In The Loop

Dear families,

I am delighted that our Head Chef/Food Educator, Amber Francis, has won her regional heats and is through to the next stage of the Great British Menu. From her starter honouring Humphrey Davy to her dessert featuring the poetry of Hannah More, Chef Amber’s dishes were a reflection of how she combines impressive food with education. I hope you spotted the Sarabi Hall when Amber was interviewed and heard the music played by two of our Sixth Form pupils - Daniel and Terry - which accompanied Amber’s main course. Chef Amber is now through to finals week and one step closer to potentially cooking at the banquet at Blenheim Palace! 

I would like to thank the families of Year 7 pupils who attended Year 7 parents’ evening this week. It is lovely to see how well Year 7 pupils have settled into life in secondary school at CCF and to hear the positive feedback from teachers and families. 

You may have seen in the news that there have been consultations this week from the Department for Education (DfE) focusing on changes to the inspection framework from Ofsted (click here) and to school accountability (click here). I would encourage parents to read and respond to the consultations of the proposals so that the DfE can consider views from all stakeholders.

Parents and carers may be aware that there is guidance that schools should be open for a minimum of 32.5 hours per week. This is the case for our pupils in Years 10-13 but we are slightly under for pupils in Years 7-9. I am currently consulting with staff to consider their views and would welcome feedback from parents regarding our proposals which would mean either extending tutorial by ten minutes for all pupils and/or extending lunch time for pupils in Year 7-9 by ten minutes. Please provide any feedback through the main office info@ccfplus.com.

Finally, next week is the last week of this half term and the Year 11 pupils of the prom committee have convinced me that Friday 14th February 2025 can be a non-uniform day to raise money towards the Year 11 prom. Pupils should ideally wear something red, white or pink on Friday and a donation of £2 is requested via ParentPay. As always, it is a normal school day and therefore pupils must dress appropriately for school; for example, pupils must wear clothing that covers their midriff and avoid strappy tops and high-heeled shoes. Any make-up or jewellery worn must be subtle and there can be no offensive logos or wording on clothing. Should pupils arrive in clothing that is not appropriate, we will ask families to drop off a change of clothes and pupils will be out of circulation until they are able to change. 

Finally, I wish you all a lovely weekend.

Dr Ruth Hill