Headteacher's Update - 13 December 2024
Thank you to those students and colleagues who wore their ‘Christmas jumpers’ yesterday. When I dropped in on lessons throughout the day yesterday there was a vast array of colour as well as hard work and focus! Year 7 were the most enthusiastic along with Mrs Forster and Miss Marboeuf! Competition for the form room with the best Christmas decoration continues….. and next week we have our Christmas lunch and carols at lunchtime from our newly formed Choir led by Mrs Swan.
This week we have led OFSTED style review of key curriculum areas, including Humanities, PER and Languages. Governors have been in school reviewing our attendance protocols and other aspects of school life including our Personal Development Curriculum and our Sixth Form. The OFSTED style reviews, led by a former Senior OFSTED inspector, have confirmed that our students are making strong progress in those curriculum areas. Well done to our students and colleagues.
The two-day GCSE mock Art exam finished yesterday and the quality of work is excellent. The previous week our Year 11 Construction and Product Design students also had a release day to work on their portfolios and both Mr Rose and Mr Burge have confirmed that the quality of their work to date is strong.
Mrs Morton-Brown, our School Counsellor, has now trained Year 10 students to act as peer mentors offering support to younger students. Mrs Morton-Brown is an accredited member of the British Association for Counselling and Psychotheraphy as well being an Emotional Health Practitioner. Parents can access her website here: www.jomortonbrown.com. We use many of her videos and resources in tutor time as well as in PDT lessons.
HEART points
Year 7: 1359
Year 8: 1462
Year 9: 905
Year 10: 2352
Year 11: 753
Friday drop-ins
A reminder that the 9-10am Friday ‘drop-in’ continues to run for any parent to meet with me.
On these dates, the ‘drop-in’ will run between 4 and 5 pm rather than 9-10 am
31/01/25
28/02/25
28/03/25
25/04/25
23/05/24
20/06/25
18/07/25
A reminder of:
End of term arrangements: End_of_Autumn_Term_letter_2024.pdf
Sixth Form application link: Application Form 2025-26 - Braintree Sixth Form
Information from the police: https://www.essex.police.uk/police-forces/essex-police/areas/essex-police/au/about-us/sort-your-settings/
Attendance leaflet: notleyhigh.com/files/news/2021/Attendance_Leaflet_Nov_2024.pdf
We will share the December online safety update in next week’s bulletin.
Finally, congratulations to Regnald on his excellent music video for which he has been awarded a Headteacher postcard.
Have a very good weekend when it comes.
Mr M Barrow, Headteacher
