Mr Richards' words Lent week 9

Well, I hope you have not been suffering from empty nest syndrome this week as we have taken the young people back into school. We’re sorry if you are missing them but we have loved having them back in school. We have had near on 100% attendance this week and perhaps that means they have enjoyed being back at school too. We have tried to keep them off screens as much as possible and working with a pen in their hand, and a smile on their face. The buildings feel alive again, as the ebb and flow of a normal school day has returned to College Avenue. It has been wonderful to drop into lessons this week to see students and teachers in their right places. I will never wrap my head around seeing people behind masks in school, but we will wait for the next review of this guidance at Easter, which is not too far away.
We have been through our round of testing here and I would like to thank the nursing team and their expert staff volunteers for their fantastic work to make this happen so smoothly. Whether it be swabbing, administration, or packing up the home testing kits; staff have stepped up to make things work for our community.
Our preparations for launching our Combined Cadet Force (CCF) in September continues. You can find more information about CCF here. The first training weekend for the adult volunteers has been booked for May, and we are busy planning lots of adventurous activities for the coming academic year. Initially, we are targeting current Year 9, but as we grow as a Cadet Force, the opportunity will be available to all year groups. Look out for the assembly from Contingent Commander O’Clee on Monday.
Finally, we are looking forward to Red Nose Mufti-Day on Friday. Mr Wareing and I were reminiscing about Hootie and the Blowfish’s 1994 Cracked Rear View. I was in Year 9 in 1994, and I distinctly remember paying £1 to wear mufti to Sandown High School for charity. I think it is time that we broke the £1 donation for charity, so we will be asking for the minimum donation for Red Nose Day to be £2.
I hope you have a great weekend and we are really looking forward to the next two full weeks in school.
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