Dear Parents and Carers

I wish to begin my letter to you by focussing on the Local Governing Body, both past and present…

Thank You Mr Ledgard-Hoile…

I welcome this opportunity to be able to publicly thank Greg Ledgard-Hoile, who, until recently, was the Chair of the Governing Body at Chipping Norton School. After over a decade on the Local Governing Body, and almost all of that as the Chair, he has been with this school on its journey from very challenging days back in 2015, through our membership of the River Learning Trust, to our Outstanding Ofsted report and record results in recent years.

I am always in awe of all school governors because they freely give up so many hours to serve their local community and school. Almost all of their work is unseen and yet those of us who work in schools are inevitably humbled by their dedication, advice, wisdom and experience. Greg brought many years of experience as a business leader, educationalist and senior leader to our school and I know that my predecessor, Simon Duffy, and I share an affection for his constant support – and challenge! He has always been extraordinarily ambitious for this school and its entire community. From the first moment I met him, it was clear that we all shared a belief that CNS is a very special place. Thank you, Greg!

Our Local Governing Body

More recently, Cate Mallalieu-Needle and Jo Povey (both parents of children at CNS) have now become our Co-Chairs of Governors. Alongside two staff governors (me and Dr Mark Carpenter – a former student, ex teacher of chemistry and now a technician), there are five governors who are all parents of children currently at CNS. Yesterday was the National School Governors’ Awareness Day and is therefore a perfect moment to ask if you would be interested in joining our Local Governing Body? With Mr Ledgard-Hoile’s departure and the recent departure of Ms Judson, we have some spare seats.

There are five full Local Governing Body (face-to-face) meetings per year and an opportunity to sit on one of two sub-committees that each meet five times per year (online): Resources (including budget, health and safety) and Impact (including outcomes and performance data). All meetings take place at 6:00pm and tend to be no more than ninety minutes in length. Full induction and ongoing training are made available through The River Learning Trust.

We provide regular and comprehensive reports for all Governors to ensure they can fulfil their function as a critical friend and bring their own experience to bear on our school. They exert a healthy pressure and we work together in pursuit of securing a great school for our community.

Are You Interested in Becoming a Governor?

In recent years we have benefited greatly from the knowledge and insight of parents who work in non-education sectors and have provided great advice with regards to a whole range of issues including: budgeting and finance, recruitment and retention, marketing, health & safety and IT development.

Please do take a look at our dedicated webpage and if you are interested in becoming a governor at CNS then please do get in touch through the Clerk to the Local Governing Body – Bev Martin, on [email protected].

In Memory of Gill Parry

Over the last weekend, we learned of the sad news that former CNS teacher, Gill Parry, passed way. Whilst I never met or knew Gill, many colleagues very fondly remember her and have shared wonderful sorties of her wit and mastery of teaching. Ms Natalie Hancock knew Gill well and provides the following reflections of a late, great teacher:

Gill taught at CNS for 35 years and was a dedicated and passionate English teacher, a real character and a force of nature. Her love for literature was infectious and she saw potential in the most apathetic teenager, coaxing out hidden talents, nurturing a love for words, and inspiring many students to produce great work over many years. Her classroom was a safe haven and she cared deeply, not just about her subject, but about her students. Her kind, honest approach encouraged and built confidence in those she taught. I am sure that for many, she has fostered a lifelong appreciation for literature.

Our thoughts and prayers are with Gill, her family, and her friends at this time.

My Child At School (MCAS)

How are you finding MCAS? As you know, we moved to MCAS last year as a one-stop shop for all information relating to your child and to enable easy online payments for dinner money and trips. The vast majority of our communications with families is now via an MCAS push-notification. However, when we need to make personal contact (e.g., to receive your child’s unique report or to liaise with you on a specific matter) then we still use emails of course. If you have any observations or wish to relay your experiences, then please email me directly and we shall feed that back to the MCAS software developers. One of the suggestions we have already submitted is that the App version would benefit from showing the number of unread messages in order to alert parents and carers of new messages if you miss the brief push-notification: Until then we recommend a daily or weekly check to scroll the messages or look at the ‘Important Documents’. We know that some parents and carers would like a single app that would merge what MCAS and Satchel One provides, but right now this is not available to us.

Vacancy – Assistant Attendance Lead

Have you ever thought about working at CNS? Our vacancies are always easily accessible here and we have a new vacancy for an assistant attendance lead. The hours are 0900-1200 Monday to Friday and term time only. Please take a look and apply if you are interested.

National Boxing Championships

Congratulations to our Taylor Twins. Do take a look at their fantastic recent achievement. We are all in awe of their commitment to absolutely everything: their studies, their fitness, their sport and they are both model students in every respect. Well done to Chris and Johnny!

And finally…

I hope you have seen my earlier letter about the student surveys next week? If not then please do get in touch with my PA, Julie Robinson.

Have a lovely half term and we shall see all our students back at the normal time on Monday 24 February 2025.

Very best wishes,
Barry Doherty, Headteacher