Dear Parents and Carers,
We've made it to the end of half term, what a half term it's been. Lots to celebrate!
Many thanks for supporting the non-uniform day today. As a school we raised over £350. The money will be used by our LORIC Community Group, who are creating feminine emergency boxes for the toilets and for use at home.
We've had visitors in school this week for our Trust review, the review focused on Attendance, Teaching and Learning and Assessment. Whilst I await the full report, the verbal feedback was very positive. The improvements in attendance were commended and all of the work our Attendance, Pastoral and SEND team have put into improving attendance by nearly 5%. The strategic plans for improving KS3 Assessment were validated, and the impact of these plans will be seen over the coming months. The review team were highly complementary on the increase in active engagement in lessons, through the use of mini-white boards, turn and talk, modelling and scaffolding.
We look forward to embedding these strategies further in the future.
All pupils have been focusing on careers and their future over the last few weeks. It was great to see our Year 10 pupils showcasing each subject as our Year 9 pupils moved around on their options carousel. We look forward to exploring the option choices after half term.
Unfortunately, we have to say goodbye to two members of staff. Mrs Whitehead has been our ELSA support but, sadly, is having to relocate with her family. Mr S Page has had to leave for personal reasons. We wish them both well and thank them for their hardwork and the support they have given to our pupils. We have welcomed Mr Matthews to the DT department this week. He has made an excellent start.
I hope you manage to have a good half term. We look forward to welcoming pupils back on Monday 24th February 2025.
Nicky Goodridge, Head of School
