We would like to begin by celebrating Emily, Olivia and Merryn from Year 7, Ofelia, Year 8 and David Year 11, the winners of last Friday’s Kindness Token draw. We had the equivalent of a whole bucket of kindness tokens to choose from! It is truly heartwarming to hear the everyday “thank yous” from students when a door is held open, or to see them holding doors for others. Small gestures such as asking, “How is your day?” or “Are you having a good day?” - from staff to students and students to staff - show how deeply a sense of belonging is taking root across our school community.
The kindness of our students is also evident through the Student Council. They have requested that on the last day of term (Friday 19 December) we hold a Comfy Clothes Day, with funds being donated to support our School Pastors. Our Pastors are a valued part of the school community (and support other schools, too). Like many support groups, they are facing funding challenges, and when students learned this, they chose to dedicate the day’s fundraising to them in recognition of the important work they do.
We would also like to thank the whole school community for your understanding during this week’s lockdown. While such action is always a last resort, it is something we will take whenever necessary to ensure the safety of our students and staff. We want to reassure you that our school perimeter is secure, and the situation did not occur due to gaps in our perimeter. We have worked with contractors to review and further strengthen our existing measures, and we continue to work closely with the police, the Local Authority, and our Trust to evaluate any further actions we can take.
Parents and carers have shared that they would appreciate more regular insight into how their child is doing in school - both in celebrating successes and in being aware of early concerns. In response, you will have started to receive notifications of reward points and behaviour incidents as they are recorded. We hope this supports you in reinforcing school messages at home and shows that we value and act on your feedback wherever possible.
Finally, a reminder that next Thursday evening is our School Production of Bugsy Malone. If you have not yet purchased tickets, they are available via the Arbor app. It promises to be a fantastic event!
Mrs Paul, Mrs Mursell and Mrs Sandiford
Executive Headteacher and Co-Heads of School
