Dear Parents and Carers
Welcome to a round up of the week. With just two weeks remaining, it is hard to believe that the end of the half term is on the horizon!
Events this week
This week there have been a number of activities and events taking place:
- Year 10 & 11 Drama Pupils participated in a workshop with BAFTA Award Winning Director Tim O’Mara to have a real life insight into the process of producing and directing drama for television
- We welcomed Thomas Hardye’s Head of Sixth Form, Richard Nicholls to speak to Year 11 about sixth form routes and options after GCSE
- Year 7 & 9 boys played football against Thomas Hardye and Millfield respectively, both narrowly missing out on a win, but in two great games
- Year 9 girls played against Budmouth also this week and showed real resilience throughout despite not winning this time around
- Pupils in Apollo and Pioneer Houses had assemblies with their Heads of House, Mr McConnell and Mr Twigg respectively. Everyone has had a colours badge with more House assemblies next week and the week after
Well done to everyone involved in all of the above!
Coming up
Next week, there are as ever, further events in our calendar:
- Year 11 Revision Evening – Monday 9 October 5: 30pm. If you are a Year 11 parent / carer, please do attend this evening and bring your child with you. They are welcome to attend if you are unable to do so due to work commitments. This is a great opportunity for them to learn more about a range of revision techniques and strategies.
- Year 11 pupils will have a chance to hear from Budmouth Sixth Form also on Monday about their offer for Post 16
- During the day on Monday, we welcome K9 Deployment with their search and rescue sniffer dogs. This is now a regular event in our school year and we look forward to welcoming K9 back as part of our Drugs Awareness and Education Programme.
- We will launch our first Interhouse Competition – a suitably seasonable pumpkin carving contest! Mr McConnell is running this and we look forward to seeing some fun entries coming in
- On Wednesday and Thursday we have our annual Quality of Education Review in which Senior Colleagues from Ambitions Academies Trust visit the school for two days. Pupils should expect visitors in lessons on Weds 11 October and Thurs 12 October.
- Principal’s Breakfast returns on Friday 13 October (what better day?!) to say a huge well done to pupils for Term 1
- Year 10 Food & Nutrition pupils will have the Royal Navy visiting on Wednesday to share with them some catering tips and tricks. I look forward, as ever, to sampling the fruits of their labour!
Important updates about school operations
Mobile Phones
I am incredibly grateful to parents supporting us regarding mobile phones. The dependency that many youngsters have on their device is not healthy and you may have seen the news this week that the Education Secretary is planning to introduce guidance to ban them completely during the school day. (She is a little behind the times in Weymouth & Portland where schools have realised this is a sensible way forward for some years.)
Our position is this: for the first time that a pupil’s phone is seen, it will be confiscated, handed into the office and then returned to the pupil. For the second and subsequent times, it will be confiscated and returned to a parent / carer only. Senior members of staff are always on site into the evening until 6.30pm and so if you need to collect the phone, please do not worry if you need to come a little later. We will always work with pupils to make sure they can arrange homeward travel in the evening also. It is so important, though, that they do not argue with staff and accept the rules. Thank you for reminding them of this.
Whilst on the subject of mobile phones, I am concerned about some groups that children are in on social media. This is the same around the country but it does not mean that parents should stop checking devices at secondary school. Please check your child’s device regularly and help them leave and block any unhelpful groups.
Food at Break and Lunch
Thank you for reminding pupils about eating food in the Hall / Canteen at lunch and break and not in the corridors / outside. There has been less litter about the site this week which has been good.
No Physical Contact at Break or Lunch
Children should not make physical contact with one another during the school day, including at break or lunch. This prevents situations arising from incidents that can appear innocuous or friendly at first but then lead to pupils getting a bit overexcited.
Achievement Points, Attendance and Learning Ready
Next week, pupils whose attendance and Learning Ready scores have been good (i.e. no warnings / removals) and who have good attendance will be awarded additional achievement points to their Satchel One Account. Well done to everyone who is expecting a reward in this regard!
Finally
Please can I take this chance to thank parents for working so closely with us. I think it’s clear that building back from Covid continues to take some time, but it is by working together that we achieve the most. Please email or phone us if you need to meet – this helps us plan the day effectively and support your children. It is not always possible to have immediate appointments simply by turning up at reception.
Enjoy the weekend and may you find moments of peace in a fast paced world. God bless you and your family!
John Cornish
Principal