As we end another exciting week at school, we are thrilled to see the enthusiasm building among our Year 7 students for the upcoming House Cheer competition. We were so impressed with the organisation, leadership and talent displayed during lunch time practices which only makes us even more excited for Tuesday's event!

Creativity has also been shown in other ways this week. We were pleased to see the creative expressions on the form boards, covered with insights from the 'all about me' worksheets completed during our recent 'exploring my identity' session. The session provided an opportunity for students to delve into the complexities of identity, understanding its significance and beginning to unravel their own uniqueness. Looking forward to next session, Year 7s will gain an insight into stereotypes and their detrimental effects.

Finally, we would like to congratulate Eva C 7PX, alongside Maisy R 8EX, who competed in the TeamGym Southern qualifiers last weekend. They had to get 40 points to qualify and achieved 43 points which meant that they achieved 2nd out of South and North of England. They now have 4 months before the British Finals in Newcastle - we are so proud, well done you two!

⭐ STARS OF THE WEEK ⭐

7CX: Willow M, Daisy M and Flo S - for taking the lead in our House Cheer and helping each person remember the steps. They have shown patience, kindness and have made this activity such fun for all.

7CY: Annabelle P - for her brave flying during Cheer stunts.

7EX: Polly H, Machaela L and Dulcie S - for spending lunch times making posters for House Cheer.

7EY: Pippa W - for persevering and practising her gymnastics skills.

7MX: Emily B - for always doing the right thing and always with enthusiasm.

7PX: Zara C - for all her hard work in preparation for the Cheer competition.

My favourite part of this week has, without a doubt, been seeing the amount of bronze AIM awards being completed by our students! It's wonderful to see just how consistently enthusiastic and engaged Year 8 are showing themselves to be, and I’m even more pleased at the demand for the silver level of the award starting next week for those students who are interested.

This week, we have had a lovely assembly from Mr Hiller surrounding Science Week, with the theme focusing on sustainability and what can be done to help our planet moving forwards. With that said, it feels prudent to remind students about the impact that they have on the planet (even on a micro level) and to thank those students who, day-to-day make the correct decision on the school site to clean up their rubbish and litter. Sadly, however, the litter in communal spaces continues to be an issue, and every student in Year 8 plays a vital role in keeping the community in a respectable state.

Finally, I’m very excited that next week we will be kicking off our Curriculum Refinement process, when Mr Sheffield and I will be talking Year 8 through the process - I am keen to see just how thoughtful Year 8 will be surrounding their future choices.

Have a lovely weekend!

⭐ STARS OF THE WEEK ⭐

8CX: Lily M - for always being super helpful and offering to do jobs to assist members of staff.

8CY: India R - for being a supportive friend, demonstrating kindness and throwing herself into form activities.

8EX: Khadija A - for excellent engagement and participation in form time.

8EY: Rosie H - for her dedication to improving in Spanish.

8MX: Cleide M - for her commitment to excellence, integrity, and positivity.

8MY: Megan H - for being the first student in the form to complete her AIM award.

8PX: Isabelle L - for being the first student in the form to complete her AIM award.

8PY: Jasmine T - for her fantastic efforts coordinating cheerleading.

From speaking to Year 10 this week, you get the sense that this is a funny time of year. For some, seeing Year 11 complete their final mock exams and counting down the days to their last day at school has brought home the reality that they will be in the same boat this time next year. For others, they have been very honest in reflecting on how talk of ‘this time next year’ still doesn’t have a sense of urgency for them. The reality is somewhere in between: we don’t want our students to feel that exams are looming nightmarishly, but we would also encourage them to start thinking carefully about the next few months. What habits can they make or break now before it becomes simply too little, too late? As we mentioned at the start of the year, Year 10 is all about being prepared and placing ourselves in the best position for Year 11, Sixth Form, and beyond.

Mr Hewett, Mr Styles and I have been so impressed with the focus students have shown this week. In Maths, students are thinking and working hard and, if I may, I’d like to share how impressed I have been with my two Year 10 French classes, who took the complexities of the imperfect tense completely in their stride and, in some cases, worked with material that I would usually select for my A Level students.

A last reminder that Monday 18 March is our deadline for students to have logged any work experience placements on Unifrog. For those who have not done so by this date, please do not worry; we will be in touch to talk about how we can organise the week.

Finally, thank you to all who attended (and were willing to feedback on) our ‘Evening in the Life’ event last week. The link did not appear to be working last week, so we will try this again HERE. Many thanks in advance for your comments!

⭐ STARS OF THE WEEK ⭐

10CX: Eilidh M - for representing the school so well in the Year 10 District Netball Tournament where the team finished in third place against some very tough opposition!

10CY: Ellie R - for achieving her 75-merit certificate this week and for being proactive and disciplined in organising work experience!

10EX: Sabirah A - for using Unifrog really well to research possible career paths.

10EY: Kristy G – for her thoughtful questions about work experience and getting into teaching.

10MX: Grace M - for her focus and mature attitude in Biology when reflecting on her recent assessment.

10MY: Tika C - for her consistent effort in Maths, receiving 20 merits for both classwork and homework.

10PX: Nina K – for always acting with integrity and showing kindness to those around her.

10PY: Sushritha T - for her unfailingly positive attitude.

Year 11 have had another great week, and it has been lovely to see students return to lessons with such focus and positivity following the PPEs, making the most of the last few weeks of lessons that they have left. Next week, in form time, Year 12 students will be running sessions to share their advice on how to best use their remaining time to prepare for GCSE exams, speaking from their own recent experiences. Year 11 students will receive their PPE results on Wednesday 20 March in the Main Hall, and on Thursday 21 March we will be holding a virtual Parents' Evening, when students and parents/carers will receive important feedback from teachers about their strengths and things to work on following their mock exams, as well as advice on how to best use this time leading up to GCSE exams to feel as confident and prepared as possible to ensure their successes.

⭐ STARS OF THE WEEK ⭐

11CX: Freya R - for her continual positivity and calm approach to her mock exams.

11CY: Olivia T - for her dedication and commitment during PPEs.

11EX: Emily G - for her resilience and determination during mock exams.

11EY: Cerys L - for her hard work and determination.

11MX: Lilly B - for showing resilience and keeping positive during mock exams.

11MY: Sarah Q - for showing determination in Maths and fantastic improvement in her mock exams.

11PX: Toni C - for her resilience, positivity and calm determination during mock exams.

11PY: Lucie M - for determination during mock exams, including in PE.