Newsletter 18 February

Dear Parent/Carer

At last we have central heating across the site! And most importantly, we now have thermostatic valves fitted so we can control the temperature. My thanks to students who have been amazing over the last few months in dealing with erratic temperatures in classrooms and temporary heating solutions, as well as several room changes. Work continues to box up some pipework and repair ceilings, but the main heating in now fully repaired. If you have missed our heating and uniform update then this is attached with this newsletter. Please do take the opportunity this week to make sure your child has the right uniform ready for when we return next week. Every conversation about a problem with uniform takes up time which could be spent talking about learning – please help your child to get things right at the start of each day.

Unlike the central heating system, our fire alarm is not currently working fully across all areas of the site. We are working closely with the Olympus Academy Trust to rectify problems in the fire alarm system, and you are likely to have heard from your child that at times we have an alternative alarm system in place which includes air horns and radios. Our duty is to ensure the fast and safe evacuation of the building during a fire or a fire drill practice and we continue to be able to do this whilst the main fire alarm system is being repaired. The safety of our students and staff is our first priority and you can be assured that the trust ensures that we meet all necessary regulations regarding fire safety.

For year 7 parents, you may be aware that Miss Allen has stepped down as Academic Coordinator for Year 7 but I am pleased to inform you that Miss Sherrard has taken over this responsibility. Miss Sherrard has significant previous experience as head of year and is very excited about leading this wonderful group of year 7 students.

I hope that most of you have now heard of the terrific work done by our year 8 students as part of the ‘curious curriculum’ project which is also running in our primary schools in years 5 and 6. Last week saw the culmination of this work in an exhibition in our school hall. We were delighted to welcome children and their work from Callicroft, Filton Hill, Meadowbrook, Stoke Lodge, and Bradley Stoke primary schools. They were asking ‘big questions’ and producing really high-level answers – something our year 8 students had also done in their World War I projects.

You will see in this newsletter a flavour of some of the fantastic work done by our students and not least the year 10 Community Apprentice group who both raise awareness of their chosen charity and also develop business skills in project planning, marketing and presenting along the way. Year 11 students, meanwhile, are moving rapidly towards final exams, with mock exams taking place during the first week back. For such a short term, our students and staff have packed in a huge amount and really deserve this week’s break!