Another 2 weeks have flown by with lots of activities to report and celebrate.

As an 11 – 16 school we take our responsibility for our students’ careers education very seriously. We know we need to give them the full range of information so they can make informed decisions about their post-16 choices. Last week saw two of our key careers events for our Year 11s. The first was our annual Ask the Professionals event. This saw 32 employers, colleges, 6th forms and universities come to Severn vale to talk to our students. They explained what employers are looking for in new recruits, what makes an application form / good candidate stand out for them and what a new recruit could expect to do in their first few years in the organisation. The students were also able to ask Colleges, 6th Forms and Universities about the courses they offered and the application processes involved in applying to their institutes.

This was followed by a visit to the National Apprenticeship Show in Cheltenham. Over 60 exhibitors took part including Renishaw, Greene King, Ministry of Defence and Mira Showers. Students had the opportunity to talk to current apprentices and were able to ask them about the pros and cons of taking up an apprenticeship rather than going post-16 to college or a 6th Form. 

In November all students in Year 11 will have the opportunity to visit a post-16 provider as part of our Flexible Learning Day. Taken together, these opportunities will give the students the best chance to make informed post-16 choices.

On the weekend of 4 – 6^th October our Year 11 Hockey / Netball team went on tour to Belfast. A series of games were lined up including against Ms Lowery’s old school! The weekend was a triumph with excellent games, great cultural experiences and a fantastic memories being made.

The Belfast tour is just one example of the fabulous sporting opportunities our students get to benefit from. It has been a delight to see the school packed after school with more participants than ever before for our after school clubs. It has also been great to hear about the successes enjoyed by our students in out of school competitions. If your son / daughter does achieve success please do share it with us as we love to celebrate their achievements.

We are extremely fortunate to benefit from an outstanding relationship with the Cheltenham Literature Festival. This means our students have had the opportunity to take part in a wide range of activities at the festival. Over the course of the last week, we have taken 149 students to see 7 inspirational talks, had 6 students perform and had 65 books signed at the Cheltenham Literature Festival.

Our Drama Club have been putting the finishing touches to their performance of Romeo and Juliet as part of the Shakespeare Schools Festival. In a month’s time they will be performing at the Roses Theatre in Tewkesbury. We wish them well.

In spite of the awful forecast, I do hope you have a wonderful weekend.

Richard Johnson
Headteacher