I hope that everyone had a good break over half-term and it has been a really good week back in school. I think we have all been shocked at recent events in Ukraine and we have been reflecting on this during the week through assemblies which have been measured, factual – with much historical detail – and have encouraged students to consider the sources of information they encounter. We have also been supporting members of our school community who have been closely affected by what is happening and will continue to do so. As ever, the maturity, care and consideration of our school community for each other is shining through at a difficult time.

Thank you to everyone who completed our annual Parent and Carer Survey last term. We are continuing to analyse the outcomes which are very useful in informing our planning moving forward. We have also noted that Neither Agree nor Disagree is not a helpful option and have discounted that in our analysis of many of the questions.

The following areas were overwhelmingly felt to be strengths in our provision with around 90% or higher of respondents either agreeing or strongly agreeing:

• The vast majority of respondents felt that their child is happy and feels safe at school
• Very few respondents stated that their child had been bullied at school and the few who did almost all stated that it had been dealt with effectively and resolved quickly
• The vast majority of respondents felt that the school ensures that students are well-behaved
• The vast majority of respondents felt that the school has high expectations for their child and that they are doing well
• The vast majority of respondents stated that the school offers a good range of subjects and that their child is able to take part in extra-curricular activities and clubs

Areas for development include the effectiveness of some aspects of communication, communication around support for some students with SEN and the nature of the STARS programme and the rewards system. It is also clear that further, more detailed communication around the nature and content of work and topics being studied would be appreciated by parents and carers.

There was of course a comments box and we have taken all of the comments on board; they are quite diverse and cover appreciation of staff and the school, suggestions, questions and the odd concern. All of them are being considered and as with the more general questions will inform our priorities for development.

Finally, we have had some really good fun events this week including pancakes being flipped in competitive races and our continued focus on reading embracing World Book Day. It’s also been great to see afterschool sports fixtures really kicking in with the lighter evenings and we very much look forward to the Spring Concert on Thursday 17^th March.