As I write on Thursday morning, we are in the midst of a great Enrichment Week. Years 7 and 8 have enjoyed onsite activities days on Monday and Wednesday with Year 9 taking part today and Year 10 have had a trip to mark the end of a long year which they have coped with brilliantly.

The highlight of the week so far was Tuesday’s Sports Day which was wonderful. Competition was fierce – the points totals were close throughout with the leading position frequently moving between Houses before the ultimate Blackstone triumph; but participation was even better with every student in the school having the chance to compete and be cheered on in a diverse range of events wherever they finished.

It was a great day and I would particularly like to thank our outstanding PE department for their vision for, and organization of, the event. We look forward to the week culminating tomorrow with the Sponsored Walk, again with every member of the school community taking part.

I promised last week to share the results for the Uniform Survey which has been open for the past couple of weeks. There were 264 responses which feels like a good representation of the views of our families. Thank you for everyone who took the time to complete the survey. The metrics below are fairly self-evident so I will avoid too much commentary at this time.

The school uniform is smart and emphasises the school’s high expectations:

The “branded” school uniform – notably jumpers and PE kit – is good quality and durable:

The “branded” school uniform – notably jumpers and PE kit – is affordable and good value for money:

The summer uniform policy should be expanded beyond the option to remove jumpers and then ties in warm weather:

As would be expected, there were a large number of comments covering a broad range of issues which we will consider over the summer and into next year with our school Governors. In short, we will now consider the outcomes of the survey and will update parents and carers on any proposed changes as early as we can next year.

Finally, thank you for all our families’ support with the ongoing twice weekly Lateral Flow Testing. As you will no doubt be aware, we are preparing to operate the school in a more “normal” way from September however we will continue with the “bubbles” system and other established mitigation arrangements until the end of term.