The penultimate week of term is complete. This is a long term which continues next week until Friday 22 December.

On Thursday evening I had the absolute pleasure of attending the Year 9 Christmas Reward event. It was a fantastic, joyful evening and a total delight to share it with the staff and students. The Year 9s were joined by a team of Year 11 helpers and all who attended had a brilliant time. The karaoke was inspired with certain performance sure to live long in the memory. Indeed, nobody present will ever be able to forget Mr Ball’s rendition of Barbie World!!! Tonight, I will be dusting off my dancing shoes to accompany the Year 7s at their Disco which also promises to be a huge amount of fun.

This week I have been reviewing the data for our Year 11s with the senior leadership team. It is early days but the potential exists for a really encouraging set of results. The students have made a strong start to their final year and are working well with their teachers to ensure that they realise and, in many cases, exceed their potential. The programme of interventions that is in place is supporting the students well. There is a lot of hard work remaining, but the foundations have been laid for the students to achieve some excellent grades in the summer.

Our intervention programme is not one just for Year 11 students. We have programme that is in place to support students in every year who may be at risk of failing to perform in line with expectation. The analysis from the Order Assessments taken in November will be used to inform the process and details will be circulated for next term’s programme. Overwhelmingly, the students have embraced intervention and seen it for what it is: support to help them perform to their best. Thank you in advance for your support with this.

The Year 7 students continue to amaze with the way they are engaging with the TimesTables Rockstars challenge. Many of the battles are going to go down to the wire as classes vie for supremacy. To date, over 500,000 questions have been answered with some remarkable individual performances. The battle for the top spot between Archie C and Oscar H looks like it could be a battle for the ages.

Next Thursday is our Winter Showcase. Having seen some of the students rehearsing, I know it is going to be an amazing evening of entertainment. I hope that you are able to join us to see the many amazing students performing. 

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.  

I do hope you have a great weekend.

Kind regards,

Richard Johnson
Headteacher