Headteacher Update

January 2024

I am delighted to announce that this year’s school production will be Matilda! Auditions are underway and once again Mrs Patrick and Mr McGuire have been overwhelmed by the number of students coming forward to audition and I am sure that this year’s show will build on the triumph of the Lion King last summer. I’m looking forward to seeing rehearsals get underway and I know the design team are already in creative mode.  Well done to everyone who has put themselves forward to get involved.

It has been another busy week with highlights including the start of This is Creative Enterprise for Year 9 students, which is a programme we run for 25 students in collaboration with Northumbria University and the North Tyneside Learning Trust. This year students have started working on designs for the winners of The Voice UK! The programme runs throughout the year and it will be exciting to see how designs and creative thinking develop.

This week also saw the start of our Year 11 lesson 6 programme and I am delighted to report that attendance was superb at 97% of the year group with some wonderful feedback from students who really appreciated that targeted and small group approach to the intervention. I am sure the year group will continue to buy into the support on offer to give themselves every chance of achieving the very best outcomes in the summer.

We were delighted to welcome Cara Mattock from North Tyneside Young Carers to our staff meeting last week. Many of our children are carers and it is so important for staff to recognise the challenges this creates for them as well as understanding the support that is available to them. The training session was highly informative and also very emotional as we listened to real life stories of the difficulties children can face when they are caring for others in their family. You can find some flyers here with details about Young Carers and you can also access further information about North Tyneside Young Carers by visiting their website

Traffic continues to be a concern at the start and end of the day outside of school and we have received complaints regarding unsafe road use and parking from local residents and passing motorists. Please can I make the following requests:

• If possible drop your child off at Tynemouth Pool.
• Where possible, please avoid dropping you child off at the front of school as this can cause significant congestion and poses a risk to our children both on foot and on bikes.
• Please avoid dropping your child off in Kelvin Grove as residents can find it difficult to access or leave their properties. Residents have also reported some threatening behaviour from parents when confronted.
• Never drop your child off without pulling into a safe area. There are incidences where children are exiting cars on the main road on the wrong side of the railings.
• You can access the school car park before 8.25am to drop your child off.

Thank you for your support with these measures which are designed to keep children safe at a very busy time of day. We have also been working with North Tyneside Council regarding road safety measures and I believe local residents will have received this letter regarding a local consultation. North Tyneside Transport Officer has also shared the following flyers for your information.

John Spence Travel Plan
John Spence ‘Go Smarter’ Map
‘Go Smarter’ for Parents

I hope that you all have a good weekend

Best wishes

Jonathan