April 25th 2025  

Dear Parents and students

I hope you all had a peaceful Easter. We welcomed students back to school on Wednesday morning and have settled quickly to work this week.

On Wednesday, teachers reminded students of Ground Rules in class to ensure teaching and learning take place with maximum efficiency. The College Leadership Team have toured classrooms each morning this week and been delighted with how students are applying themselves to their learning. They look smart and are very largely properly equipped for the school day. Thank you! Please see our student Equipment List HERE

As of 11.30am we had sent 1448 Excellent Effort Points for the completion of personal best Home- or Classwork assignments this week. We have also sent Homework texts, just to Year 11 and Year 13 this week, where we have concerns about students’ non completion of Homework or revision tasks.

As students in Years 11 & 13 approach Public Examinations, we will of course focus these final weeks on preparing them and giving them the tools to prepare themselves for these important examinations. But of course, we remain mindful and will be watchful of student welfare and well-being in these crucial weeks. At the end of last term, we provided

Year 11 - Revision Planning, Revision Tips and Managing Stress – Guides for Parents and Students

Year 13 - Revision Planning, Revision Tips and Managing Stress – Guides for Parents and Students

 

This week’s revision tips:

Year 11 Weekly Revision Tips, Wednesday April 23rd                                   Year 13 Weekly Revision Tips, Wednesday April 23rd 

 

Beyond the classroom this week, 20 students from Years 7-11 worked with members of the National Theatre during the day and performed “No Regrets” at the Gulbenkian Theatre on Wednesday evening. Also, on Wednesday 8 Students from Years 8 and 9 started out on the Sport England Golfing Programme at Hythe Golf Club. And today, Year 7 play in the Basketball Semi Final against Highworth after school.

I am grateful to you for your support about our approach and determination around mobile phones.

Teachers report far less time wasted in class and far higher levels of concentration with increased student understanding of their learning and faster progress.

The amount of time young people spend on and their dependency on their phones present well-known risks. For the moment, our arrangements and practices represent no change.

Where mobile phones are not turned off in bags during lessons, they can distract from teaching and learning of whole classes. We cannot let that happen, and where students do not follow our simple and clear requirements, we will only return mobile phones to parents. 

 

Yours sincerely,

Charles Joseph

Principal