21 April 2017

Dear Parents/Guardians

I hope you all had a restful Easter. Thank you for all your support so far. We welcome Mr Holland (ICT teacher) to our staff this term.

We appreciate your attendance at all events because research shows that student success at school is directly linked to parental engagement.

Student outcomes are further inextricably linked to attendance. We therefore expect all students to attend every day unless unwell. Please do let us know when your child is unwell. There is now a lot of evidence nationally to suggest that students, whose attendance falls below 98% achieve significantly less well than their peers who have 98% attendance or better. It is for this reason that we have decided that students without 98% attendance will put their places on school trips at risk.

Please be aware that all absences have to be authorised and that students have to report to the Student Office if they do not feel well. We will then decide if they are to be collected. Please let us know if your child contacts you as they should be following our procedures.

We are proposing to lengthen the Advisory in the morning by 5 minutes in order to address the need for more time for PSHE. We propose to find this time by shortening our morning break from 30 minutes to 25 minutes. Please contact me directly if you have any concerns regarding this.

We are also aware that this year Ramadan falls within the examination period. If you are of the Muslim faith; your son and/or daughter is due to sit examinations during the summer and you are concerned about their wellbeing please make an appointment to see me or Mr Joseph so that we are made aware of your concerns and can advise you.

I run surgeries on Wednesday afternoons and am delighted to meet with parents in order to address issues you may have. Please just ring and make an appointment.

Kind regards

Mrs Schwartz

Principal