Welcome to the first newsletter of 2023. I hope that everyone managed to enjoy an element of the festive period.
Year 11 students have their trial exams next week. Yesterday they had an assembly covering exam logistics and protocols. It was a re-cap of information they are already aware of including making sure mobile phones and watches are switched off and in their bags, water bottles are clear and do not have any labels, their pockets are empty and they remain in silence throughout their exam from the time they walk in the door to the time they leave. These are the most very basic of expectations but must be adhered to. We have a duty to report malpractice, and we will, in order to ensure the integrity of our centres. There are a significant number of exams staff on hand to support students through this, as well as their pastoral leads, we just need to make sure that they prepare appropriately and make every mark count, not losing any through an avoidable mistake. Morning exams start at 9am, students need to be lined up by 8.45am, please ensure your children are on time to school. If you have any concerns, please contact your child’s tutor or Head of Year in the first instance.
I delivered assemblies to other year groups this week about the ‘Success’ element of our ASPIRE core values. This asked, what is success and how do you get it? I explained that success can be achieved following five principles, ABCDE. Attendance – ‘You should be here every single day. This is the MOST important thing you can do to be successful’, Behaviour – ‘You control this. You decide how you act and all the decisions you make. NO ONE else makes these decisions’. Classwork – ‘This is why you are here so you need to put in the maximum effort to get the best results’. Dress Code – ‘We have a simple uniform – stick to it each and every day’. Expectations – ‘I believe in you, your teachers believe in you – you need to have the highest expectations possible if you want to be successful’. Please reinforce these messages with your children.
This term will be important for our Year 9 students as we will be starting to explore the Keystage 4 Pathways process with them.
Thank you to all of our students who returned to school in full uniform and prepared to learn, it has been great to see smart, enthusiastic, happy faces this week.
I hope you have a good weekend.