SENIOR LEADERSHIP TEAM BLOG 18/12/2024

Dear parents, carers and friends

It falls to me to write the last blog of 2024. I cast my mind back to the summer when we waved farewell to some of our older students after a rich and rewarding time at The Holt, and to September which saw us welcome a large number of them back into Year 12.

Also starting with us in September were our new Year 7 students – the year group for whom I am the SLT link. As so many have before them, they have settled into Holt ways and grown together through the team building day at Ufton Court, many interhouse competitions, playing sports, attending clubs and learning together in lessons. They have experienced their first harvest festival with us, received their first review grades, celebrated together in their first presentation assembly and tucked away their first Christmas lunch (more on that later). We are very proud of the way in which they have adjusted to secondary school life – expertly guided by Mrs Izod-Martin and the tutor team. Well done to them all!

One feature of the term has been the work done by each House to raise money for their chosen charity. As highlighted by Mrs Pearce in last week’s blog, this term’s efforts culminated in our Christmas Fair, and I can now share with you the totals raised since September:

We are grateful to all those involved – including the students themselves and our Head of House team. It is part of our vision for our students that their actions should impact positively on the lives of others to make for a better world, and our charity work is one way in which we look to do this.

I am also delighted to share news of our Christmas celebrations as they have continued into the last days of the term. Last Thursday was the occasion of our annual Christmas concert at St Paul’s Church which I was delighted to attend. Always a heartwarming festive occasion, I thought it was our best yet in terms of the level of performance and the festive atmosphere. From The Holt Singers’ processional “Once in Royal David’s City”, through the staff choir’s evocative “Carol of the Bells”, and the Jazz Band’s trombone driven rendition of “God Rest Ye, Merry Gentlemen”, hearts were warmed, and toes were tapped. A big thank you goes to the readers, performers, family and friends who attended, and to Mr Gray and Mrs Crozier – our wonderful music teachers.

Earlier that evening our new Student Leadership Team (drawn from Year 12) hosted our regular Sixth Form Christmas Quiz. Staff and students battle it out to be pronounced the sharpest tools in the Christmas box. Let’s just say that the SLT contingent left the event suitably humbled!

Creativity and fun are woven through the school year, and this makes for a highly competitive Christmas Doors competition as the winter break approaches. I will let the pictures speak for themselves, but it is a pleasure to see such delightful scenes on one’s way around the school.

Well done to Weavers, Tanners, Tanners (again), Goldsmiths and Broderers in Years 7, 8, 9, 10 and 11 respectively who ran out as winners.

My last report is on our Christmas lunch which took place on Tuesday this week. Our Chartwells caterers served up the goods with support from our site, IT, and finance teams (along with SLT and one of our governors) who cleaned tables, scraped plates and refilled water jugs so that the students could focus on enjoying the food and singalong Christmas tunes. It is no small thing for everyone to pull together to make such events happen, but we think it is so valuable to come together as a community on special occasions such as this.

As you will see from the photographs, this event coincided with Christmas Jumper Day which raised over £500 for Save the Children’s annual appeal. As a parent, I know that I don’t always have coins to hand for such events, so do feel free to donate if you missed the chance on Tuesday.

And so, with just a couple of days to the Christmas break, we look forward to our student-led end-of-term assemblies on Friday before we say our farewells – including those to Mrs Rose who leaves our Data Office after 13 years at The Holt working on the administration of progress reviews, parents’ evenings and the SIMS app, and to Mrs Chapman who leaves Student Support after two years of providing pastoral care. We also say goodbye to Mrs Cross, our Exams Manager, who has been with us for 15 years making sure that we provide the optimum exam experience for all students so that they can achieve their very best. Schools cannot do what they do without committed and caring staff such as these. We thank each of them and wish them well for their futures.

And I wish you all a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. We look forward to seeing all of our students and colleagues again on Monday 6^th January.

Ben Adams

Assistant Headteacher

PS

Our penultimate Thought for the Week asked students to consider the importance of meeting deadlines at this busy time of year and beyond. Mindful that this is a challenge for many of us, I was gratified that Brian Bilston shared the following musing on Monday:

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Whether that is relatable or not, I hope you all enjoy at least something of a break in the coming fortnight.