Ms O’Clee and Warrant Officer Larkin were already professionals. As a teacher, we rarely find ourselves fulfilling the role of student. We all found things difficult, made lots of mistakes and were super nervous in the build up to the test. We had a great (and very patient) teacher who broke things down step by step for us and gave us the confidence we needed to take on (and pass) the test. I found this experience exceptionally valuable. We realised what it was like to be vulnerable and worried about getting things wrong. We went through the fear and joy related to the testing process. We were also reminded of the importance of teamwork and comradery. These experiences will make us better teachers and make this school an even better place.

I am very excited about all of the leadership opportunities that we will be introducing next academic year but the Combined Cadet Force will bring a new edge to this programme. Join us online at 7pm on Tuesday 18 May to hear more. 

I wanted to give a big message of appreciation (I think the cool kids call it a ‘shout out’) to Year 11. They have approached this unbelievable year with such stoicism and maturity and I wanted to say how proud we all are of them. You (as parents) have clearly done a fantastic job bringing up these young people, so well done to you too. Thank you to all Year 11 parents who came along to the information evening on Tuesday. I hope you found this informative and you are able to use these details to support your young person. We are always here to help if there are still any concerns over the Teacher Assessed Grades. 

Thank you to parents of Year 7 and Year 8 who have been involved in our parents’ forum. We have always prided ourselves on the close relationships between the school and our parent community, so it was great to get so much positive feedback from our youngest students who have had a very disrupted start to secondary school. As always, it is good to hear where things can be improved too. We are all learning together. 

I hope you have a great weekend.