A busy term 3 draws to a close today. Despite it being the last week of term it has been a busy one with some great activities taking place. You can read about some of these below.

Whilst the half-term does provide our students with an important chance to recharge their batteries at the end of a long term, it also gives them plenty of opportunity to prepare for key assessments taking place after half-term. For Year 11s the week beginning 6 March will see them complete their final core mock assessments as they begin the final countdown to their summer GCSEs. For KS3 students the same week will see their order assessments in Maths and Science. The key to effective performance is proper preparation. Thank you in advance for your support with this.

This week our GCSE Food students have been completing the second of their practical assessments. This has seen them cook three course meals during a 3 hour practical session. The commitment, passion and skill on display has been outstanding. The food produced would be worthy of a place on MasterChef!! It has been an absolute delight to see the students in action and to see the progress they have made during their GCSE course.

On Monday our rescheduled Winter Showcase took place. This included performers from across the year groups. The quality of the performances was superb with some absolutely fantastic musicianship on display. There were many highlights but the drumming of Miki Z, the guitar play of Josh T and the amazing voice of Myleigh T certainly stood out for me. Thanks to all the performers and the staff who supported them for a tremendous evening of music.

On Tuesday we were lucky to host a visit from Bishop Rachel, the Bishop of Gloucester. She visited the school to look at our Chaplaincy project that has been running since September. In addition, she also visited one of our GCSE Citizenship and Politics classes. The students in the class were preparing their Active Citizenship Campaigns that form 15% of their final mark. Speaking to Bishop Rachel gave the students the opportunity of questioning a Parliamentarian about their campaigns, providing excellent primary research which will inform their work. I am enormously grateful to Bishop Rachel for being so generous with her time. I was also incredibly impressed with the students. They were a real credit to the school asking insightful, interested questions and taking full advantage of this great opportunity.

Also on Tuesday students from Science Club completed the second Flying Start Challenge workshop. In this workshop they made their designs from workshop one come to life and built mini gliders within their teams. A range of materials were used and they had to make sure they kept within the budget of 100 Flying Start Dollars! Some very inventive and interesting gliders were built. I know the students are very excited to fly them at the regional final on 9 March.

26 of our Year 11 Spanish students and staff departed at 1.00am this morning for a fabulous trip to Madrid. This will see them having language lessons, a city tour, visiting the world famous Bernabeu stadium and the Reina Sofia art gallery. The students will also be spending time in a Secondary school in Madrid and working with students there. I’ve been told they will also be eating lots of Spanish food! It promises to be a busy but fun-packed five days.

This last week of term has seen the following fixtures:

• Year 7 Netball – the A team continued their great form with a 14 – 2 victory over Henley Bank on Tuesday. Evie was player of the match again! Due to the popularity of netball amongst our Year 7s we have created a third team who had their first ever fixture against Henley Bank. The girls lost 5-0, but for their first ever competitive fixture they showed fantastic spirit and never gave up. Estrella was named player of the match.

• Year 7 Football – on Tuesday evening we hosted another mass participation football tournament against Barnwood Park It was an excellent evening with over 50 students playing four games. All the games were played in excellent spirits and some great goals scored.

• Year 8 Football – the Year 8 Boys Football team played the Crypt in the District Cup. A 7 – 2 defeat didn’t reflect the game and there were many positives to draw on for their next games.  

• Year 9 Football – the Year 9 Boys Football team also played the Crypt this week. In a very tight game they battled to a 1 – 0 victory.  

• Year 10 Football – the Year 10 Boys Football team completed the round of fixtures versus the Crypt in the District Cup. A high-quality game played between two good teams ended in an agonising 4 – 3 defeat.

• Year 11 Table-Tennis – on Wednesday our PE GCSE Table-Tennis students went to Dene Magna to take part in a moderation competition.  Our students performed brilliantly and it was a real pleasure to watch them play. The dedication these students have displayed over last two years is really paying off!

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. 

That’s all for Term 3. We return to school on Monday 27 February. This is a week A.

Kind regards 

Richard Johnson 
Headteacher