Head’s End of Term Letter Easter 2009

Dear Parents and Pupils.

The end of the spring term always poses a degree of challenge, in that whilst very clearly focused towards the coming examination season, we also begin to look forward and plan for the new school year in September. We have a number of priorities as a school they are:

• To continue to improve the examination performance of our pupils, especially the highest grades
• To provide more choices of learning styles for students in Years 9-11 linked to their personal learning pathway
• To build up a sense of community in the school
• To strengthen the understanding of parents and pupils about our specialist status in technology and applied learning

The learning environment
You may – or may not – have noticed that the windows in the old main block are being replaced. Internal works to improve the corridor of the same building are also being undertaken shortly. £200,000 of work, should make a big difference, making the school brighter and watertight. Spending so much money on the campus is always a bonus, but not when the site is often full of so much litter. Much of it comes from plastic sandwich cartons and cups purchased from the school’s dining rooms. It really is a disgrace that some pupils do not use the bins provided: we need to do something about it. After Easter, food and drink purchased at lunch time in the dining rooms will need to be consumed there. Food will not be allowed to be eaten inside classrooms and on corridors. We hope this will make a difference, making the campus much more attractive to learn and work in. I am expecting everyone’s cooperation to make a real difference.

Earlier this year, I permanently excluded a Year 7 pupil for bringing a small knife into school. Let the message be clear: no offensive weapons are allowed on site nor should they be carried as set out in law. I will permanently exclude any pupil who does so regardless of the circumstances.

Learning
We continue to support Years 10 and 11 for their examinations which begin next month. Workshops, revision sessions and extra lessons are available and we hope every young person preparing for exams makes full use of what is on offer. The teaching staff go to extraordinary lengths to make sure exam classes get the best possible preparation. After Easter, there are only four school weeks (20 days) before the summer exam series begins. The revision sessions on offer can be seen on the website in the ‘pupils’ section or you can refer to the letter I posted home to Year 11 in February.

Year 7 Band 2 pupils have just completed their Science Technology, Engineering and Maths week (STEM). This is part of our specialist status for technology. During the project, visitors from industry helped pupils plan, design, build and demonstrate their model cars which operated using a charged capacitor (Mr Crashley told me this is a battery – I’ll take his word for it). The final session saw them gathered in the sports hall to race them. An exciting way to understand mechanics and physics!

Year 10 will be undertaking a work placement in June. Where possible, we try to link the placement to each pupil’s learning programme. Many pupils also undertake additional placements linked to a specific course, usually an applied course. This has been very successful providing material for coursework.

I was present last week at The Olive Press in Clitheroe as a guest of the Hospitality and Catering Group; a crèche, run by the health and social care pupils was available to parents of pupils in Years 7 and 8 at their parents’ evenings; the school production of Pirates took place; there was a trip to a remote village in Spain which was part of the GCSE Spanish course; The Young Enterprise team attended the National Trade Fair in Stratford, coming fourth out of a hundred: brilliant ambassadors for us. This is our second specialism in action, applied learning, or ‘learning by doing’, at its most innovative.

Standards of uniform
Whilst standards of uniform are good, they are not outstanding. They should be. In everything we do, particularly in relation to learning and teaching, we aim to be outstanding. Pupils and parents expect it, and we as teachers strive for it. The same individuals let us down – let themselves down – by wearing their uniform incorrectly or simply wearing the wrong thing. Footwear and boys’ ties are the most common issues we deal with every day. So again, for the record, the ‘headlines’:

• Ties must be worn around the collar, showing appropriate length (5 stripes)
• Canvas, training shoes and boots are not allowed by anyone
• Shoes must be plain black
• Make up should not be worn
• Year 11 uniform is to be worn in full until after the final examination has been taken

I expect uniform to be of the same high standard every day irrespective of the time of year or age of the pupil. Please work with us to make this aspect of school life outstanding too. Small things do matter.

Communicating with you
Over the past few weeks, 200 parents of pupils in Year 7 and 8 have given their email contact to us. If you are one of them, you will be receiving this newsletter electronically (hopefully!). Everyone who signs up before 30 April is entered into a draw to win £25 M&S vouchers. Please remember to tell us when you change your email, postal address or telephone numbers. Last month, the telephone system was changed to provide for a direct dial to specific extension numbers (Option 5). A selection are given in the ‘contacts‘ section of the website. I hope this is helpful. The more efficient and effective our communication is with home, the better the support and achievements of pupils will be.

Extended Schools
Ribblesdale is now a ‘Full Offer’ extended school. In January, the service was launched on Tuesday and Thursday evenings until 6pm. Drop in activities such as storytelling, dance, careers information, mask making, chess and skateboard-buddying are available. On 28 April ‘Barn Owl Bill’ will show and give a talk about rescued owls! Activities or use of the Learning Resource Centre (LRC)/IT suite are available to everyone. Refreshments can be bought in the café next to the LRC.

‘Pirates’
Well done to the cast of “Pirates” which has been a great success this week. Our thanks go to all who helped over the three evenings and supported the charity raffle. Again, an outstanding show watched by almost a thousand people including local primary school children cements the school’s growing reputation for performance.

Many more news items can be seen on the school’s website, which is updated daily. Thank you to everyone for all their help and support this term. Our young people should take great pride in what they do and in what they achieve. May I wish you an enjoyable Easter break.

School opens again on Monday 20 April. Pupils should be on site and make their way to their first lesson at 8.45am to begin learning at 8.50am prompt.

Yours sincerely

S A Smith