Mr Newman’s Friday E-ssembly: 1 May 2020

Dear Parent

I hope you are looking forward to a restful weekend in the garden or even planning a lengthy family walk. It does seem as though the weather may have reverted to ‘situation normal’ even if life is still otherwise a little topsy turvy. But no matter; I am sure that everyone will be looking forward to some fresh air even if we are putting the sunscreen back in the cupboard again for the time being.

The major theme of this letter is to direct parents towards the feedback form regarding remote learning, which can be accessed here. Two weeks always felt like a fair time frame in which to survey parents and I hope that you will be able to provide us with some sense of how the programme is working in your household. The Senior Management Team and I will then review the scores and comments and consider whether any adjustments might be immediately useful, might be kept under review for the time being, or would not represent the best interests of the majority of our pupils. I will write to you again with these outcomes and make very clear the reasons behind them.

A calendar reminder that for those who would be keen to tap into ‘The Force’; Monday is Star Wars Day (May the 4th) and comedy-value fancy dress (from neck up, most likely) is welcome but not compulsory by any means.

You will be aware that VE Day comes at the end of next week, and on Friday 8th May we will set pupils tasks that take them entirely away from the regular timetable for a day and – where possible – away from screens. Again, after three weeks of remote learning this feels like it would be good timing.

The video assembly (or e-ssembly) this week, which can be found above, is about saying ‘thank you’; primarily to the NHS and key workers, but also to the whole community whose generosity of spirit and sense of camaraderie still takes me aback. The power of those two words should never be underestimated and the generous supply of thank you cards and letters from the children in Years 5 to 8 (this week’s Wednesday Challenge) to their teachers has been been very gratefully received…

Thank you

Will

LAMDA Results

In February nearly 30 pupils took LAMDA examinations at School. We are very pleased to announce that every pupil who took the examinations passed and that a staggering 54% of these received a mark of distinction. Well done to you all, we are very proud of your achievements.

A special mention to Arabella Varley and Sasha Whitehead, who both received a mark of over 90%.