what Year 11 are needing to do at the moment, and as a school we are placing a significant emphasis on this through staff training on metacognition, which is the ability to understand how we think, how we remember and how we learn. This next step in our School Improvement Plan will undoubtedly create much greater independence for all students and help make sure that they are well prepared for life when they leave us – Fit for Life!

I hope you all have a good weekend.

Best wishes
Jonathan