End of Term - Letter to Parents

Thank you as ever for all of your support, your feedback and also your active involvement supporting your child each
and every day with their education.

As we come to the end of a really successful half term, I just wanted to give you an update about what has been
happening in and around school to help make this good school even better for our students.

In everything we do through our school improvement work everything is targeted with two aims in mind:
• We want all students to experience a positive and enriching school life.
• We want positive and respectful relationships across the school, giving a safe, orderly and inclusive
environment.

Through tutor time, assemblies and to explicitly build strong relationships we have been focusing this half term on
how we treat others, being kind and treating others as we would want to be treated ourselves. The vast majority of
students get this right each and every day and this makes us incredibly proud of them.

Some of the areas we have been specifically focusing on are:

Attendance – where we have seen a big improvement this term, and I know that both students and parents
understand the clear link between good attendance and making good progress. Thank you for all your support with
this.

SEND – we have expanded our team with more Teaching Assistants than ever before and we now have more staff
leading in this area with 2 new Deputy SENCO roles in place. This means that we are able to provide more support
for those students who have identified needs and this is helping them succeed in their learning.

Independent Learning/Homework - we are ensuring that this is set regularly across all areas and the vast
majority of homework is aimed at helping students to remember their learning long term. The majority of students
are now into good habits, regularly completing homework and we will continue to focus supporting students with
this over the year. For students who struggle with their homework, there is support available every day after school
in our information centre with Teaching Assistants and IT facilities available for any student who needs help.

School Council – over 150 students are involved in leadership roles working on a range of projects, such as
recycling, mental health, and anti-bullying work to ensure that all students have access to the support they need.

School site - our new outside catering facility and outside seating areas are being well used by students and helping to reduce
queueing times whilst also providing a place for students to relax with their friends at break and lunch. Around the building we have also been working on signage which has been really positively received by students as we look for ways to improve our school environment so that it is welcoming for all students.

Arbor - Early next term parents will be given access to Arbor so that you can access up to date information on your child’s attendance and achievements so that you can feel more involved in your child’s education. Thank you for bearing with us as we moved to this new system this half term.

I hope you all have a nice half term break.

Yours sincerely
Chris Doherty
Headteacher