Welcome back 2023

Welcome back to our first parent communication of 2023. We have really enjoyed our return to teaching and students have quickly refound their rhythm.

As part of our training and development for our staff we are continuing to push the importance of oracy in the classroom, ensuring that students are empowered to participate actively in lessons. We are developing techniques that support students to actively listen to the contributions of others and to use what they have heard to further develop their own understanding. In a Year 10 History lesson I walked into this week students were engaged in exactly this sort of activity.

Last night we held our Year 13 Parents Evening focused on preparing students for upcoming external exams, mocks, final exams and talking about future destinations. Thank you so much to all parents for supporting this evening. It is by working together like this that we can increase the impact we have with our students. We are looking forward to seeing Year 11 parents next week (more details below).

National strike action is continuing to dominate headlines and I expect to see stories about possible strikes within the education sector from next week. The country’s largest teaching union, the NEU, is set to announce the results of its ballot in the coming days. We will, of course, keep you updated with developments on this front.