This week has included parental tours every morning, as the up and coming Year 6 children and their families think about secondary school choices. We have been very busy with over 100 visitors booked in and walking around the school has been fantastic.

Visitors are always so impressed by the focus of our students in their lessons, as well as being very interested in some of the practical activities in secondary schools. Yesterday was particularly exciting for our Year 6 visitors as they saw students using the climbing wall in the sports hall. We have also been blessed by fairer weather every morning… although yesterday’s afternoon downpour did see some minor leaks in a couple of our science lab roofs. Luckily, those are rooms scheduled for the rebuild, which I will share more about later this term as we know more details.

Year 13 mock exams

Today is the final day for our oldest students to complete their internal tests. They are only completing one paper in each subject as we wanted to give them some feedback early in the year, but not take them out of lessons for too long. Staff are currently starting to mark these and will be giving feedback over the coming week or so.

School exchange with Spain

I am delighted that, for the first time since the pandemic, we are hosting a visit from a group of overseas students. We have 21 students and two staff from a school in Galicia in the northwest of Spain. It has been great to see how our visitors have engaged with learning in our classes, and so inspiring to see our students at break and lunch talking and socialising with their Spanish friends. Both groups of students have embodied a spirit of welcome and friendship which has been a real bonus at the start of the school year.

Attending school really matters…

I am generally really pleased that nearly one thousand of our students have not missed a single day this term, and our students’ attendance is significantly higher than the national average for this term so far. I believe (as a dad of two school-aged children, as well as a headteacher) that being in school helps young people feel connected, and is good for them as well as obviously preparing them for successful lives.

You may have heard or seen in the media that nationally there has been a real dip in attendance since schools returned after the pandemic. I am really proud that our students and families feel differently at Greenshaw. If you click here, you can see our attendance and punctuality expectations, along with our daily procedures that we use to make sure every young person gets the education they deserve. Thank you for all your support with this – coming to school every day is good for studies and definitely good for the soul.

Students of the week

Congratulations to each of these superstars. Remember that the students of the week are nominated by their year teams and sometimes they are high academic achievers, but that is not the only reason for nomination. All of these students – every week – has demonstrated something special in their attitude to their peers, the community or their learning. Well done to each of them.

Year 7	Year 8	Year 9	Year 10	Year 11	Sixth Form	Sixth Form
Berken	Divyaa	Ryleigh	Charlotte	Mayooraprian	Jayda	Madyn

So wishing you all a restful weekend, hopefully with fewer torrential downpours than we have experienced this week. 

All the best.

Nick House, Headteacher