A Happy New Year to you all!  

It has been a pleasure to welcome the students back after the festive break. I have been really pleased with the positive start the overwhelming majority of our students have made in what promises to be a very busy term.

For our Year 11s, the countdown to the summer exams is well underway; there are only 66 school days until the start of the summer exam season. Two key milestones are upcoming. Firstly, we have our Year 11 parent evening, taking place on Thursday 17 January. This is an incredibly important opportunity to discuss your child’s progress and what they need to be doing to ensure they can realise their potential in the summer exams. To make the most of this, we do strongly recommend your child attend with you. I look forward to seeing as many of you there for what will be their last parent evening at Severn Vale!  

The second key milestone for the Year 11s will be the Option subject mocks. These take place in the fortnight beginning 27 January. These mocks provide the students with vital feedback on their progress and, most importantly, let them know what they need to be doing next in their option subjects as they prepare for the summer exams. Thank you in advance for ensuring that your child is preparing properly for these key assessments.  

Last term saw a disappointing fall in attendance. I am pleased that the first week of the new term was much better on the attendance front. I would hope that the new year provides the opportunity for a fresh start for those who may have struggled to maintain regular and high attendance.  We know good attendance has a huge impact on attainment. We also know that regular school attendance can facilitate positive peer relationships, which is a protective factor for mental health and wellbeing. Where there are barriers to attendance, please do speak to the school so that we can see how, by working together, we can remove those barriers. 

Given there are lots of common winter bugs and viruses circulating at the moment, I thought it timely to remind you that the NHS have published guidance to help parents decide whether their child is too ill for school. The guidance can be accessed from the following link: Is my child too ill for school?  Thank you in advance for all you do to help your child maintain high levels of attendance.

This first week of the new term has brought some proper winter weather with freezing temperatures throughout the week. With this cold weather likely to extend into the rest of January, it is important that students have coats. I would like to remind you that a hoodie is not a coat, and we do not allow students to wear hoodies in school. Thank you for your support with this. 

Only the one fixture this week….a final hockey fixture of the season for our KS3 team against Ribston Hall, which ended in a 2 – 0 defeat. The team played to an excellent level, showing true grit and determination on a freezing evening. A special mention to Abby J, who made some absolutely amazing saves throughout, and player of the match Lucas S.  

As always, I end with 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 have a great weekend.  

Kind regards,  

Richard Johnson 
Headteacher