I was sat in my office on Wednesday afternoon shortly after the end of school doing something unimportant – emails – when I suddenly heard music. It was a version of “Can’t Buy Me Love” by The Beatles played by our very own Bigg Band. After six long months, music (in a very controlled, socially distanced form) has returned to our school hall and that is something to celebrate.

As I wrote last week, our students continue to adapt very maturely to the arrangements in school and that is hugely to their credit. Please do congratulate them on their approach – the return to school has gone well.

We have circulated our virtual Parent Information Evenings for Years 10, 11 and 12 to parents and carers of students in those year groups this week.  We hope that they are useful, particularly as introductions to Heads of Year and also with providing a raft of information including contact details of key staff. As ever, please do not hesitate to get in contact with the school if you have any questions or concerns. There will be further virtual events to follow in the coming weeks including our virtual Open Evening and virtual Sixth Form Open Evening and we have created a new area on the school website to showcase these events. New events will be the Year 8 and 9 Parent Information Evenings and the established Year 7 Parent and Tutor meeting; please note that the first two are in the calendar for next week but will now be available during the following week.

A reminder about the Wallingford Litter Pick which is taking place in and around the town on Sunday. The details have gone out through our social media channels and the organisers are keen to get as many people involved locally as they can. We have had small groups of our students out and about this week in and around the town playing their part and being socially responsible.