It’s been a real pleasure this week to be conducting Year 9 options interviews and Sixth Form interviews with our Year 11 students through Teams. The sheer brilliance of our students has shone through – they are mature and polite, reflective and informed, curious and interested. It’s a strange time as a school without students is a bit like a ship without its crew and – to extend the metaphor – we know the crew are out there and look forward to getting them back on board. Nevertheless, catching up remotely for now was great and it has become the glue which holds our school community together during this lockdown.

We have opened our Parent and Carer Survey focused on how this term has gone and we very much welcome responses. The core of the survey is about the learning experience but we are also seeking feedback around broader issues such as encouraging healthy lifestyles, mental health and wellbeing and pastoral support. None of these elements of school life are straightforward in a remote environment in which we need to stay at home but we are open to feedback and suggestions as to what is going well and areas for development.

The survey is focused on the “here and now” but we would also welcome thoughts on recent developments which we may choose to keep once normality returns – feedback on virtual Parents’ Evenings is particularly appreciated – and on anything else which is not covered by the questions.

The survey will be open until 5pm on Thursday 11th February. As you would expect, we will use the feedback to refine and develop our approach as a school and to inform our strategy moving forward. Thank you in advance for your time in completing the survey.