Dear Parents

At Nexus, we pride ourselves on being an empowering learning-focused community. We are setting learners up for life, not just further study. Each semester we run our Parent Workshop focusing on the four elements of the Nexus Way: Innovation, Mindsets, Relationships and Inclusion. We encourage all new families to attend this session so they gain a good understanding of the Nexus Way and how our approach to learning and teaching is built on strong academic research. For example, work on Growth Mindset by Carol Dweck and Guy Claxton and Assessment for Learning by Dylan Wiliam and Michael Absolum.

We expect all our academic staff to be part of this learning process and we invest heavily in training and professional development. It is all too easy for schools to do what they do, because it has always been done that way. At Nexus we are constantly reflecting on what we teach and how we teach. That is why we are proud that our Nexus learners make better progress as individuals than in similar schools, when we compare external measures such as iGCSEs, IBDP and ACER assessments. It has been great to have Mark Osborne supporting us on our Professional Learning Day as we move further along our MYP journey ready for Year 7 in August this year. The MYP framework will really allow us to focus on helping learners develop the transferable skills they really need to survive and be successful in a rapidly changing employment landscape.

To support this process of ongoing improvement of the learning opportunities that all our learners receive, we utilise Learning Walks. Learning Walks provide rich evidence of what is happening in the classrooms, through interviews with staff and learners, studying the physical learning environment and reviewing children's work. Each team in the school, takes part in these Learning Walks at least twice a year. This evidence, alongside research that teams and individuals are undertaking, allow them to drive approaches to teaching forward and have a significant impact on the learning taking place. This research and your feedback have led us to make some changes for next academic year. We are aiming to:

• offer families the opportunity to meet teachers each semester

• move to live reporting

• improve transparency around progress data

We all want your children, our learners, to be successful so we hope these changes will help you understand your child's progress. Speaking of which, please check the Parent Portal as reports were published this week and provide the ideal opportunity for you to discuss progress with your child.

Wishing you all a lovely weekend!

Best wishes,

Dr Heather

Head of Secondary