It has been great to welcome everyone back to school in a very warm first week in September. There is nothing quite like the buzz of the first few days of term as our school community reunites and welcomes new members into its fold. I have to say that our new Year 7 students have made a superb impression – their enthusiasm, manners and appearance have been absolutely first class, very well done to all! We have also welcomed a large number of students who have joined us in Year 12 from other schools and it is great to have them on board.

As ever at the start of the school year, we are reminding everyone of systems and introducing a couple of new innovations in school. Communication between school and home is always extremely important and I would like to highlight the following dates for the parent-tutor evenings:

Monday 11^th September                                             Year 7 Tutor Evening

Tuesday 12^th September                                            Year 13 Tutor Evening

Wednesday 13^th September                                       Year 10 Tutor Evening

Thursday 14^th September                                           Year 12 Introductory Evening

Monday 18^th September                                             Year 8 Tutor Evening

Wednesday 20^th September                                       Year 9 Tutor Evening

Thursday 21^st September                                           Year 11 Tutor Evening

These evenings are always extremely useful and encompass presentations about the year ahead from Heads of Year and senior staff and an opportunity to meet and talk with form tutors. The evenings take place initially in the school Hall at 6pm before moving to tutor rooms and we look forward to seeing parents and carers at them; for anyone who cannot attend the presentations will be shared on the school website.

One aspect of the evenings will be some explanation of the roll-out of the Edulink home-school communication system which was trialled with a group of current Year 9 families last year. Their feedback was extremely positive and we feel that it will further develop communication between home and school – much more to follow on this.

Finally, as I wrote earlier in the week we do have an issue with RAAC concrete panels in part of B block. There is a lot going on behind the scenes to consider next steps and we will keep families updated when there are developments we can share. I would like to thank our staff and students who have coped brilliantly this week with the inconvenience of room changes, particularly in practical subjects. This was never in doubt but as ever demonstrates the strength and spirit of our school community.