Dear Parents and Carers,

It feels slightly surreal to think that 1st December is less than two weeks away given that it feels like the whole country has been in a strange, pandemic-induced suspended animation since March this year. Nonetheless, December approaches rapidly along with the mock exams for students in years 11, 12 and 13. Ofqual announced in October that GCSE, AS and A level exams will go ahead in England next summer in June, subject to some changes to the content in selected subjects such as History and English Literature. The government is expected to confirm final plans for the 2021 exam series by the end of the month. Whilst it is understandable that students may be feeling unsettled by the continued uncertainty, the mock exams remain an extremely important part of the preparation process for the final exams. Mock exams are used by the school to calculate predicted grades which are used by universities and sixth forms to determine whether or not to offer a place. Mock exams also help students to practise under exam conditions; practise effective revision strategies; testing knowledge and identifying gaps. The mock exam timetables can be found on our website here, along with the Impact Hour schedule for year 11. Students should be revising now to help them to avoid last minute panic and we will be sharing practical revision strategies with them next week.

It was lovely to see so many parents and carers on our student wellbeing zoom meeting with our Child & Adolescent Mental Health Psychotherapist Dorota. You can find the slides that were discussed plus links to organisations and support for parents, carers and students on our NEW Student Wellbeing Resource Hub here. We are planning to make this a weekly drop in for parents an carers on Thursdays, and we hope to have a guest from Young Hackney join us next week so please look out for the meeting invite in your email next week.

Warm wishes

Clare Borrill