Week 5 is complete. This term is really speeding along.

It saw our second Open Morning take place with a further 100 + visitors attending for tours of the school. Once again, we had excellent feedback, as the visitors were able to see our students working hard and making the most of their learning opportunities.

I have been very pleased to see that we have made some significant strides forward with attendance so far this term. Data for the year to date shows a healthy improvement versus last year and is well above the national average. We still aren’t at the level we need to be to, but the direction of travel is very pleasing. Thank you for your support in delivering this improvement and for helping us to further increase attendance throughout the academic year.

A real highlight this week was a fabulous music workshop for our GCSE Music students. Two of Miss Newport's Music alumni visited to provide careers insight as well as to offer tips in performance and composition to aid our students with their coursework. Nathan is a composer and sound designer with extensive industry knowledge. Oscar (one of our Severn Vale alumni) has recently been signed to an agency following his attendance at drama school and is breaking into the Musicals performance industry. Our students were able to ask insightful questions during the Q&A session about how the professionals started and continued their love for Music and have succeeded in the industry. They also heard a fabulous performance from Oscar followed by an outstanding composition demonstration from Nathan; he showed how he uses different tools to start composing musical ideas and developed them live for students to see creative thinking in practice. There is no doubt that this has been highly inspirational and will help our students improve and develop their own work.

Sporting fixtures began this week:

• Year 8 Football - the Year 8 boys had their first fixture, away to Churchdown in the second round of the ESFA schools cup.  It was a tight game. Severn Vale took an early 2 - 0 lead through a brace from Toby W. The team did well to withstand a late Churchdown storm, with a special shout out to Josh G who made some outstanding saves. The game finished 2 - 1 and the boys now progress to the next round.

• Year 10 Rugby - our Year 10 boys put in a hugely impressive performance to emerge 54 - 7 winners against a strong Henley Bank team on Thursday. All the boys stepped up in what proved to be a very physical match. Jayden D, Harley T and Victor O carried the ball strongly and scored some excellent individual tries. Ted L, Sammy W and Olly L also had excellent games. The first win of the season for a talented group of players.

• Also on the sporting front, well done to Will H, Kaelen V and Seb B who represented North Gloucestershire against South Gloucestershire this week. The standard of football was extremely high and all three played really well. Fingers crossed they progress into the Gloucestershire team.

A further reminder that our Supporting Your Child Though GCSEs evenings will take place later this term as follows:

• Year 11 - Thursday 10 October 17:00 - 19:00

• Year 10 - Thursday 17 October 17:00 - 19:00

As ever, I include my 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.  

Have a great weekend. 

Regards 

Richard Johnson   
Headteacher