Dear all,

This week, it has been wonderful to welcome back Year 10. Around 85% of the year group have come in this week for face to face lessons in English, Maths and Science, and we have absolutely loved having them here! Their energy has been invigorating, with not even the torrential rain this week dampening their spirits, and our staff have been thrilled to be able to teach some “normal” lessons to them! We have also started the academic review process, where we’re meeting students 1:1 to discuss their online learning and set targets. We’ll be working our way through Year 10 over the next few weeks and sending detailed feedback home via email when we do.

Meanwhile, we’ve had a small number of Year 12s working on site, but our live Google Meet lessons are now running extremely smoothly, which is allowing us to offer a very similar experience to being in school five days a week. The feedback from staff and students has been extremely positive, and it’s enabled us to tackle some of the most complex A Level topics, which need to be discussed in detail.

Finally, there has been much in the news recently around the impact of missing school on children’ progress. The most recent studies suggest that fewer than 17% completing more than four hours a day. We will of course be thinking carefully about how we can support students who need to catch up when we return to school, but the best way to support students is to make sure they keep learning throughout this pandemic so that they don’t fall far behind in the first place. Thanks to you all, the vast majority of our students continue to complete five hours worth of lessons every day. We know just how hard this is – and all of our staff are hugely grateful to you for your efforts.

Best wishes,

Patrick Farmbrough

Headteacher