Dear ALS Community,
I hope this first weekly email of the new calendar year and new school term finds you well, having had a wonderful Christmas with family and friends. In our house, Little Henry had a run in with chicken pox before Christmas…but it didn’t slow him down at all over the festive period! Then, over the New Year, Henry had his first visit to ‘Jump In’ which he absolutely loved though he is particularly obsessed with a yellow tractor in one corner.
We open our first full week of the school year with a mantra from Amicus: Smile. Help others smile, too. In the aftermath of Christmas, this can be a difficult time of year for many people and so, in the spirit of this mantra, I would like to challenge our whole school community to embrace this and reach out to at least one person next week (a colleague, friend or family member) that you haven’t spoken to in a while and catch up. I promise this will not feel like wasted time and I am sure you’ll be making the other person smile.
Coming up to start the term are the mock examinations for Year 11 and Year 13 who will, I know, have been revising hard over Christmas. Undertaking a mock examination process is important as it provides pupils with an experience of what the “real” thing will feel like, it helps teachers to understand where individual pupils need to focus to hit their best grades and, collectively, it can show areas that a class may need to revisit. The mock examination process can feel a little daunting, particularly for Year 11 who encounter it for the first time, but going through this will help reduce any anxiety before the examinations in the summer. Following on from the mock examinations, pupils will have time to reflect on their achievements and to identify their next steps. For some, the advice may be to keep going as they are. For others, it will be to adapt their style of revision to help improve retention of information. For a few, it might be help with organisation and prioritising workload. Whatever the outcome of the mocks, we’ll make sure pupils are supported towards their best grades.
In some staffing news, I am delighted to share that Mr and Mrs Smart are expecting their second child this summer. This is wonderful news and I am sure you will join me in congratulating them when you see them next. We will now recruit to cover Mrs Smart’s role (Assistant Head: Academic) for her maternity leave and I will let you know once this position is confirmed. Continuing with staffing news, at the end of this half term, Mr Gear will step down from his post as Head of Sport & ExEn as he looks forward to new challenges in a new setting. After over 7 years of service to ALS, we wish him well in his future endeavours. Over the next few weeks we will be undertaking the recruitment process for the new Head of Sport and I am excited to meet the candidates for this very important role within our school community.
As we look to the rest of this term, we have our Year 11 & 13 Parents’ Evening, Junior Parents’ Evenings, Year 7 Parents’ Evening and our Year 9 Options Event which I will be leading with Mr Colledge. It’s an exciting time for our Year 9 as they start to shape their pathway and it is a privilege for Mr Colledge and I to be able to be part of this process. As we look beyond this term, please also find a reminder of our finalised term dates here for next year.
Have a wonderful weekend.
Best wishes,
David Preston | Headteacher
