Whole School Newsletter - 12-01-2024

Friday 12^th January 2024

Dear Parents and Carers,

Happy New Year to all our families, I hope everyone had an enjoyable break. It was lovely to welcome our students back this week.

We start 2024 with a continued focus on RISE. This week we have been considering our core value of integrity and exploring connections.

We have also started using our new student entrance and exits and, despite some technical issues on Monday with the timing of the automated door release, this has gone very well. All students in Key Stage 3 and 4 now come into school at 8.35am, through the doorways behind the main hall (labelled as entrance 1). This new KS3 and KS4 entrance will remain open to all students until just before 9am when the student entrance will shut. Any student who arrives later than this will need to go to the visitors’ entrance to be signed in. I would like to remind all parents and carers that students should be in school ready for Form which starts at 8.45am. Form Time is an essential part of the school day as this is when important messages are shared and when we run interventions and wellbeing support.

At the end of the day all exits, except the glass visitor entrance, will be open for students in Key Stage 3 & 4 to leave the building. There will be 4 exits - the doors in blue, the doors by the main stairs, the doors behind the hall (the new student entrance) and the doors in purple by the canteen.

There will be no change at the start or end of the day for our Nurture students or our Sixth Form students who will continue to use the main visitor entrance.

Year 11

All students in Year 11 should now have revision timetables planned and be using these to begin revising for their forthcoming GCSEs. All the evidence clearly shows that those students that begin their independent revision earlier achieve better results. Ultimately, the better their GCSE results, the more choices your child will have about what they want to do next year, be that Sixth Form, College or employment. The key message with revision is that regular short periods of revision are far more effective than last minute cramming. This will also support your child to feel more relaxed and in control of their work. If any students need additional support with any of their subjects, please encourage them to speak to their class teacher who is best placed to support and guide them. There are just nine school weeks left of this term and the revision your child does now will directly impact on the results they achieve this summer.

Free School Meals

If you are not in receipt of Free School Meals but think you are eligible and would like information on accessing, please let us know so we can help. Accessing Free School Meals will also enable you to receive £225 towards the cost of school uniform, coats and shoes or £300 if your child is going into Year 7. 

School dates

This Spring Term is very short with February half-term starting on Monday 12^th February. Students then return to school on Monday 19^th February and we break up for the Easter holidays on Friday 22^nd March 2024.

The remaining INSETS for the rest of this academic year are as follows;

1. Friday 8^th March 2024
2. Friday 28^th June 2024
3. Monday 1^st July 2024

I would like to take this opportunity to thank all our families for your continued support.

With kind regards

Mrs Lee