Dear ALS Community,
It is my privilege to write to you this week to mark the start of the new school year. It has been wonderful to have the children back in school over the past two weeks and I have been delighted with how well our new pupils have settled into life at ALS across all phases of the school. I hope that you’re seeing the same at home and that your child is loving being back in school.
With the introduction of the ALS Parent Portal (more on that below), the weekly email will be a little lighter most weeks as key information will be held there but I will continue to take the chance to write out each week to our community on a Friday as, I think, it is an important part of keeping us all in touch. If you’re looking for key dates and information then the Parent Portal is your go to place as well as things like SatchelOne and Class Dojo. If you’re happy enough to catch up on the week at ALS, then do read on…
Last week, our weekly communication focused on the passing of Queen Elizabeth II and we have marked this in school this week with a series of special assemblies on Monday and then the Head Prefect, Hannah, and Deputy Head Prefect, Sophie, have laid a wreath of remembrance as well as writing in our book of condolence. Please note that ALS will be closed on Monday 19th September in line with the national bank holiday for Queen Elizabeth II’s State Funeral.
This week, we have had our school photographer in for individual pupil photographs…they always make for a good gift for grandparents! Later on this term, we will have our whole school photograph on Wednesday 5th October which I am very excited for as it has been sometime since we have had this take place. In terms of upcoming key dates, look out for our Junior Classrooms Open House on Wednesday 21st September (Reception, Year 1, Year 5 & Year 6) & Thursday 22nd September (Year 2, Year 3 & Year 4), Year 7 & New Senior Pupils Welcome Evening on Thursday 22nd September, our Sixth Form Welcome Evening also on Thursday 22nd November, our rescheduled Welcome Back BBQ on Friday 23rd September and then our Autumn Open Day on Saturday 1st October.
Our mantra for next week is from Veritas: Embrace, don’t resent, other opinions. Whether we mean to or not, we will inevitably interact with the world around us with confirmation bias as we seek views that are comfortable for us and in alignment with our existing beliefs and values. As a result, this is one of the most challenging mantras for us to live up to. In school, we support pupils to do this by developing their ability to debate articulately and respectfully on key issues, to be able to identify appropriate factual sources (and identify when sources of information appear untrustworthy!) and to feel confident enough to reflect on their own views and be open to challenge from others. Whilst it is not always a comfortable experience, it is crucial in supporting pupils to be successful in this aspect of ‘Veritas’ to help their personal development in their time in school.
Please note that our Parent Portal (via iSams) is up and running and is being used for key information sharing. On the Parent Portal, you’ll find access to information bulletins, school letters and communications, your child’s timetable, school reports (when published) as well as information on any house points awarded as well as sanctions (such as M1s). Please do take the time to long in weekly to make sure you’re up to speed on how the week has been for your child.
Though it is not at the forefront of our thoughts as it once was, Covid-19 continues to be something that we do need to be aware of. For pupils who test positive for Covid-19, or emerge with symptoms in school, we will continue to work with the advice from the Government website (found here). In short, a pupil testing positive for Covid-19 will be recommended to stay at home and avoid contact with other people for 3 days.
I hope that you all have a good weekend and we look forward to seeing you all on Tuesday 20th September.
Best wishes,
David Preston | Headteacher |
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