It has been a very busy week for our students with assessments taking centre stage. Our Year 11s have demonstrated excellent exam stamina this week tackling 8 exams in the space of 5 days. That is no mean feat but does give them an idea of the challenges they will be facing in the summer. Our KS3 students have been tackling order tests with the last of those – for Year 9s – tacking place on Monday. I have been pleased with the attitude and application that the students have demonstrated throughout this demanding period.

On Thursday we held our first in person Options Evening for Year 9 students since March 2020. It was a pleasure to see so many students and parents in school taking advantage of this opportunity to get the last pieces of information which will help the students finalise their options choices. I know lots of positive conversations took place. The students will now be finalising their choices in readiness to complete their forms next week.

Also on Thursday 11 students from our Science Club went to the Jet Age Museum to compete in the Flying Start Challenge Regional Final. The students have been working up to this moment for a number of months, designing, building and now flying their gliders. The students started the day by having the opportunity to sit in a Vulcan Bomber cockpit and had the privilege of learning about the mechanics of the aircraft from a pilot who flew it when it was in use. Students then had a session run by GE Aviation, which taught them how aircraft stabilising equipment works. After a final session with Safran Landing Systems, where students had to build landing gear it was time for the fly off! Our students were absolutely fantastic and had a top distance of nearly 10 metres of flight. They should all be very proud of their achievements and the teamwork involved to complete this challenge. 

We have also been celebrating National Careers Week over the course of the week. The theme this year is "Together" and as a result, subject teachers have been asked to weave in links between their subjects and related careers / employability skills. We have also had a range of year group assemblies taking place, emphasising the importance of work experience (Y10), exploring how different people are motivated by different things at work (Y8), an insight into the Nuclear industry (Y9) and Kohler Mira highlighting the jobs within their company (Y7). Due to GCSE mocks, Y11s are having an assembly on career planning next week. In addition, the careers team attended the Y9 options evening giving a careers perspective on choosing GCSE Option and there was a Year 9 visit to Kohler Mira on Thursday. For more information on SVS careers programme please visit Severn Vale School - Careers

In what has been a dreadful week weather-wise, the following fixtures did manage to take place:

• Year 7 Netball – the Year 7 netballers travelled to Holmleigh Park this week. Their great form continued with a 14 – 7 victory. Player of the match went to Bea.

• Year 8 Netball – the Year 8s also travelled to Holmleigh Park. They went down to a 15 – 4 defeat. Player of the match went to Phoebe H.

• Year 8 Football – the Year 8 footballers played St Peter’s this week. They went down to a heavy defeat but kept their heads up and showed excellent resilience right to the end.

• Year 9 Football – the Year 9 footballers played St Peter’s in the District Cup. A tight game resulted in a 2 – 1 defeat, with St Peter’s scoring the winner in the last minute.

• Year 10 Netball – the Year 10 Netball team were the third team to play Holmleigh Park this week. They won 20 – 14 in a genuinely fantastic game of netball with both teams playing excellent netball. Eva M got player of the match. The Year 10 team also played a Year 11 Barnwood Park team. The result was a 6 – 6 draw with Eva M once again player of the match.

A further reminder that a recent analysis showed that approximately 10% of those who are entitled to Free School Meals are not currently taking advantage of this scheme. If you think your child may be eligible for Free School Meals you can click on this link to find guidance on the eligibility criteria and the application process. It's a quick process and we are notified of all FSM entitlements by GCC each Monday. I would urge you to take a look if you think you may benefit from financial assistance. 

I do hope you have a great weekend.

Kind regards 

Richard Johnson 
Headteacher