Our Year 10 students formally transitioned into Year 11 this week and they have been exceptional. We are extremely proud of their maturity, focus and dedication as they continue to prepare for their Pre-Public Examinations. Miss Walsh and Miss Coupland welcomed them with a motivating assembly on Monday morning, setting the tone for the important months ahead. They have begun their first round of Pre-Public Examinations, and we are delighted to see record numbers of students attending Breakfast Revision, Working Lunch and Champions' Hour. A huge well done to them all and thank you to our families for your continued support. A special mention also to Year 9 who completed a maths exam in GCSE conditions in our Sports Hall. A soft induction to the exams process works well for them and we are pleased to see that it continues to be of benefit.

Next week, Years 7-9 will begin their transition into the next year group. This will change the location of their social time, toilets, roll calls and line-ups and, in some cases, their Head of Year. Your child’s Head of Year will be writing to families over the weekend so that you have their contact details.

Last week, the PE department led 45 students on a fantastic sports tour to Lloret de Mar near Barcelona. Across four action-packed days, our teams remained unbeaten across three competitive fixtures. They also visited Lloret de Mar Water World and PortAventura World, and took part in evening activities including mini golf, bowling and souvenir shopping. Students were a credit to the school throughout, embracing a tour points system to encourage independence, teamwork and respect. Special mentions go to Alex, who won overall tour award, and Micah, who was named Footballer of the Week. A brilliant trip full of memories.

This week we celebrated Culture week with a range of activities and assemblies. Students were taught about Windrush, looked at Nigerian fables and Asian stories. On Wednesday we wore cultural dress. We had an amazing array of colourful and beautiful outfits from staff and students. The canteen cooked a variety of lunches across the week, representing some of the nations we are proud to represent in our community. A huge thank you to Equality Club for their work on this, particularly the outstanding PSHE lesson they put together for all pupils, and to Martha and Jayda who took our school photos. A truly joyful week.

A reminder that Monday 30th June is an Inset Day: the school is closed to pupils. Yours sincerely,

Ms C Moran, Headteacher