I would like to thank all of the Year 7s and 8s who took part in the swimarathon on Sunday. Senior Girls had the most swimmers, they all gave 100% effort in this grueling endurance event; we even loaned out some of our team to other divisions. I was so proud of the effort and commitment our students showed; they were an absolute credit to the school (and their parents, of course). Whilst the staff team recorded the most lengths, it was our Senior Girls that displayed the best attitude and they won the prize of an extra £200 donation from the Lions Club towards the Link Foundation charity, which was fantastic. I would also like to thank our wonderful Mrs Burdett. She had already swam for her church at 7am and she was back for the Junior/Senior Schools at 2pm and then back again for the staff and Sixth Form at 6pm. We are very lucky to have people like Mrs Burdett on our staff making opportunities like this happen in the background. Thank you, Mrs Burdett. If you would like to donate to the Lions Club and The Link Foundation, please follow the link to our just giving page here. 

I would also like to take this opportunity to congratulate Year 11 on their hard work in preparation for their IGCSE Mathematics exam on Monday. The post exam chatter was that it had gone really well and all students felt as confident as they could. This deserves great credit because, unlike the rest of us, it was much harder for them to fully switch off over the Christmas break. Good luck for the next exam on Monday, Year 11. 

As much as we like a holiday, it is great to be back. I would like to thank you all for making the transition back into school so smooth. The young people came into school, took their LFT tests and got on with their day with no fuss at all. There were no cases picked up in the school community, which was great news. In assembly we reminded students about the need to wear a mask around school and in lessons and how this would be reviewed by the DfE in 2 weeks. 

We also had some time to discuss New Year's resolutions in assembly, we talked about the Chinese New Year - The Year of the Tiger. Finally, we thought about time management and how often New Year’s resolutions slip because we do not allocate enough time to focus on them. 

I hope you have a great weekend.