Blog #10 – w/c 11^th Jan 2022

Happy New Year!

Well, we hope that you all managed to have a great Christmas and enjoyed the two week break. It’s great to be back and an extra special welcome goes to Years 7,8 & 9 who, because of the impact of Covid on staff and student absence, finished school earlier than planned in December.

Once again, because of the Omicron variant, we have had to be cautious about the return to school and a few restrictions are in place nationally. Those who can are being asked to work from home wherever possible, and, once again, face masks are to be worn in public areas of the school; we would ask parents to support this. Headteacher, Mrs Hudson, has informed you of these additional restrictions and they are also published on the school website and shared on social media. We will inform you of any changes that affect students in school as soon as we are made aware of them.

‘Miss-mas’ lunch…

Thanks a lot to Kellie and the catering team who did their very best to re-create the Christmas spirit by providing a(nother) Christmas dinner last Friday; we wanted to be certain that students in years 7, 8 & 9 who were at home during the last week of the autumn term didn’t miss out. The tables were decorated and the lunch break was extended to make sure that everyone had the opportunity to take advantage of the, somewhat delayed, feast.

Some of us ate far too much over the holiday but couldn’t resist doing it all over again.

Mock exams

I would like to say a massive ‘well done’ to our Year 11 students who have just completed their mock exams. Almost all of them took the process very seriously and, on the whole, the standard of behaviour in the exam hall was excellent.

Mocks are a really powerful tool. They offer students an insight into what sitting a large number of exams in quick succession is really like, and gets them used to working in exam conditions. Also, in themselves, they are a useful addition to the revision process. For teachers, they offer an excellent indicator of students’ knowledge and also serve to highlight any gaps in knowledge and understanding.

PE

The boys’ football teams started 2022 with some excellent ‘friendly’ games against Ellesmere Port College. Year 7 won, Years 8/9 drew and the Year 10 team lost. All of the matches were played with a positive team spirit, characterised by resilient team performances. Jake Rogers Year 7, Leon Watson Year 8 & Jake Lloyd in Year 10 all won ‘player of the match’ in their games.

Golden Ticket

Mrs Beyer started off the year with her first ‘Golden Ticket’ winners. Well done to some of our year 7 and 8s for their positive attitude to learning. It was hot chocolate and biscuits all round!

Great job everyone. Keep up the good work.

Date for your diary

As you will be aware, each year we hold a Whole-School Celebration Evening in the autumn term to celebrate student performance and attitude to learning from the previous year. Because of the impact of Covid, we had already delayed the event once and then, ultimately, were forced to cancel it altogether. I am pleased to say that this event had now been re-arranged and will take place on 24^th March.

I am conscious that it is a long time since the end of the 2020/21 academic year but we are determined to celebrate and reward our students despite the delay. We will contact the parents and carers of all prize winners and look forward to welcoming them into school.

Please keep your eye on the school website and on social media for all upcoming events.

And finally…

Just a short blog this week but as the term progresses, I am sure there will be a huge amount to share with you as students get involved in a range of activities.

The current restrictions, including the use of face masks, are up for review on 26^th January. We will, of course, keep you informed of any changes as they happen.