At last the sun has come out, nearly all day, and it has been great to see students playing football and netball in a PE lesson out on the courts without them shivering or having to wear gloves. Having said that, when I walked around our most westerly facing building this afternoon in history and economics, the temperature in these classrooms felt similar to early summer, so we will need to continue to adjust our heating levels over the next few weeks.

I firmly believe that an important part of education should include opportunities for visits and trips beyond the school site. Since the restrictions of Covid we, like many schools, have more to do in this area but this week has seen two trips, alongside our regular sports fixtures. Some of our Year 10 geographers went on an urban field trip to sites around the Olympic park to collect data for their GCSE course, and Year 11 students went to Queen’s College (Oxford) to hear about future applications and understand what university life is like.

We are currently planning more opportunities for our students, beyond the classroom, and I will update families when we have firmer details.

Year 11 achievement lunch

I had the absolute pleasure of sharing sandwiches, pizzas (and a cookie) at lunchtime with the Year 11 students that had received the highest Attitude to Learning scores on their recent reports. We will be doing this with every year group – a celebratory lunch to note how much students are trying hard, as well as their academic achievements. I very much enjoy visiting these events and reminding the students, many of whom are very modest about their achievements, how well they are doing.

Students of the week

Congratulations to our students of the week - nominations always cover a range of academic, social and sporting achievements.  Well done to all.

Year 7	Year 8	Year 9	Year 10	Year 11	Sixth Form
George	Alexandra	George	Cyrus	Ayman	Lucy / Veronica

Our School Council – working for every student

Every tutor group in our school has a year council representative. They meet at least once a half term and discuss a range of subjects. Some of these are items that are discussed across all years, and there is always space on the agenda to raise recent items. For example, Year 11 have been talking about the revision strategies they find most effective, while Year 8 are planning for their baking competition (next Friday) and their film night. Next week, Sixth Form students are meeting with our head chef to discuss the food offer in the Sixth Form cafe. Students in the Year 10 council are looking to plan a culture day, similar to what they have seen Sixth Form students do earlier in this year, as well as asking questions about careers education.

Council representatives have redesigned the school council pages on Frog. Every student in our school will be able to see who their year reps are, name and photograph, as well as notices for their year groups and notes from meetings like those described above, and critically, what we are able to do as a school to respond.

Wishing you all the best for a restful weekend.

Nick House, Headteacher