Friday 11 June 2021

Dear Parents and Carers

Welcome back to the new term. It has been great to see all of our year groups out enjoying the playing fields each breaktime and that feeling of normality gradually returning. That said, we ask that you continue with the twice-weekly testing over the coming half term.

Summer School 2021

For those amongst you with children about to join our school in year 7, I can now confirm that we shall be running our first summer school in late August. All parents and carers of year 6 children will receive a letter from us on Monday and can begin to enrol their children from next week. The summer school is completely free of charge and will be an exciting addition to the transition programme.

ACE Week 2021

More than ever before, we have a desire to alter the way that the summer term will end at CNS each year. Starting in 2021, an Alternate Curriculum Experience will take place in the final week with an emphasis on students and staff being able to come together, enjoy the outdoors and have some fun in the sun. A special programme for our Year 12s is also being finalised and plans for our first ACE Week will be shared with everyone in the coming days.

Bridging Begins

With a few weeks of rest behind them, our year 11s can now begin to prepare for their various bridging courses. The vast majority of students are staying on in our sixth form and they will commence a comprehensive bridging programme in June and July. This programme is not optional and will help students fully understand the content and demands of A level study. As I have mentioned before, this will put them in a far better position than previous cohorts of A level students to commence their studies – a bit of a head-start for the coming years. Students whose destinations are elsewhere will also be provided with bridging materials by their respective colleges.

Thank you again for all of your support and encouragement as parents and carers, particularly to those amongst you who have written or called to express your thanks to those teachers and support staff who helped your children through school or their GCSEs and A levels.

Year 10 and 12 Internal Assessments

Before all of that, we shall be supporting our year 10 and 12 students through their first comprehensive and compacted series of assessments. Their value is high, so that we can assess how much they have all learned in the first year of their courses. Those assessments will provide important information that their teachers will use to plan the second year of their courses and identify those common or unique gaps in knowledge or understanding.

School Improvement Goals

In the next series of letters to you, starting next week, I shall begin to set out where we are as a school and some of the priorities and strategies we have identified to improve our school and its outcomes in the years ahead. More on that next week but for now a reassurance that even when we have been absorbed by COVID-19, risk assessments and mitigations, we have never lost sight of the future and the need for us to be an even better school every single day. 

And finally…

Good luck to all of the year 9s who will be undertaking their final D of E expedition this weekend. May the sun shine and their tents have no leaks! More normality and more thanks to those staff giving up their whole weekend to make it happen! We hope they are back in time for the kick-off. Apparently, there’s a tournament about to start.

My prediction: England 4: 1 Croatia.

Yours faithfully

Mr Doherty

Headteacher