Letters

Monday 13 January 2020 Dear Parents and Carers Welcome back to the new term. We hope you all had a really restful and refreshing holiday – which of course seems so long ago already. The first week back went really smoothly and very calmly here, and reflects a growing feeling …

Thursday 19 December 2019 Dear Parents and Carers Wow, another term has gone by in a flash! In the last few weeks alone we’ve been so busy with Year 11 mocks, Christmas shopping trips abroad, two major carol services and of course the Christmas Fayre a few weeks back, which …

Dear Parents and Carers NOTICE OF A CHANGE TO THE SCHOOL CALENDAR The Governing Body have agreed to a proposal to bring forward the date of the next INSET Day from Friday 3 July 2020 to Monday 6 January 2020. This will mean that all students will now return to …

Dear Parents and Carers This week I wish to draw your attention to the forthcoming Celebration Assemblies but would like to begin with some great news regarding generous support from a local company.  Owen Mumford Ltd In 2014, CNS received £10,000 from Owen Mumford Ltd to provide a laser cutter so …

Dear Parents and Carers Welcome back again to another newsletter that will begin with a few short notices from myself and raise awareness of activities that are taking place in our community. The first being the Santa Fun Run organised by one of our sponsored CNS charities – Katherine House …

Dear Parents and Carers National Anti-Bullying Week – 11- 19 November 2019 Once per year, all schools across the country come together to focus on how we can reduce or even eradicate bullying. Bullying is often the most terrible experience in a child’s life and can turn a happy-go-lucky individual …

Monday 4 November 2019 Dear Parents and Carers Fundraising Day for THRIVE – Thursday 24 October 2019 Once again we have been thrilled by the response of students to the first of our four planned fundraising days for local charities. We shall be sending off a cheque for £1000 to …

Dear Parents and Carers Non-Uniform Days – Showing Character Between us we raised £1552.57 on the day for Anna. We shall be forwarding those voluntary donations to the Just Giving page this week. This is more than we’ve ever raised on a single day. We have our first planned non-uniform …

Dear Parents and Carers Additional Non Uniform Day – Friday 11th October 2019 Last week I learned of a local child called Anna Drysdale. Anna is in Year 4, attends Holy Trinity Primary School and is bravely fighting Osteosarcoma bone cancer. The little girl has a sister with us here …

Dear Parents and Carers Open Evening Reminder – Early Closure Our annual Open Evening takes place on Thursday 3 October 2019, between 5pm and 8pm. We hope that as many students as possible will be there to participate in activities to be our guides. Meanwhile, please don’t forget that the …

Monday 9 September 2019 Dear Parents and Carers Welcome back to a brand new year It seems much longer than a week ago that we began to crank the school back up to full speed with the return of all staff and then students last week. It has been an …

Headteacher’s Report to Parents and Carers July 2019 As my first year at Chipping Norton School draws to a close, it is a useful opportunity to summarise the work at our school over the past academic year. Once I completed this I realised that it was a bit too long …

Monday 22 July 2019 Dear Parents and Carers Macbeth at Blenheim Palace – Friday 19 July 2019 How fitting that another trip left CNS last week; this time taking Year 10s to see Macbeth on the final two days of term. Their conduct and engagement was again impeccable and we …

Monday 15 July 2019 Dear Parents and Carers Non Uniform Days – Monday 22 and Tuesday 23 July 2019 After a bit of lobbying from students, we have agreed to allow all students to wear non-school uniform on the final two days of term. We shall be inviting those who …

Monday 24 June 2019 Dear Parents and Carers Exams are over … Almost! It is impossible to try and summarise the emotions experienced by our students in Years 11 and 13 as they placed the last full stop on their final examination paper. They are the generation that have sat …

Monday 10 June 2019 Dear Parents and Carers Good luck and keep going… It’s worth beginning by acknowledging the pressure our Year 11 and Year 13 students are under right now – but the light at the end of the tunnel can be seen. It is clear that there are …

Dear Parents and Carers Farewell and Good Luck to Year 11 and Year 13 Last Friday our Year 11s enjoyed their final assembly (opposite) with Mr Parker and what we hope was a memorable day. As in all schools, they are emotional days with feelings that whilst nothing will ever …

Dear Parents and Carers Welcome back to the summer term. We hope students in Years 11 and 13, in particular, used their Easter breaks successfully and we were delighted with the numbers who joined our Easter revision booster sessions over the holiday. Thank you to my colleagues who gave up …

Dear Parents and Carers Approaching the Final Straight Traditionally, students in Year 11 and Year 13 tended to begin their revision in earnest in April and devote most of their Easter holidays to that end. Things have changed in this school and most others as we have aimed to better …

Dear Parents and Carers Over the past six weeks we’ve been very busy listening to families and students regarding many aspects of life at CNS. The uniform consultation is now over and a summary of the final recommendations appears below. In addition, we have been asking the students about many …

Dear Parents and Carers European Visits It’s been a busy time in Europe these past few days and by that I am not referring to Brexit. Over half-term Mr Johnson, Mrs du Crôs and Mr Hopkins led another successful ski trip; this time to Zell-am-See in Austria. They enjoyed it …

Dear Parents and Carers Things look slightly different with this week’s letter. We hope that you like the new school badge and its combination of old and new. You will note how the iconic bell tower has been retained and how our established houses, named after local rivers, have been …

Dear Parents and Carers Global Presence Since my last newsletter we have hosted 5 teachers and 35 students from China. I wish to thank my own colleagues for being so welcoming and to Mrs Brocklebank in particular for agreeing to organise our Chinese visitors and their Oxfordshire hosts. 45 of …

Dear Parents and Carers Late Buses Now Running Late buses are now provided every day except Fridays, leaving our site at approximately 4:20pm. Students in all year groups are able to sign up in the normal way and we hope this will enable Year 11 and 13 students to attend …

Dear Parents and Carers Welcome back to a new term. We hope you and your children had a restful holiday and now return with renewed enthusiasm for the new term. Obviously, it’s a big year for our Year 11s and Year 13s – who begin their own rehearsal examinations very …

Dear Parents and Carers Annual Carol Service at St. Mary’s Church From 7pm on Tuesday 18th December, Mr Brown will be leading our choir for the annual carol service in the beautiful setting of St. Mary’s Church. There will be a couple of audience participation items, including O Little Town …

10 December 2018 Dear Parents and Carers PTA Christmas Fayre Another super PTA event took place on Friday afternoon. The fayre attracted many visitors to our Main Hall and almost as many left with bags containing Christmas gifts, decorations and prizes. Many, many thanks to the PTA for their commitment …

Dear Parents and Carers Dreams Come True – Amazing Joseph The hit show “Joseph and the Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat” has now come and gone – and what a hit it has been for the hundreds who took part or sat enthralled in the audiences. The cast and stars were magnificent …

Dear Parents and Carers Youth Speaks Winners Congratulations to Ellie Lewis, Luke Barnes and Maddy Fisher (pictured). Led by Mr Ward, these Sixth Form students won the Senior Youth Speaks competition held at Bloxham School on Wednesday night. We could not be more proud of them and their example in …

Dear Parents and Carers What does great teaching and tutoring look like at CNS? In the past 10 to 15 years, the teaching profession has been swamped by innumerable initiatives; most of which have been untested and of dubious value. Take, for example, the trend to try and plan lessons …

Dear Parents and Carers 100th Armistice Anniversary – Chipping Norton Town Remembers Just like so many of you, I attended yesterday’s commemoration that included a parade and service in St. Mary’s. It was a really moving event made even more poignant by the presence of serving military personnel, veterans and …

Dear Parents and Carers Remembrance Week As we approach the 100th anniversary of the Armistice of 1918 we have several activities planned to secure space and time for us all to reflect on the victims of conflict through history. This will include a period of two minutes’ silence on Friday …

Dear Parents and Carers Start of Term – Back to Business as Usual I hope everyone had a restful and rejuvenating half term holiday. We are now looking forward to the coming eight weeks as we do everything we can to ensure we do not waste a minute of the …

Dear Parents and Carers One Type of Rehearsals – Wednesday 17th October Last minute practice is underway to bring you a wonderful showcase of CNS talent on Wednesday night at 7pm. Songs from a range of musicals including My Fair Lady, The Sound of Music, Shrek, Amelie and West Side …

Dear Parents and Carers Open Evening – Thank You! We are all very grateful to those students who supported our hugely popular Open Evening last week in a range of ways: tour guides, speakers and active learners. The turn-out rewarded the effort everyone has put into this annual event. As …

Student Council The new Student Councils are now thinking about the various needs and priorities for the coming year. We will continue to encourage all students to use them to encourage debate and ideas to ensure we are always an improving school. We plan to use these Councils to explore …