It was a big week in politics last week and the Department for Education was no different. We had three different Secretaries of State for Education in the space of three days. Let’s hope things settle down over summer; no one would welcome chaos around exam results time!
I would like to share a link to a really interesting article with you about the effects that the lockdown periods have had on young people, particularly around their social development.
Research has highlighted a lack of maturity and greater dependence or clinginess to parents amongst ‘pandemic children’ compared to children of the same age pre pandemic. The article starts off with a reference to a lack of maturity amongst university aged students but focuses more on younger children who have missed out on vital social interaction. This tells us that we are going to be dealing with the effects of the pandemic for a long time. We have experienced differences in behaviour amongst many of our students too. Many are desperate to be part of a group, struggling to find their own identity and unable to deal with the consequences of poor choices. We clearly have a responsibility as adults to work together to enable our children to overcome these challenges and become more resilient, talk to everyone respectfully and be kind with each other. I will come back to this in the new academic year. We do have vacancies on our governing body so if you are able to offer any expertise in this field or know someone who has, please do get in touch.
We anticipate that the new academic year will be the year when things really do go back to normal. We will have a full assembly calendar; a school production and concerts and we are currently sorting out a date for the Y11 prom. We also have a number of school trips being organised. A few dates for your diary for the first week back in September – we will be holding our transition evenings as face-to-face events in Hollinshead Hall. We will share plans for the forthcoming year and key information relevant to specific year groups.
The key dates for your diary are:
Tuesday 6th September: Y8 6:30; Y9 7:15
Wednesday 7th September Y12 6:30; Y13 7:15
Thursday 8th September Y10 6:30; Y11 7:15
A reminder that our uniform policy can be accessed on our website; if your child is thinking about a radical haircut for the summer holidays, please advise them to wait until Tuesday 19th July after 12:10! Likewise with any additional piercings.
Next year our Year 10 and Year 11 will be allowed off site at lunchtime. This is a privilege and not an automatic right. Permission must be given by parents/carers before a card is issued which enables them to leave the site. Our students have written a code of conduct for when they are off site and these are in all organisers and will be in shops and food outlets around Alsager.
We have a number of staff leaving for pastures new at the end of term. We wish them all the best as they embark on new adventures, with some leaving for promotion, some venturing overseas and some even luckier entering retirement.
I have pasted below a list of places where children can eat for free over the summer holidays. Summer holidays can get expensive; keep an eye out for other supermarkets/stores offering similar deals.
The weather over the past few days has certainly been more in keeping with summer. Next week will see record temperatures so all pupils can either come in PE kit for Monday and Tuesday or stick with uniform without blazer or tie. Please make sure that your child has applied sun cream in the morning and that they bring a water bottle with them.
Whatever your plans over summer, I hope you all manage to have a lovely break over the holidays.
As always thank you for your continued support and I look forward to seeing you all in September.
“Find what brings you joy and go there.” (Jan Phillips)
