These letters over the next month or so will focus more and more on the building work we are lucky enough to have on our site, as well as the temporary accommodation we will be using. I have some updates below, but you can anticipate that we will have more of these each Friday over coming weeks.

Temporary school – an update

This afternoon, I visited the temporary school with members of the School Council. We visited a range of classrooms, including the new computer rooms and art rooms as well as general teaching spaces. The build is now close to completion, and each classroom is nearly ready for teaching with white boards and notice boards. The Food Technology rooms have ovens and hobs, and the science labs have running water and gas taps like any other science lab. At present, though, the rooms do not have furniture or learning equipment.

Over the Easter break, the chairs and tables from the current school buildings that are being demolished will be transferred. There will be a commercial company doing this, and also moving boxes of school books and other resources across. Our IT team will also be moving the teaching screens from the permanent classrooms into the temporary school, so a busy fortnight looms across the Easter break.

Start of next term – Tuesday 22nd April

Teachers will not have access to the temporary school until the first day of the summer term. We have asked the contractors if we could have access before the holiday ends, but we have been told that the amount of furniture and boxes being removed from our current buildings, and taken to the temporary school, will need all the eight working days that students and staff are not in school.

I am absolutely determined that students in Years 11 and Year 13 should have no interruption to their GCSE and A Level studies at the start of the summer term. Therefore, we have scheduled all of their lessons in the remaining permanent buildings. Students already know their way around these buildings and can continue with their exam preparation uninterrupted.

Given that staff will not have access to the temporary buildings until Tuesday 22nd April, we will need to plan that first week back carefully. I will share details with families of other year groups as soon as possible, but if you are a family with a student in Year 11 or Year 13 (or maybe both!), be assured that there will be no interruption to their exam preparation from the temporary school.

Curriculum enhancement day – Thursday 3rd April

We are very excited about our first off-site day of the year. Students from all year groups, Years 7 to 13, will be taking part in a wide range of activities off and on-site that will offer an even broader range of learning than our normal school days.

In order to make this happen, the school is heavily subsidising each activity, for example, paying fees for visiting speakers, hiring equipment and making a large contribution to access to venues.  

Supporting Year 11 and Year 13 students during the exam period

We are doing lots to support our exam year groups inside school. If any families would like to know more about how to support their young person during the public exam season, there is a webinar for families on 17th March at 12.30pm and then again at 7.00pm. The webinar will share ways to help parents support their child through the run up to exams and places can be booked online here.

If you are interested in one-to-one parent sessions with our friendly in-school NHS wellbeing practitioners to help your child’s worries or anxieties, or support their challenging or tricky behaviour, you can pick up an application form from reception or speak to a member of Year 11 or Year 13 staff.

Year 8 students saving lives

This week, 8RCK were the first Year 8 class to take part in a workshop learning and practising key lifesaving skills. Staff from the Paul Alan Project delivered the session, teaching the students how to perform CPR and be confident in using a defibrillator. These workshops are being delivered as part of the Year 8 PSHE ‘responding to an emergency’ module. All the students were a credit to the school and the trainer said the young people that she trained were, “Just spectacular, polite, engaged, respectful and knowledgeable – it was my absolute pleasure. I am so looking forward to the rest of my sessions!” Thank you to the students of Mr Cooksey’s Year 8 tutor group, and I am sure each of the next groups will gain lots from these important lessons. 

Students of the week

Congratulations to these Students for their combination of hard work, community spirit and great social contributions. Meeting them to hear more about their achievements, and present them with certificates, is one of the highlights of my week.

Year 7	Year 8	Year 9	Year 10	Year 11	6th Form
Isabella	Vlad	Aishwarya	Millie	Marz	Methu, Tanujan, Jegapriyan

Wishing you all the best for a restful weekend.

Mr N House, Headteacher