February half term 2019

It's been a short but busy term and there is much to report.

Chaplaincy news

FLAME Delegate

We are delighted that Paul, one of Year 13 head students, will represent Clifton Diocese at Flame, the largest gathering of Catholic Youth in the country, at Wembley Arena in March. This is a great honour for our school. Fifty people from St Peter's High School will travel to the event on Saturday 2^nd March.

Help Madina Charity

The Year 11 charity group raised funds for the Help Madina Charity in Sierra Leone. They presented Dr Veronica, the founder of the charity, with a cheque for £300. Dr Veronica said, ‘The wonderful young students at St. Peter's school in Gloucester raised an amazing donation for Help Madina which I received today. Your kindness is overwhelming. On behalf of the communities we serve in Sierra Leone, thank you so much. I hope the exams go really well for you all.’

IGNITE

You are invited to come to IGNITE from 6.30 - 8.30 in the main hall on Friday 8th March featuring the amazing Mike Pilavachi. Mike is co-founder of Soul Survivor and travels globally, spreading the Gospel message especially for youth. Entry is by ticket costing only 50p (no admission on the door). Tickets are available from our Chaplain, Ms Baker, on mbaker@sphs.uk.com or via school on 01452 520594 or on twitter @ChaplainStPetes More details are available via www. ignitegloucester.com  Buy your tickets as soon as possible to ensure you don’t miss out on this special evening with an internationally acclaimed guest.

Engineering Education Scheme

Six of our students have been taking part in the Engineering Education Scheme (EES) run by the Engineering Development Trust. The aim of the EES is to give students a chance to have first-hand experience in an engineering project. Engineers and students meet once a week during term time. This year the students have been partnered with L3TRL Technology based in Tewksbury. The students involved are Josie Poole-Jones, Dominic Thomas, David Charzewski, Paul Kodenkandekath, Joshua Hensley and Kamil Krzyszkowski.

The project brief from L3TRL was to build a device that could count people entering and exiting a doorway and possibly identify individuals. The students spent the Autumn term designing and planning the project. They then presented their work in progress to management at L3TRL at Tewksbury in January. They had a great day and the engineers were impressed. We also had a chance to find out more about the work of  L2TRL.

The students also attended a two day workshop at Bath University in January when they built their device and tested it. The two days went very well as the students productively in a team to build their device. They tested various functions using a model door with some successful and some unsuccessful signals. They are now in the middle of writing up the project report to hand in for the competition aspect of the EES with an awards day to be confirmed near the end of the year. Thank you to Mr Jones-Parry for working with the students on this scheme.

Extended Project Qualification

Congratulations to the eleven Year 13 students who completed their Extended Project Qualification this term. The qualification is highly regarded by universities and is worth half an A-level. The students worked exceptionally hard researching a topic of their choice at university level of challenge. We had an afternoon of presentations where the students each delivered an inspiring presentation to a group of staff and students explaining their research process and their research findings. Topics chosen included using placebos in healthcare, the Partition of India, whether animals have personhood and whether a student could successfully forge a specific painting to name just a few (the forgery - not the original - can be seen below). Students spent over 90 hours conducting their research and have all achieved a great deal throughout their projects. Thanks to Mrs Frampton for her work with these students. 

Music department news
A Level Music student, Harry Matthews has been selected for Gloucestershire Youth Jazz Orchestra, the most advanced youth jazz group in the county.

Another Year 12 Music A-level student, Avygayle Smith, represented St Peter’s at the Gloucester Area Morgan Car Owners’ Annual Dinner at Stonehouse Court Hotel.  We received the following lovely feedback after the event: “Once again I have to say that a student from St Peter’s has done the school proud.  Not only is she a great singer, but she is also a lovely person who thinks about other people and got as much pleasure from seeing the guests enjoying her music as she got from singing.”

Our first Senior Concert took place on Wednesday 13th February.  Students from Years 10 to 13 (alongside two of our elite pathway musicians in Years 8 & 9) took to the stage to perform a range of excellent solos and ensembles. 

ASE Conference Birmingham

Spicing Up Science Even More enticed members of the science department to Britain’s second city for a major conference. Mrs McNeill, Miss Holliday, Miss Owen and Dr Taylor travelled to Birmingham for the Association of Science Education (ASE) annual conference on a Saturday morning in January. They found out about the latest technology and gadgets that could help students develop a deeper understanding of biology, chemistry and physics.       

From trying virtual reality headsets that allowed the exploration of the stars from a different perspective to investigating the latest circuit components from Japan for the electricity topic in physics, they collected a wealth of ideas to bring back to St Peter’s. Mrs McNeill said: “It was very hands on and keeping up to date with the latest developments for practicals can only improve our approach to teaching science in St Peter’s.”

Miss Holliday particularly enjoyed gaining ideas for Ecoclub, which is a science club that she runs every Tuesday for students. Recent topics have included plastics in oceans and planting trees. “Finding out about how the range of Molymods has been extended has provided some great ideas for our A-level chemistry lessons,” added Miss Owen. Dr Taylor collected some useful information that could be used to support sixth form students considering applying for medicine.

CyberFirst competition
Thirty of our Year 8 girls recently took part in the CyberFirst competition run by the National Cyber Security Centre, a division of GCHQ.  3,389 teams from across the country were competing for a top 10 place in the final.  We didn’t make it to the top 10 (this time around) but our girls put in an excellent challenge.  The level of enthusiasm and commitment was fantastic, and the department has discovered some serious computer science talent for the future.  Well done girls.  Watch this space for news of a forthcoming St Peter’s Cyber-club. Thanks to Mr Drumm for his work with the students.

Art department news
Two year 12 art students have been volunteering at Art Shape each week as part of the sixth form enrichment programme.  Art Shape are a charity that ‘help all people to engage with the arts as equals’ and they recently held a four week exhibition of painting, mixed media, sound works and installations created by artists at the Art Bridge Evolve programme and Art Shape associates.  Our year 12 students, Abi and Hannah Baldwin, submitted two pieces of work and were both successful in having their pieces chosen for the exhibition ‘Odyssey’ which ran until the 12^th February at Gloucester Cathedral.  We are really proud of their achievements.

Sporting news

Football
Huge congratulations to the year 7 boys, year 7/8 girls and year 8 boys who have made it to the last 8 of the England Schools Football Cup! It is an amazing achievement to have three teams in the last 8 and we wish them all the best for their next matches which take place in the week or two after half term when the year 7 boys are at home to Queen's College, Watford; the year 7/8 girls are at home to Chesham Grammar School; and the year 8 boys are away to Wright Robinson College. Thank you to the PE staff who have coached them and good luck in your next matches!

International sport
Congratulations to Mary McAteer who represented England U15s in football for a full 90 minutes playing centre midfield against Switzerland at the Park Schaffhausen on Wednesday 13^th February. Mary can also sometimes be seen in a red shirt playing for Wales as she recently did when she took over the captain's armband for a match between South Wales and Reading.

Gymnastics
Congratulations to the Under 13 gymnasts who came second in the South West BSGA gymnastics competition in Devon.  They now go on to compete in the national finals in March.  Well done in particular to Erin Goldie who was placed third overall.

Cross-Country Success
Congratulations to Esther Rumsey (Year 7), Alex Knight (Year 7) and Fin Hawkins (Year 10). All three students competed at the County Cross-Country Championships on Sunday January 20^th. Having all been placed in the top 15, they qualify for the South West Championships and to compete at the National English Schools Championships in Loughborough on Saturday March 23^rd. We wish them every success.

School ski trip
Over sixty students from year 7 right through to year 13 are taking part in the annual school ski trip to Austria in February half term.  Students are of varying abilities, and are hoping either to learn, improve or perfect their skills.  The ski trip is a great way to get to know people in other year groups, as well as an opportunity to challenge yourself and to keep active during half term. This is a popular trip and 40 students have already signed up to go in February 2020 so if your son/daughter would like to take part, please contact Mrs Beamish for information.

Whiteout by Gabriel Dylan
On a slightly related note, congratulations to Media and English teacher and assistant head of sixth form Mr Carl Jones whose first book Whiteout has been published to great success under his nom de plume Gabriel Dylan. It is a young adult horror novel suitable for students aged 12 and above and was partly inspired by Mr Jones’s participation in a St Peter's High School ski trip to Austria several years ago. Thankfully, there were no casualties in reality! It is not my usual cup of tea but I read it in one day and thoroughly enjoyed it. The book can be purchased at all good bookshops or online retailers and the school library currently has copies of the book at the reduced price of £5.60. We look forward to the next instalment!

We hope our students have a relaxing and enjoyable half term break and look forward to seeing them again on Monday 25th February (week 2). 

Happy Christmas

As always, it has been a busy and fulfilling (and long) term with lots happening in and out of the classroom. Staff and students are all ready for a rest!

Chaplaincy news

All year groups have participated in a Christmas liturgy led by our chaplain, Mandy Baker. It was lovely to see so many students participating by reading. The theme this year was a reflection on the Christmas story and God's call to trust him as trapeze flyers must trust the catcher. God invites us to place our trust in Him: do not be afraid.

This year we collected 86 Christmas shoeboxes which were delivered to children in Romania.
Thank you to everyone who contributed.

Chaplaincy Team Commissioning The ten students on our Chaplaincy team were commissioned at Clifton Cathedral on Friday 30th November. Each member of the Chaplaincy team is also a member of another Chaplaincy group such as the year 10 and 12 CAFOD teams, altar servers, Eucharistic ministers, year 7 and 8 teams and the Christian Union group.

During this season of Advent, form 12CMD organised a ‘Festive Friday’ raising £107 for CAFOD World Gifts by selling hot chocolate with cream and marshmallows. All money raised went towards buying an emergency shelter that could make a life-saving difference to a family in urgent need. They also bought water for a family. This will provide families with a supply of safe water in their homes for drinking and cooking. Finally, they raised enough money to buy a goat to provide a family with milk which they can drink or sell; it will also produce free fertiliser that can be used to help grow crops. Many thanks to all who supported this event! 

Music department news
On 28th November Year 10 GCSE Music students Josh (drums) and David (bass guitar), accompanied 200 primary school children in the Junior Voices Project held in Gloucester Cathedral.

Llanthony Priory

A-level Music students performed a lunchtime concert on 7 December at the newly restored Llanthony Secunda Priory.  This included both a choral and instrumental re-working of the 13^th century Llanthony Carol, Edi Beo Thu Hevene Quene.  We then sang the carol at various points around the city, including the Quays, Eastgate Shopping Centre, the Cross and the Cathedral.

 

The day after Llanthony Priory saw the Chamber Choir performing with former St Peter’s student and Chinese X Factor winner, Mary-Jess Leaverland on her winter tour.

 

Carols by Candlelight

Our main event of the term, Carols by Candlelight, took place at the Church of the Immaculate Conception, Stroud on Friday 14 December.  Students from all year groups took part and we were delighted once again to sing to a large and enthusiastic audience.  Through their generosity, we were able to support the church and make a significant donation to this year’s chosen charity, Young Minds.

To finish the term in festive style, the music department have been bringing Christmas cheer to one and all by busking around the site with carol singers on Thursday and Jazz Band on Friday!

A huge thank you to members of the music department and especially to Mrs Perfect for all their excellent extra-curricular work.

Oxbridge applications

Well done to the following students who applied for and have been interviewed for places at the following Oxford colleges:

Megan Cameron to study History at Christ Church College

Paul Pellissery to study History at St Benet’s Hall

Sam Harte to study Philosophy & Theology at Regent’s Park College

George Greaves to study PPE at Brasenose College

Finlay Stephens to study Engineering Science at St Edmund Hall

 

Maths news

Congratulations to the KS5 students who participated in the UK Senior Maths Challenge in November.  This national competition consists of challenging questions that encourage mathematical reasoning and precision of thought in addition to sound mathematical knowledge.  The following students were amongst the highest scoring nationally and so achieved awards as follows:

Silver:  Fran Smith

Bronze:  Max Stephenson, Ted Reece, Joshua Hensley and Lily Magri.

Well done to them all.

Careers advice and guidance

Recently thirty students from a range of year groups attended a presentation on Careers in Medicine as part of our Futures Programme. The speaker, Dr Giovanna Sheiybani, a Gastroenterology Registrar at Gloucestershire Royal Hospital, talked to students about her medical training and career pathway which has included a variety of  teaching roles as well as being the Junior Doctor Forum Chair and the Local Negotiating Committee Junior Doctor rep for her Trust.

Giovanna, who is also a mentor to  medical students also conducted mock Interviews for those sixth form students who have applied to study medicine at university. We hope Giovanna’s presentation has helped to inspire our students to become the  doctors of the future.

 

Sporting news

Basketball success

Last week St Peter’s participated in the Gloucester Schools District basketball tournaments and hosted three of the events (Year 8, 10 and 11). The St Peter’s played brilliantly throughout the week and the work the pupils put into attending Monday morning sessions, lunch-time and after-school practices since the first week of term one really paid off with some excellent team performances. The overall results were as follows:

Year 7 - 3^rd Place
Year 8 - 1^st Place
Year 9 – 1^st Place (the year 9 team have qualified for the county finals in January when the winner progresses to the national rounds).
Year 10 – 1^st Place
Year 11 – 2^nd Place (lost final by 1 point)

Congratulations to the teams and thank you to the P.E. staff and, in particular, Mr Staynings for his work with them.

 

Football success

The year 7 boys progressed to the 6th round (last 32 in the country) and have an away tie in Plymouth during the first week of the new term. The boys have been excellent, beating Gordano school 5-4 in the last round in a very exciting game.

 

The year 8 boys have progressed to the 6th round (last 32 in the country) after a comprehensive 6-0 home victory against Bradley Stoke and they now await another home game against Sandwell academy in the next game.

 

The year 7 and 8 girls team have progressed to the 6th round (last 16 in the country) after a fabulous 4-1 away win in the 5th round. This is an amazing achievement for the girls as they have progressed further than any other team in the school’s history. They await the draw for the next round on January 14th.

 

 

Congratulations to year 10 student Mary McAteer who has again represented Wales in international football in against Portugal in Lisbon this week.  

 

Visit to Normandy, half term 2019

The Modern Languages department has launched their cross-curricular KS3 trip to Normandy in October half term 2019. Any year 7 or 8 students who are interested should speak to their MFL teacher for further details.  This is a great opportunity to visit the Normandy Landing Beaches and the Bayeux Tapestry, as to well as to sample local French delicacies.

 

Staffing news

Two members of staff are leaving us at the end of term:

Mr Dan Edwards is leaving us to take up a post as head of economics and business studies. We thank him for all his hard work in maths, economics & business and, in particular, for the enormous amount of his own time he has devoted to our students participating in the Duke of Edinburgh award scheme.

Mrs  Barker (modern foreign languages) is taking up a post producing training materials in an aeronautical company. She has contributed greatly to the languages department as well as to the progress team where she has organised the Scholar’s programme for several cohorts of our students.

Mrs Deborah Harrisson has been appointed to the maths and business & economics department.

Mrs Suzanne Lord has been appointed to the languages department.

A reminder that term starts on Monday 7^th January 2019 which is week 2.

We wish everyone a peaceful and a happy Christmas.

 

 

End of Term

Mass for Saints Peter and Paul and Awards Assembly

The Mass and awards assembly on the feast of Saints Peter and Paul went extremely well. A huge number of people contributed to its success but particular thanks go to the music department and, of course, to our chaplain, Mandy Baker, and to Monsignor Liam Slattery.

Natasha Burch, year 12, performed her A Level composition at both the Mass and the year 6 welcome liturgy. Sofia Hensley and Bethan Brito, year 7, sang ‘A Million Dreams’ from 'The Greatest Showman' in the awards ceremony. The year 9 band (Seb Rowe, David Copestake, Cyril Carvajal, Keyan Littleton, Josh Riches) performed ‘Some Might Say’ by Oasis during the awards ceremony. The music department collaborated with the PE Department to perform Stormzy’s ‘Blinded by your Grace’ featuring soloist Harry Matthews, rappers Hansen Castaneda and Pearse O’Neill alongside Mrs Donovan’s gymnasts during the awards ceremony.

All students in Year 8 spent 6 weeks designing and creating banners for the Mass and awards assembly. Each class made one banner using a quotation from the parable of the Sheep and the Goats.

This year’s banners were colourful and spread the message of God’s love into our community.

Other Chaplaincy News

The Year 7 Emmaus First Communion Group celebrated their First Holy Communion with Mgr Liam at St Peter’s Church.

Students having been walking a mile supporting the 'Share the Journey' CAFOD campaign, highlighting the experiences of refugees.

We have had Liturgies for Year 11 and Year 6 as they both prepare for the next stage of their future.

Year 9 shared their annual retreat days together with the theme ‘Stronger Together'.

At Sports Day the CAFOD group sold refreshments and raised £300 for the Help Madina charity in Sierra Leone.

We are preparing for our next IGNITE evening with 5 time world record holding football freestyler Daniel Cutting on Friday Sept 28^th at 6.30pm in the school hall. Tickets: £2.

The St Peter’s High School Jazz Band played at the Tuffley Festival - Saturday 7^th July 2018.
David Copestake – Year 9 Student and Jazz Band Bass Guitarist - writes:

Tuffley Festival took place at Tuffley Rovers F.C. on Saturday 7^th July 2018. Families came to enjoy the sun whilst watching a dog show, browsing pop up stalls and enjoying performances from dance troops, primary school choirs, scouts and guides and, of course, the St Peter’s High School Jazz Band.

The band features a range of amazing saxophonists, a fabulous trumpeter, a great pianist, some noisy electric guitarists, two incredible bass guitarists and a loud drummer! With our very important conductor, Mrs Perfect, we performed some jazzy tunes along with some popular songs like Havana, sung by year 11 student Avygayle Smith. Band members range from students in year 8, all the way up to year 13. We also have teachers in our band. It’s great to have so much musical talent packed into a band and we have a lot of fun doing what we do.

Even though we all missed the first five minutes of the football, it was a fabulous event with a lovely audience cheering us on.

-       

ABRSM Exam Results

Congratulations to year 13 student Hannah Soares for achieving Grade 8 Singing with Distinction this term. This follows a Distinction on Grade 8 Piano in the previous term! This completes another year of a 100% pass rate in our ABRSM Music exams for students in all years groups. Other notable results: Jessica Smith (year 13) and Robyn Marment (year 13) both achieved Grade 8 singing with merit.

Art Show

The end of year art show was a great success, showcasing the excellent work of students from year 7 to year 13.  Parents, guardians, governors, staff and students seized the opportunity to come and have a look at the work on display and were impressed by the skill, creativity and hard work of students this year.  The KS3 Best in show 2018 was won by Zuzanna Watorska for her detailed study of Francoise Nielly’s work.

The Schools Award in the Gloucestershire Apprenticeship Awards

We are delighted that St Peter’s won the Schools Award in the recent Gloucestershire Apprenticeship Awards. This is due to the hard work of our careers officer, Sarah Beeton, and her assistant Georgina Blackburn.

KS5 Educational visits

The Year 12 Politics trip to Westminster was a great success. The students were excellent and visited the Supreme Court as well as the Houses of Parliament. They also took part in an elections workshop in parliament which proved to be good fun for all.

The technology department took students to the New Designers Show in London.

The geography department took 22 A-Level Geographers to Snowdonia and the Quantock Hills to complete their physical geography fieldwork.  Students studied glacial landforms, compared glacial and fluvial sediments and tested the infiltration rates of the soil surrounding a river.  The students worked exceptionally hard, and members of the public commented that they were a credit to the school.  A-Level geography students are required to undertake 4 days of fieldwork; they also visit the suburbs of Gloucester and Brockenhurst in the New Forest for their human geography fieldwork.

The Duke of Edinburgh award scheme
The Silver DofE groups made a fantastic effort on their qualifying expedition in the Brecons, despite very hot weather and insect attacks. They showed great resilience and teamwork. We were delighted that their assessor said they were one of the most impressive groups he had assessed.

The Gold group completed their practice expedition in style at the same time and are well-prepared for the qualifying expedition, which they will do in Snowdonia next summer, when they return to school as Year 12 students. As always, a huge thank you to the staff who give up their weekends for the expeditions.

Summer schools

Well done to a number of our Year 12 students who have successfully secured prestigious university summer schools and other placements which will be of enormous value in themselves and also in applying to universities next year:

Megan Cameron will attend a summer school at Cambridge University and at John Locke summer school in France;

Orla Sheehan will attend summer school at Cambridge University;

Sam Harte will attend a summer school at Bristol University with the Sutton Trust;

Jordan Topping Allsopp will attend a STEM course with Liverpool University;

George Greaves has secured a week's placement in the UK parliament;

Paul Pellissery will be attending an UNIQ course with Oxford University.

Several students have also received invitations to a medical skills event at Cheltenham General Hospital.

The Brilliant Club

Last week saw twelve of our year 8 pupils graduate from the Scholars Programme in the Wills Memorial Hall at the University of Bristol. They each produced a university style essay on literary theories and all achieved a 2:1 or a first! They have worked above their academic level and have shown tremendous resilience and commitment. They have also discovered what university entails and been inspired by the experience.

The Institute of Physics

We are delighted that Mr Jones-Parry has been seconded by the Institute of Physics to conduct training which will benefit students from St Peter's as well as in other schools.


KS3 Elite History awards evening

Once again, students from across Key Stage Three amazed the history department with their incredible projects this summer. The selected students were given a local history project, investigating in Year 7 ‘The Death of Edward II’, in Year 8 the ‘Treatment of Heretics in Early Modern Gloucester’ and in Year 9 the ‘Involvement of Gloucester Soldiers in the First and Second World War.’ 

The work was showcased on Monday 16^th July, with the following students selected as winners:

Elite historian of year 7- Fergus O’Grady

Elite Historian for Year 8- Bethany Smart

Elite historian for year 9- Mary McAteer.

Overall winner of the Elite History project for Key Stage three- Benjamin Robinson-Baber.

Run to Wales

Year 9 students took part in a sponsored Run to Wales, raising funds for CAFOD. They were joined by former student, George Lloyd, who plays for Cheltenham Town. The students ran 126.6km, the equivalent to running from Gloucester to Swansea and raised £1, 500 for CAFOD. The whole event was a great team effort.

National success in tennis
The boys' tennis team again made the national finals in Nottingham and came 11th in the country. Thank you to Keiran Montagu and the other coaches for all their work with our tennis teams.

Sports Day

Sports Day on Monday was a great success. Thank you to students, staff and parents for their support.  There was a lovely atmosphere and it was delightful to see so many young people participating and displaying their talents. A big thank you to the PE department for all this work.

Year 10 news

Congratulations to the sixteen year 7 mentors who have been appointed and who helped our new year 7 students on their induction day.

After rigorous interview 5 students were chosen to participate in an accredited  STEM work placement.

The whole year group also participated in a STEM day. The students were guided by professionals within leading Science, Technology, Engineering and Math vocations as to how they might best access employment within these areas of work.

EAL

On Tuesday 10^th July 2018, the EAL COPE class planted a tree as part of their environment module of their qualification. They have been working on a variety of topics within the module and this week moved on to look at trees. Mrs Lange kindly donated the cherry tree to the class. The group had a lot of fun digging the hole and planting the tree into the ground. They have set up a rota between themselves and have been watering it daily. 

Insight

You can securely access your son or daughter's assessments, attendance, achievements, behaviour and other information, including exam timetables, updated in real time, through the web service Insight.  If you do not already have an account, email insight@sphs.uk.com 

Summer CampsThe annual Clifton Diocese Summer Camps have launched for 2018 and bookings are now being taken. This year, the camps have moved to a new location in Viney Hill in the Forest of Dean and are being held between 13-17 August (ages 7-11) and 20-24 August (ages 12-16). The camps promise to be weeks full of fun, faith and friendship. If you are interested in finding out more, or to book a place for your child, please visit http://livingyourfaith.co.uk or email livingyourfaith@hotmail.co.uk.

Staffing

The following members of staff are retiring at the end of term:

Mrs Eileen Lewis (maths)

Mrs Helen Stenson (data manager)

Mrs Mary Lally (maths)

Mr Jonathan Soar (teaching assistant)

Mrs Foster (teaching assistant)

Mr Gibbons (mental health nurse)

The following members of staff are leaving at the end of term:

Mrs Fernandez (MFL)

Mr Dill (P.E.)

Mr Rouffet (science)

Mrs George (MFL / ICT)

Mrs Larkin-Lawton (technology)

Ms Fearn (politics)

Ms Main (MFL)

Mrs O'Donnell (English)

Ms Brookes (science)

Mr Lawless (MFL).

We thank all staff who are leaving for their hard work at St Peter's and wish them well in the future.

Homework and assessment points next academic year

Thank you to those parents who completed the online survey on homework and assessment. Next year students in years 7, 8 and 9 will have an overview of homework stuck in to their planners to help them to manage their time. Further details of how each subject is setting homework can also be seen via a link on this page of the school website: https://www.stpetershighschool.org.uk/Teaching--Learning/Homework/  

We have made some changes to our assessment system for next year but assessment letters will still be sent home three times a year and will reflect assessments completed in class in test conditions, attitude to learning and whether or not students are making expected progress. The system will continue to use the new numerical GCSE system with final gradings from 9 (high) to 1 (low).  Staff will be assessing whether students have the age appropriate skills to progress to the GCSE grade range suggested by their KS2 results.  The target grade range is based on performance at primary school and is used to suggest the potential GCSE grade your son or daughter may attain.  We will be able to discuss this in more details at the September information evenings.

Uniform and hair styles

Please check the school website before allowing your sons or daughters to dye their hair, have tramlines cut in or extremely short hair and before purchasing new items of uniform.  In particular, trousers must not be skinny or clingy, socks should be black and at least ankle length (not trainer socks) and we have a specific school skirt which can be purchased at the uniform shops. 

Parking

May I remind you not to try to enter the bus bay at the end of school until 4pm after which there is no problem at all.  We have again experienced problems with some parents blocking driveways of local residents so I ask all parents and guardians to be sensitive to our neighbours.

We have had an extremely positive and challenging year and I am sure you would like to echo my thanks to all the staff for their hard work and commitment to your children. Thank you also for your support. We hope your sons and daughters enjoy the summer break and look forward to seeing them again in September.