It has been another busy week with lots taking place for our students.

On Wednesday, 30 Year 7 students spent the day working with performance poet, Giovanni Esposito, otherwise known as Spoz on their slam poetry skills. Students had the opportunity to watch Spoz perform some of his own spoken word poetry before having a chance to take to the microphones for themselves. Students then spent the afternoon creating their own poetry to be performed in the final session of the day in front of three judges. The students worked exceptionally hard creating poetry focused on this year's theme "Your Environment." The three judges found it incredibly hard to choose two winning groups. However, we are pleased to announce that the "Bracket Rackets" and "Repetition Rascals" will be going through to represent Severn Vale at the regional poetry slam at Cheltenham Town Hall in March. 

Tuesday saw the culmination of the 2023 Severn Vale "Famelab Academy" with eight Year 9 students battling it out for the glory of representing the school at the final which is part of the Cheltenham Science Festival in June. The Science atrium had a full house of guests including staff, students, siblings and parents who watched each presentation in turn. The students gave three minute presentations on a range of topics including the tyres of Formula 1 racing cars, how dogs smell, dinosaurs, time and collaboration and why sloths are so slow! The students' presented with passion, wisdom and often great humour. Most completed the task without so much as a glance at their notes and kept the audience enthralled and intrigued giving the judges - Mrs Prescott, Mr Brown and Miss Ball - a really difficult task in deciding on a winner. Ultimately, the prize went to Charlie Roberts (9O) whose presentation on Axolotls and Stem Cells was simply outstanding. Huge congratulations to Charlie and good luck in the final!

This week we have had students from across the year groups taking part in our lunchtime performance platforms. This is an opportunity for students to showcase their musicianship in a friendly environment as they are beginning to develop their performance skills. Highlights included Year 7 students Emily C, Samanta C, Beth M, and Charlotte R as well as strong performances from some of our more experienced musicians. If you would like your child to develop their musical skills please do remember a range of peripatetic teachers are available via the music department. Please use this link to find out more.

On Thursday we had our Year 9 Parents Evening. As well as giving parents the chance to check on the progress of their child, it was also a great opportunity to discuss potential option choices in advance of the Options Evening in March. In school the next phase of the options process will take place next week with the first week of taster sessions. This will give the students in Year 9 the chance to experience a taster lesson in subjects such as Media or Sociology which will be new to them. A second week of tasters will take place after half-term.

Fixtures this week included:

• Year 7 Netball – The Year 7s started the week with A and B fixtures versus Gloucester Academy. The As won their game 18 – 2 with Evie H player of the match. The Bs also won a tight game 2 – 1 with Teanna player of the match. The 7 girls had a second fixture versus Barnwood Park. In another fantastic performance they won 17 – 3 with Evie H once again player of the match.

• Year 8 Netball – the Year 8s also played Barnwood Park on Wednesday. They came up against a very strong team, losing 21 – 9, despite some strong play all round.

• Under 14 Football – our girls Under 14 football team travelled to Archway for a county cup game. An excellent performance resulted in a 3 – 1 victory with another hat-trick for Elle M who seems assured of the golden boot for this year!

• Year 10 Netball – the Year 10s had an away fixture at St Peter’s on Tuesday. A superb performance from the girls saw them win 19 – 5. Player of the match went to Savannah.

• Year 11 Netball – the GCSE netballers had a fixture versus Newent this week. A fabulous game with great play from two strong teams saw Severn Vale take the win 15 – 11. Chanelle W was player of the match.

A date for your diary…. on Monday 13 February the rescheduled Winter Concert, which was cancelled back in December owing to snow will be taking place. All are welcome to the show which will take place in the main hall at 6.00pm.

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 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