The first full week of exams is drawing to a close today. The students have had a busy week with every student tackling at least 3 papers. I have been incredibly impressed with the attitude and application the students have shown.  Thus far the papers have been fair, which is all we would ask for, and it has been really pleasing to see how hard the students have been working in the exams, fighting for every mark as we say.

Our Term 5 Performance Platforms have taken place this week. Once again, students from every year have been represented. This included two Year 11s (Amelia singing and Jess on guitar) embracing their last ever performance platform and very much delivering excellent performances. One Year 10 Music student (Akshaiya) sang one of her potential GCSE solo song choices, which was very encouraging and had some lovely Bossa-Nova undertones and another Year 10 student (Ade) performed his drum kit grade 2 Soul piece really well. Our super energetic and well-prepared Year 9 soloists (Amy singing, Max drumming and Olivia singing) showcased music ranging from Royals, Red Hot Chili Peppers and a song from the musical "Matilda". Our Year 8 singers (Kara, Charlotte, Lucy and Beth) again showed strong presence with plenty of different songs from Olivia Rodrigo, Bon Jovi, Niall Horan, Panic at the Disco and a song from the "Heathers" musical.  It was great to also have a new Severn Vale first with a rousing vocal trio performance! A number of keen Year 7 soloists (Singers - Darcie, Gracie, Delilah and Adelaide / Drummer - Laurence) embraced this performance opportunity too, again all of whom were so well prepared and very much showing impressive and encouraging confidence among our youngest students. Our School Band gave us the surf piece classic of "Misirlou" and Rhythm Ensemble similarly went for the well-known melodic prowess of The Shadows with "Apache."

Massive thanks, a huge well done and congratulations must go to all of our term 5 performers - week 6 has definitely been fully alive with a very good quality "sound of music."

At the end of last week 23 of our Child Development students had the opportunity to visit the Baby Show at the NEC in Birmingham. The staff and the students had a great day learning lots about what products are available during pregnancy and beyond, along with some excellent talks about pregnancy, labour, and new-born babies. The feedback from the staff was that the students were an absolute credit to themselves and the school, showing great consideration to others (some heavily pregnant ladies) around them.  

Whilst we are hopefully enjoying a restful weekend, over 40 of our Year 9 and 10 students will be taking part in their DoE expedition. The groups will be walking along the Ridgeway near Swindon, covering around 15km a day. The students need to be fully self-sufficient, carrying their tents and cooking their own meals. Updates on their progress can be found on the Severn Vale DoE twitter (@SVSDofE). We wish them well.

Also enjoying an energetic weekend will be the girls in Year 7 and 8 taking part in our netball and football tour. Good luck to them in their fixtures over the weekend.  

In other sporting news, on Tuesday evening a group of our elite athletes travelled to Blackbridge to compete against the best from across Gloucester in the District Trials. Mr Rogers wanted to mention how proud of all the athletes who participated in what was an extremely high standard of athletics. Special mention goes to:

• Evey T who came 1st in 100m

• Grace A who came third and set a new Year 9 100m record of 13.01

• Will B who ran the 800m in 2:11, a new PB!

• Amber H in Year 7 competing against Year 8 and 9s in 800m and also breaking the Y7 800m record of 2:46 which has stood since 1989!!!!

We will find out soon who goes through to represent Gloucester.

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 enjoy a great weekend.

Kind regards,

 

Richard Johnson
Headteacher