Dear Parents and Carers
I hope you have had a lovely summer and that the information about Covid protocol and updates we have sent about the staggered start have all been clear. We are very much looking forward to seeing everyone back in school over these next few days and, eventually, moving back to home testing and minimising the disruption in our schools as much as possible. A particular welcome to parents and carers of children joining us.
I’m emailing with a start of term update about some areas, but we have been very busy so I’m afraid it is a long one, despite my efforts to make it the edited highlights!
Firstly, summer works on our site.
Perhaps a sign of the times but we have installed some CCTV in some key areas on our site to help support our site security. Both our schools have a main visitors’ reception and we have a clear protocol for all visitors including parents, so should you be coming into school please do follow the signage to the main reception.
We have completed some work on the turning circle at the front of QES site to enlarge the capacity and enable us to have a more efficient end of the school day. At 3.10pm pupils will leave directly to their buses with only those catching the 81 and 99 needing to wait a little longer until their buses arrive. Whilst this might seem a small change it is actually really significant given the number of buses we work with and the logistics this involved.
We had a limestone cairn built at the back of school near Biggins Lane in memory of Tom Dale. Tom was a long standing member of the English department who very sadly passed away during the first lockdown. We could not celebrate his contributions to our community and the lives of so many children in a satisfactory way at the time and we hope this sturdy cairn will prove to be a long-lasting and fitting tribute to him.
Exam results
Lots of us have been working in the summer and in particular the Exams Team and Year 11 and 13 pastoral teams who were in school helping students with their results and the next steps on their journey. We were delighted that the exam board did not amend our results and we are confident that they are results based on a system of integrity – these young people should feel proud of all they accomplished. We will be updating both our websites with an overview of the results and a summary of the vast array of different destinations of our leavers shortly.
In-school Training Days
We have had a busy and exciting first few days in school. We trained 18 former QES students to work in our Test Centre; they took to it really well and have worked steadily over the last few days. Support staff and teaching colleagues are working with these volunteers and we really couldn’t have managed to have such a good couple of days of staff training on the areas we prefer to work on without their help in processing the tests.
In school our training days have covered (amongst other things!):
· our Development Plan Priorities for the year
· Updates in Safeguarding
· Teaching and learning and lesson expectations
· Common standards
· Department preparation and performance management
· The Personal Development curriculum
· Pastoral support and Form Tutor/Learning Coach training
· New school routines and lunch time arrangements
· New staff induction
· SEND provision
Whilst we recognise the importance of limiting Covid transmission as much as possible, the curtailing of extra-curricular activities and community events has been perhaps one of the most dispiriting parts of last year’s ‘Zone life’ which is why one of our priorities is to re-ignite the excitement that this special part of school life brings to so many young people. It was great to see the numbers of young people participating in Duke of Edinburgh expeditions last term and the numbers for this are growing, which is fantastic, and I’m very much looking forward to seeing other activities and events return over the next few weeks and months. Of course we continue to be vigilant, ready to change our plans according to the school, regional or national picture and putting safety and well-being first, but I hope you will agree that it is a priority to re-launch these areas of school life as soon as we can. Along a similar line – apologies if you have been waiting to see when our Open Evenings are this year. We have been reviewing the guidance and updates and are looking forward to Year 6 Open Evenings on Thursday 16th and Wednesday 22nd September. We will be updating our website with further details shortly.
Olympics
It was great to see Fiona Crackles receive a cheer from staff at lunch time this week when she returned to her former school to show us her Bronze Olympic medal as a member of the GB Hockey squad! She promises to keep us posted and return to speak to pupils when she can. Not only is she a remarkable sportswoman but she is a thoroughly decent and kind hearted role model – we continue to follow her career with much excitement.
Staffing update:
At the end of last term we said goodbye to:
· Sarah Hayton – a long standing member of the Learning Support Department who contributed so much to the lives of individuals during her long time at QES
· Ellie Clifton, our HR Officer who supported many colleagues during her time with us and
· Alison Wilkinson, latterly founding Principal of QEStudio but previously Head of School and a significant leader of our community for over 20 years. Her legacy is seen throughout our community – not least in the creation of QEStudio – and it’s testament to her capabilities that an entire restructuring has had to happen to fill the space that her departure has created.
We wish these fantastic friends and colleagues all the very best in their next ventures.
We also welcomed new colleagues:
• HR Officer – Rachel Webster
• Design Technology Teacher – Daniel Coxhill
• Joining the Admin and Reception Team– Rebecca Valera, Jenifer Harrison and Harriet Metcalfe
• LSA – Jennifer Beck and Leona Harrison
• Careers Co-ordinator – Sarah Womersley
• Site Team – Vilma Richardson
• Science Technician – Stefanie Downes
As you know, Rebecca Chapman is now Deputy Head of the LLT and joins me in my role as Executive Headteacher. All Leadership Team positions are now Trust wide roles, committed to the ongoing development and improvement of both our schools. I am hoping to improve our communications with you about developments within our Trust and will be sending surveys for feedback over the next few weeks and months. I hope you know by now that we are constantly striving to improve our provision and never complacent and that if ever you have any concerns or queries please contact us. The support you provide us as parents and carers is never taken for granted and I look forward to times when we will see you in school throughout this year.
With best wishes
Cathy O’Neill
Executive Headteacher
LLT
