Deciding the first important step of your education is never easy and I am delighted that most of you have felt that the process for informing you and your daughter about GCSEs and the options process has been sufficiently extensive and detailed to enable all to feel well informed. 

On Monday we had a special heart wrenching assembly to mark Holocaust Memorial Day. It is always a sombre and somewhat challenging assembly as our young people are asked to look back and consider the genocide that has been suffered by so many people, in many countries throughout different periods of history. Thank you to Mrs Bullough for introducing the pupils to the Holocaust Memorial Day and for delivering a firm foundation of knowledge on this difficult subject. 

A combined science and art trip saw Year 8 travel to Oxford this week to explore the culture of the Pitt Rivers Museum and the Natural History Museum which provided an excellent opportunity for pupils to research, find inspiration, plan and sketch their own designs. 

Our PTA committee remain active behind the scenes signing off spend requests, discussing future events and preparing clothes for the upcoming nearly new sale after half term on Tuesday 25 February under the covered area on the playground. Please keep an eye on the PTA Board situated in the atrium and the School calendar for upcoming events. 

The PTA at Claires Court has over the years grown to provide a range of social and fundraising events. Our committee is mainly made up of parents and staff, if you feel you can help our PTA in any way, shape or form please do not hesitate to get in touch. Please do join us at the annual PTA AGM next Friday 7 February at 9am at the Junior Boys site, where you will meet board members, trustees, local committees and hear pupils from all divisions of the school talk about how they have benefited from the generosity of the PTA over the last year.    

Good news from the library! We have a brand new book point star winner! Emily (7C) achieved her accelerating reader bronze star point award. Emily must have read so many books over the Christmas break that when she took all her quizzes this term, she hit her target immediately!

The book point stars (bronze, silver and gold) are an extra, termly challenge for those girls who have already achieved word millionaire status, pupils who have read a million words in a school year. It is designed to continue to engage pupils with the accelerated reader programme and reward them for their reading. It rewards the level of books read, as extra points are received for more challenging texts.  

Open Morning on Thursday was extremely busy again as we show ourselves to prospective pupils, from Nursery to Sixth Form. Year 7 were brilliant guides, proving the be confident and articulate. 

I am looking forward to seeing Year 8 and their parents at the work share and parents evening on Thursday 6 February which will start at 6pm. 

We are welcoming lots of hopeful sport scholars on Friday here at Senior Girls and I look forward to meeting our supporting scholarship candidates on Saturday morning at Senior Boys.   

We wish our scholars good luck at the weekend.