In The Loop

Dear families,

I hope you all had a lovely half-term break and it has been a pleasure to welcome pupils back this week. As parents/carers are aware, it is vitally important that your child attends school every day that they are able and the links between school attendance and pupil outcomes are well documented. I was delighted to learn that we have won a FFT National School Attendance Award (click here) for last academic year, with our attendance placing us in the top 10% of all FFT secondary schools in England. I am privileged to be the Headteacher of a school that is so valued by the community and where all of our staff work incredibly hard to ensure that pupils feel safe, that they belong and are able to thrive. I would like to thank parents and carers for your continued support with your child’s attendance. 

Safeguarding

On a less positive note, I have been disappointed to hear from a small number of members of the local community about the anti-social behaviour of young people in the local area. This includes dropping litter but also reports of groups of young people loitering around alleyways and properties and intimidating (either intentionally or not) local residents and younger children. Should we identify Christ’s College pupils behaving in such a manner we will take a position in line with our behaviour policy. Please remind your child that they should be going straight home after school, particularly as the evenings become darker earlier, and that they are always representing the school when they are identifiable as a Christ’s College pupil.

Parents and carers will be aware that there can be issues with pupils’ use of social media and Mr Zanjani, Head of Year 8, wrote to parents of Year 8 on this topic earlier this week. I feel it is important to share Mr Zanjani’s message with all parents as we have, like many schools, been aware of incidents where pupils send unkind messages to other pupils outside of school. These messages can then continue into the school day, affecting relationships, learning and wellbeing. It is important that young people understand that social media activity is not private - once something is sent or posted it can be screenshot and shared, and it remains online permanently. Pupils are taught online safety through our tutorial programme, MyZone lessons and Computer Science lessons, and we ask for your continued support in monitoring your child’s phone and online activity. Please take time to:

• consider delaying allowing your child to have a smartphone until they are age 14 and delaying access to social media until they are 16. There are legal age limits for social media platforms which are over 13 for TikTok, instagram, snapchat, X and YouTube, and over 16 for WhatsApp;

• regularly check your child’s phone - who they are messaging, which group chats they are in, and what content they are sending or receiving;

• discuss the impact of unkind or threatening messages and make clear that these behaviours are unacceptable;

• ensure location sharing is switched on for your child’s device so that you are aware of their whereabouts when travelling to and from school or socialising outside of school hours;

• set clear screen-time limits on phones and apps to help your child: most smartphones now have built-in parental controls such as Screen Time or Digital Wellbeing which allow you to monitor usage and set daily limits.

Should parents/carers have any questions or concerns, please contact your child’s Head of Year in the first instance via the main school office (info@ccfplus.com). 

Communications

I would like to remind parents and carers that staff should be contacted through the main office: info@ccfplus.com or by calling 020 8349 3581. Staff will always aim to respond as soon as possible but please remember that teachers are likely to be teaching during the school day and may have meetings after school. Please call the school on the main number if there is an urgent issue. Should your child be too unwell to attend school, please email attendance@ccfplus.com before 8.30am on every day of your child’s absence. 

This week has seen a number of announcements from the DfE including the publication of the curriculum review (click here) and the DfE response (click here) which includes proposed changes to the national curriculum from September 2028, GCSE content changing in two phases (for first teaching in September 2029 and 2030) and A-level content changing, again in two phases (first teaching in September 2031 and 2032), alongside changes to Progress 8 and Attainment 8 accountability measures (for pupils starting GCSEs in September 2027) (click here). Change is inevitable in education and whilst many of these changes appear positive there will be challenges and I will of course share more information with families over the coming weeks including how to respond to the consultations that will be taking place for some of these changes.

Remembrance Day

This Sunday is Remembrance Sunday and next Tuesday 11th November is Remembrance Day and there will be an assembly for all pupils including two minutes’ silence at 11am. With the continuing conflict globally it is more important than ever that we come together and reflect on the lessons of the past. We all come from different backgrounds but we are all part of one community and in a time where there is conflict both near and far it is vital that we remember our shared values and that we work together to show our aspiration for a peaceful future.

Finally, I am looking forward to a dramatic start to the weekend watching the school production of Macbeth that takes place this evening at the King Alfred Phoenix Theatre. I am very much looking forward to watching our pupils performing and I know they have all been working very hard in preparation for tonight and are looking forward to ‘strut[ting] and fret[ting] their hour [or two] upon the stage’ on their ‘day of success’. I look forward to seeing many of you there tonight and wish all of our community a peaceful weekend.

Dr Ruth Hill

Headteacher