I am writing this blog the morning after we held our Awards Evening for the Class of 2019. It was a wonderful evening and provided us with a chance to celebrate the many successes of this year group. It was also lovely to catch up with the students and hear their stories about Sixth Form, College and Apprenticeships.

A real highlight of the evening was hearing from our guest speaker Angela White. Angela is a retired orthopedic surgeon, mother of three and granny of two. In this, the year she turned 60, Angela set herself the challenge to become the oldest female to run from John O’Groats to Land’s End (The “JOGLE”). She accomplished this mission on 28^th September 2019 having run the length of the British Isles in 18 days, 10 hours and 3 minutes. She gave a great speech and one that will have inspired all that heard it. You can find out more about Angela and her mission at www.therunninggranny.com

Last week saw the launch of our Year 7 Debate Club. The room was packed with students eager to develop their debating skills. It was a real pleasure to hear so many of our students articulate their views in such a mature, sensible yet passionate way. The club is being run by a Year 11 student, Keira Evans, ably supported by Ms Kirk from the English department. With Keira’s drive I know it will go from strength to strength.

Next Thursday sees a Flexible Learning Day for all years. There will be a wide range of activities taking place. For Year 10 and Year 11 the day is a key part of their careers education. All of the students in Year 11 will be visiting post-16 providers with students going to Sixth Forms, Colleges and to Training Providers. Year 10 students will be taking part in 4 workshops all geared towards learning about the world of work and developing their employability skills. The workshops will include a sessions run by the NHS on the importance of research and clinical trials for the health sector, University of Gloucestershire on "hidden jobs", Kohler Mira and a session on post-16 vision. In addition, all students will be taking part in a mock interview. I would like to take this opportunity to say a massive thank you to all of the individuals and organisations for supporting the school and helping us deliver such an amazing opportunity for the students.

I do hope you have a great weekend,

Richard Johnson
Headteacher