Dear Parents, Guardians and Friends
Advanced warning……….. this week’s blog brings you lots of pictures…………happy pictures of our Year 11 leavers, our Year 13 leavers, our lovely celebration Spring concert, and more………
Firstly, Mrs Whitehouse is delighted to let us know that she got the results back from The Royal Society of Biology Challenge award last week. This is a really tough competition, with nationally, over 47,000 entrants and 527 schools worldwide taking part. This year, Mrs Whitehouse entered four classes from each year group, and we are delighted to announce that our girls have done exceptionally!
In Year 9 there were 17 golds (compared to last year’s 1!), 8 silver, 9 bronze, 23 highly commended and 24 commended.
In Year 10 there were 16 golds, 25 silver, 24 bronze, 10 highly commended and 7 commended.
All those students who have won gold will have the chance to enter a ballot to go to an awards ceremony, which would be very special. We will let you know if we get through……..
Well done to all our entrants and thank you to Mrs Whitehouse and the biology department for all your hard work and encouragement. On Wednesday evening, Mr Gray and Mrs Carter led a beautiful Spring concert. It was lovely to have solos, ensembles and choirs with students from all year groups across the school. We even had our staff choir perform, who are a welcome addition to the programme.
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The evening was filled with joyous music, but was also a little sad, as we said “thank you” and “farewell” to our Year 13 music prefects Kate, Isobel and Charlotte, who have been fabulous and a wonderful support to Mr Gray over the last two years. It is fair to say that the rest of our Year 13 musicians have also been incredible and have contributed an enormous amount to the school and music department through numerous concerts, assemblies, clubs and events both in and outside of school.
Whilst there were tears………. we look forward to welcoming them back to play at the A Level presentation evening in December and of course, to join the staff choir at the Christmas concert!
Thank you to our Year 13 musicians, you have all been great role models and we will miss you.
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On Thursday, our Year 11s had their last day. They have been a great year group; they have knuckled down so well and worked really hard, so they deserved a last day to “let their hair down”. As has become a tradition, the year group came into school ready to get their shirts signed. For the second year running, the theme was to embellish their school shirts first, with crystals, sequins and glitter. They did a great job and really did make their school shirts more memorable…..not to mention sparkly! Doughnuts and drinks were provided at lunchtime and it was a reflection on the year group that so many teachers came along to sign shirts, say goodbye and good luck and wish them well! Year 11 are now on study leave, but are welcome to study in school if they wish, and of course all their lessons run as usual until the exam, so we urge them to attend those to get those last minute pointers and top tips!
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he next day was the turn of the Year 13 leavers………..this is more of a nerve racking day, as they can be a law unto themselves……..but just like the year group, their pranks were carefully thought-out and funny!
The theme for Friday was fancy dress with a leavers’ breakfast in the 6th form centre in the morning……
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This was followed by the leavers’ assembly period two. Our outgoing Head girl Amber Bentley and her team did a great job for one last time. They presented funny moments, fond memories, the highs and the lows….and lots of pictures and music. They even wanted Mrs Kennedy and I to read the traditional end of term prayer from the Philippeans chapter 4, verses 4-8 …….the best bit was that they knew the words and joined in!
The Year 13 really were a great year group and what came through clearly was their gratitude and appreciation of all the staff, their teachers and the opportunities they have been given throughout their time here!
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We wish our Year 11 and 13 students all the very best for their revision and their exam period. Good luck!!
I would like to take this opportunity to thank the Heads of Year, Mrs Vaughan (Yr 11), Mrs Bellis and Mrs Kemp (Yr 13) for all their hard work and leadership over the years and I would also like to thank all the form tutors who have spent so much time getting to know their tutor groups and building such positive relationships; they really do care for them. We saw this in the lovely cakes the tutors baked, and the wonderful messages of support they gave, which was very much appreciated by the students.
And finally……..A big thank you to everyone who has supported us by shopping through #easyfundraising in April. We’ve now raised £3515.99, so it really does work. Can you help us raise even more this month? It’s really easy – over 3,600 shops will send us free donations every time you shop online, at no extra cost to you. Visit: http://efraising.org/Ejg5yOW8Ap
Mrs Perry has worked out that she has personally now raised over £400 now for the school through her online shopping at no cost to her…quite impressive!
Katie Pearce
Co-Headteacher