Headteacher’s update
Good afternoon Stanley Families
Happy first Friday of the academic year! My goodness what a warm week it has been, despite the temperature we have thoroughly enjoyed having your children back in school. Having been in an empty school over the summer holidays nothing compares to seeing a sea of students moving sensibly around the building and being focused on learning experiences in the classroom. It is a privilege to be part of the lives of 845 students each day, as they traverse through their teenage years.
Let me start with a huge welcome to our new families joining our school this year. Moving to secondary school is daunting and exciting, your children have been a pleasure and have already shown themselves to be great listeners and so very polite. Many have settled instantly and some will settle well over the next few weeks as they get comfortable with their new surroundings and build new relationships.
I have enjoyed conducting assemblies this week with all year groups, to welcome them back to school and remind them of our expectations on attendance, kindness, behaviour, uniform and safety. I asked all children to really consider who their go-to adult would be if they needed support or wanted to talk about something they did not feel happy with and introduced the safeguarding team. I also challenged them to keep an eye out for all the extra-curricular opportunities which will start over the coming weeks and get signed up to the sessions they like or the sessions that will push them out of their comfort zones.
I am pleased to see that attendance has been high for the full week, it is very re-assuring when children want to come back. Some children love school, and some do not but the key is that they feel safe, know what is expected and then they get to learn and be confident and happy. If you are struggling at all with getting your child to school, please contact their form tutor in the first instance and we will do all we can to support you. If you are not struggling but feel like you may struggle when the new year novelty wears off, please contact us for support to keep the momentum going. Students who attend school get better outcomes at school and form stronger relationships with friendship groups.
Students uniform has been of an incredibly high standard. We recognise that this is a significant investment for all families, thank you. We have high expectations of how it is worn and expect students in full uniform each day. All children should have access to full uniform, including leather look black shoes. If you are still awaiting the arrival of any items, please ensure you have written a note in your child’s planner. If you are unable to source or access uniform for any reason throughout the year, please contact your child’s form tutor, we have a number of ways we can support to ensure no children are at a disadvantage.
Your children will be ready for a rest this weekend, having tackled such a change from holiday life routine. I am very pleased with the conduct all year groups have demonstrated; as I write 5238 praise points have been issued, I know that more will be added at the end of the day also. This year we are really reflecting on our behaviours for learning and more praise opportunities underpins a lot of the changes we are implementing.
Next week we have the School Open Evening on Tuesday 12th September 6pm-8pm, which a number of students will want to be involved in. Please ensure you have signed a permission slip for your child to support the school on this evening and encourage their participation if they have not yet expressed an interest. It is always such a great event which draws a huge number of families from the community, we love to have as many of our students as possible showing off their school.
Finally, this year we are going to reduce the number of newsletters you receive. Week A you will receive a newsletter containing all the amazing things happing over our two-week period in school and the following week you will receive a reminder of any key information and dates only.
Have a lovely weekend, please stay safe in the heat.
Regards
Mrs J Shawe
Headteacher