I hope that everyone is keeping well and staying safe. I am continuing with the written Headteacher’s Message even though I have now braved the frontier of the video message – I am aiming for the content to be broadly similar in both. I have to say that the video message took at least eight takes and each one became harder; I was also taken aback by how miserable I looked in the first four takes and was determined to smile by take 5! There is a Headteacher in another part of the country who set himself up as a Star Wars character, surrounded by appropriate set, in a video message last week and I have to admire his commitment to making a mark.

Learning obviously isn’t how it normally is at the moment. Our online offer as a school continues to evolve and we want to be as agile as we can be in our provision of teaching and learning. In the vast majority of subjects teachers are now creating videos and providing commentary in tasks and resources and we hope that the sound of a familiar voice helps to support learning – it certainly brings a personal touch to the learning experience. Equally, there are more short film and video clips available across subjects to engage all learners. The advantage of a video clip is of course that it can be viewed at any time and can also be watched again if that is helpful; there are also few risks with connectivity and that is important.  Developing the theme of being connected, all students who have not already had a phone call from either their form tutor or Head of House should do so over the next week or so and we are looking to develop further ways of tutor groups connecting with each other moving forward.

We are mindful that home learning presents considerable challenges and we want to listen to what is working and what could be effective in the future. There will be a survey which parents can complete next week which will inform our plan for term 6 – further details to follow. In the meantime, well done again to everyone who is submitting work, taking part in challenges and looking out for each other – the last one in particular is not to be underestimated.