Dear Parents and Carers
Watching the chaotic unravelling of our Government and indeed democracy over the last few days, a reporter made a point that caused a bit of a double take; it has been less than three years since Boris Johnson won the last election. Such a lot has happened in that interim period that it feels so much longer. In fact, it feels that there have been so many changes in society, evident to everybody, that it surely couldn’t all have happened in such a short period of time. The only consistency throughout seems to have been political chaos.
Schools reflect society and we see the impact of these years each day. Whether it has been Covid, school closures, children’s over reliance on gaming and social media or pressure on public services it all adds up to bigger social gaps in society (reflected in this year’s GCSE results nationwide), more hardship and more need. This is why we have a school value of removing barriers. We can see when a child has a barrier to their learning and we will immediately try to support the child overcome said barrier. We have always tried to do this but, as we see increasing numbers of kids who have habits or behaviour which will prevent them achieving the success they could otherwise, removing barriers is now ingrained in everything we do.
I believe we are pretty transparent about this and no matter whether the barrier is social, in school, out of school habits, behaviour, vaping or anything else, we will always confront it and involve parents in that process. Fortunately, our working relationships with parents & carers are strong and we all want the same thing. Even on the rare occasion when we are at odds with parents & carers, it doesn’t stop us doing what we have to do, as we see it as our duty to make sure all our students are successful by removing barriers to progress. Of course, we always do our best to work together but our duty will always drive our decision making.
I mention this because as we approach half term, we are getting to the point where we can relaunch ourselves after the disruption of the cyber-attack in September. This involves work and focus on anti-bullying, on professional and safe behaviours, on ridding the school of vapes, a continued focus on uniform and a constant raising of expectations. Underpinning this is our curriculum, being rebuilt as it is delivered to make sure our students are challenged, engaged and becoming self-assured learners (another school value). If we then get to a point of working with you to remove learning barriers, please don’t be offended – we never judge kids or families, only evidence, and we will never waiver from these duties and values.
There are some post Covid changes in society I don’t like and I see our role as pushing back when we need to, helping kids establish their own positive values and being relentless in helping them overcome their own barriers. As we see the chaos at the very top, I hope in our little corner of the country we can be predictable and consistent.
Best wishes
Andy Perry
Head Teacher