Another week has flown by. Once again it has been a super busy one for our Year 11 students as their terminal assessments continued. They have sustained their efforts superbly, tackling each assessment with great determination and application. They are now in the home straight with just a few assessments remaining. I have every confidence they will finish the job off and put the ball in the back of the net!

Next week the assessment baton is passed on to our KS3 students as they begin a week of progress assessments in English, Maths and Reading. The timetable for this is detailed below:

The nature of these assessments is such that there is no specific preparation that the students need do. Obviously a goodnight’s sleep the night before and the correct equipment are important. That equipment should include two black pens, a pencil, a ruler, a rubber, a sharpener and a calculator all in a clear pencil case. If you have any questions about these assessments do contact Mr Ball.

As expected, this week has seen significant adjustments as we moved to step 3 of the roadmap out of lockdown. As you will have read, the biggest change for schools is the end of the requirement for students to wear face-masks in schools, either in classrooms or during transitions. Given the further reduction in the infection rate locally to what are now very low levels we have taken the decision to implement this change. That means from 17^th May students will not be required to wear a face mask. Those students who wish to continue to wear face coverings will be able to do so.

Another change introduced at step 3 is the ability for schools to begin residential visits for students. This is a great development as students have been missing out on some great opportunities. I know the music department have launched a residential trip in January 2022 to see a West End performance of ‘Wicked’ with demand for places exceptionally high. I am also hopeful that the ever popular Skern Lodge outdoor activity residential will also be able to take place early next academic year. These are really welcome signs of a return to normality!!

On Thursday 20^th May we will be holding our Year 8 parents evening. This is the first of our parent evenings for our larger year groups. With over 270 students in the year group we have had to look to make adjustments to the organisation of this event. To enable us to provide sufficient booking slots for parents we made the decision to extend the parents evening so that it is 4 ½ hours in length. To ensure that staff are able to finish at a reasonable time school will finish early on this day. This means that on Thursday 20^th May the school day will finish at 1.30pm so that the parents evening can begin at 2.00pm and still finish by 6.30pm.

In some great DofE news former student Zack Phelps has become the first student since we started running the award, to complete all three levels of the Duke of Edinburgh's Award. He was part of our very first Bronze Cohort who started his journey in September 2016, when the school became a DofE Licenced Organisation. The following academic year he went on to complete his Silver Award. He then started his Gold Award with us, and has recently completed this with the Scouts after he left Severn Vale at the end of year 11. Well done Zack.

As always, I include my weekly reminder about Free School Meals eligibility. If your financial circumstances have changed, your child may be eligible for Free School Meals. If you click on this link you will find guidance on the eligibility criteria and the application process. It's a quick process and we are notified of all FSM entitlements by Gloucestershire County Council each Monday. I would urge you to take a look if you think you may benefit from financial assistance.

There still seem to be few signs of any summer weather approaching. Despite the dreary forecast, I do hope you have a good weekend.

Kind regards

Richard Johnson
Headteacher