Dear Parents and Carer
As we come to the Half Term break I’m emailing with an update on some developments this term. I’m delighted to say it has been a very busy couple of months so whatever summary I provide will not be exhaustive, but I hope it gives you a flavour of life in our schools this year so far.
Firstly, I mentioned at the beginning of term that the ‘Renaissance’ of extra-curricular activities was a Development Priority for us this year and it has been great to see this area re-emerge. So far there have been the following trips with plenty more planned:
- Year 13 Geography trip to Roanhead Beach, Ulverston
- Year 13 Geography trip to Newcastle
- Year 11 Geography trips to Elterwater
- Year 13 Health pathway trip to University of Cumbria Midwifery
- Year 13 Higher Education trip to University & Apprenticeship search fair, Old Trafford,
- Year 12 Geography residential trip to Newcastle & the East coast
- Duke of Edinburgh Awards expeditions:
- Gold Award (Year 13) September 2021
- Silver Awards (Year 11) October 2021
There have also been numerous Sports fixtures and practices, Performing Arts and Music rehearsals plus auditions for future productions, and a return to busy lunch time and after school activities, ranging from the wonderful Games Club to Amnesty, from Rock Choir to the launch of our newly appointed Pupil Council. Inevitably there is much more to work through and develop further, but it is a very important part of our provision for young people and it has been great to see it re-surface.
We needed to establish the logistics of returning to three different catering venues this term after having a reduced service all last year– Café Q (Key Stage 3), Café Studio (Key Stage 4) and Café 6 (Sixth Form). Firstly we needed to ensure we could accommodate our numbers with our offer in these places but now that has run smoothly we are reviewing the menu, particularly for Key Stage 3 children as we move to the colder months. Our newly formed Pupil Council will give us some feedback on this no doubt. Thank you for your patience as we worked through the offer and we will continue to review the provision.
Year 7 have settled admirably and this year we have had two Open Evenings for Year 6 that were incredibly well attended. There have also been lots of tours for prospective parents which have been a sheer joy to provide. Plenty of our Sixth Formers have been doing these too, acting as fantastic ambassadors for our schools.
Year 9 are hearing about the different options available to them next year over the next few weeks and months and Year 11 Academic Reviews began the process of looking at future options for these students too, our Sixth Form Open Evening being in January. They also have access to the Cumbria Virtual Careers Fair and have been having careers interviews.
I’m delighted to say we have appointed a new librarian who will be joining Gemma Sosnowsky who has been holding the fort so admirably during the year. Our libraries are such an important part of our community so it is great to have it fully staffed again helping us to celebrate the importance of reading.
We are also looking to appoint invigilators to help us with the exam seasons – follow the link here if you are interested: https://qes.org.uk/vacancies/
In other developments we are currently in the middle of a full curriculum review, considering everything from the timings of the school day to the subjects we offer at Key Stage 4 and the structure of the timetable and we will be communicating any possible changes with pupils and parents in the Spring term.
Roughly 20% of parents and carers completed the surveys we sent earlier in the term, perhaps predictably more completed in the younger years. High percentages of parents felt positive about their children feeling safe and happy in school and the quality of education we provide as well as recommending us to other parents, and we have taken on board individual comments and queries. It was an anonymous survey so there was no opportunity to reply – please do contact us directly if ever there is a concern to raise rather than wait for a survey or invitation for a meeting or discussion. That said, some comments echoed areas we are working on this year such as reviewing the consistency of homework, developing our Behaviour Policy and focussing on engagement strategies in lessons to challenge and support all pupils. We are planning more surveys next term and will try to increase participation as well as completing surveys with pupils in school. We know surveys are a blunt instrument but they are helpful in contributing to our Self Evaluation process and developments along with other ways of generating feedback.
Finally – we are planning Christmas! Whilst it feels ridiculously early to even discuss it, I hope you will share our sense that having community Carol Services in St Mary’s Church, a long held tradition sorely missed last year, is something to look forward to as we move through to next half term.
I will keep trying to update you more regularly with events and developments in an effort to reduce the length of these emails, but do contact us if ever you have any queries or concerns.
As always, thank you for all your ongoing support.
With best wishes
Cathy O’Neill
Executive Headteacher
QES/QESS
