Dear ALS Community,
As another week passes of lockdown, I hope that you, and your family, continue to be safe and as well as can be. For the children, I know that learning remotely isn’t quite the same as learning on site together but, again, I hope they have now adapted to this new way of working and are getting stuck in to the variety of learning that is on offer from their teachers. I must say I’ve enjoyed having the chance to watch a few lessons this week and keeping an eye on Class Dojo, too.
For next week, our school mantra comes from Dedicas: Only expect from others what you are willing to put in. I think the shared sense of dedication from our school community shines through during periods of remote learning. From the commitment of the Junior team to move from planning for the children on site to remote learning in the time that they did, Senior teachers preparing for Live Lessons over the holiday period through to the work of the maintenance and operations team to push through projects whilst the corridors are a little clearer, we can be very proud that our staff team ‘walk the walk’ of the Dedicas values. Of course, there is also the hard work that I know you will be putting in to keep your own professional work going at home whilst also supporting your children. I know it’s not easy but, together, we’ll get there.
On the topic of hard work, I’d like to thank our valiant Year 11 and Year 13 who have taken their mock examinations this week and done so in their stride. After having their exam papers couriered to them by the school operations team, parents of Year 11 and 13 have kept the test papers under lock and key ready for the start of each exam. Mrs Bottrill has then dialled in to the children sitting an exam to try and replicate, as much as we can, normal conditions. Though it’s not the same as being in the hall, Mrs Bottrill has been very impressed with the mature approach from our pupils and the dedication they have shown. I echo Mrs Bottrill’s words and have written a personal letter to each of our Year 11 and Year 13 pupils to recognise the hard work and the effort they have all put in. Please see an example of the letter here. Given that the summer exam series continues to be in flux (they were “fully” cancelled but now Ofqual are consulting on ‘mini’ exams), I think it shows a wonderful resolve from our pupils. Whatever the process for awarding grades in the summer, this sort of attitude will put the children in good stead for their best possible outcomes and to support their progression to Sixth Form Studies, University or employment. The exams would not have been such a success if not for the support of parents. Mrs Bottrill has asked me to pass on thanks to all the parents and guardians who have helped to make the mock examination such a triumph.
The life of a school doesn’t stop during a lockdown and it is this time of year that we begin to plan for our staffing needs for the next academic year. With an already full Year 7 for September 2021 in place and the prospect of adding a fourth class to our Year 7 intake as well as our largest Year 12 cohort to date from new joiners externally and current Year 11, we needed to add in some additional members of staff. You’ll be aware that our school nurse, Mrs Katrina Malone, took up her position earlier this week to lead on pupil wellbeing. In addition, we identified that our STEM team would require expanding with the number of pupils looking at A Levels in Physics, Chemistry, Biology and Mathematics. As such, I am delighted to share that we have appointed Miss Lauren Lannie and Mr Aled Edwards to join our Senior School team from September 2021. Mr Edwards is a Mathematics specialist up to A Level and is very excited to have the opportunity to work with our pupils in Sixth Form. Miss Lannie is also a Mathematics teacher who, in addition, is a fluent speaker of French, German and Spanish - quite handy given how international our school community is!
I am delighted to share our House Competition information from Mr Hawkins, Mr Scott and Mr Dobson. Please see the booklet here. The competitions are for all ages and I very much would encourage children to complete at least one House Competition (all if they can!). There’s plenty of great tasks for children to take part in. The new “Musician of the Year” award is going to be particularly competitive and I look forward to the range of fantastic entries that I know Miss Crisp will receive. There’s also the opportunity to be creative in Art, to write a journal in English, to undertake some engineering (with pasta and marshmallows) and to recite a monologue. I would be very grateful if you would discuss the competitions at home and encourage your child to take part.
There has been much in the press about the number of critical worker or vulnerable children in schools. The guidance isn’t particularly clear and the DfE have had to issue further clarification recently so I felt it was important to address it in our weekly communication. The guidance states that, for children who are identified as vulnerable or where parents are critical workers, schools “should not limit attendance of these groups”. However, the DfE have clarified that they “encourage parents to consider the spirit of the lockdown when making their decisions”. It is my view that the ALS community has very much behaved in the spirit of the lockdown in deciding whether or not to send children in to school; on average, we have had around 15% of pupils attend school. In the weeks to come, I would like to encourage the community to keep the numbers low on-site. I am very grateful for the collective efforts of our community to do our bit to fight the virus.
An update for anyone with a sweepstake on when Baby Preston will be born…our due date (Wednesday 13th January) has come and gone and the little chap continues to keep us waiting. Mrs Preston is very much ready (as you can imagine!) but there’s no rushing our little boy, it seems. Hopefully by the next weekly email I’ll be able to introduce you to the newest member of our school community.
Best wishes,
David Preston | Headteacher
