Dear Parents and carers, 

Thank you to all the parents and carers of year 7 students who came to the parents’ evening last night. Once again it was a very busy evening with lots of smiling faces and a real buzz. At every event we ask for parents and carers to complete a short questionnaire so that we can get feedback on what’s going well and where we can improve. Thank you to those parents who completed the questionnaire and your feedback which was very positive. 

Personally, I think one of the great pleasures in life is sitting down at a table with family or friends, eating a meal, and having a conversation. Our mobile phone policy has contributed to this experience as previously in schools, students would be on their phones throughout social time. Next week in assemblies, we will be reiterating the view that social time is to enjoy the company of those around you, in a calm and pleasant environment. Next week, year 9 students are joining years, 7, 8 and 11 in early break and lunchtime and we are opening the hall as an additional eating area at the same time. We also restructured the queuing system on Monday, and I was impressed by how quickly students got used to it so my thanks to them for being so supportive. 

The year 11 and year 10 mock exams have gone well. With year 11 there is now a real sense of urgency as we enter the last weeks of their GCSE years. We altered how we get students ready for going into exams with them now meeting in the hall as a year group for a short pep talk before walking to the sports hall. What this means is students will go through exactly the same process each exam so they have a clear routine every single time. Routine is important in preparing for exams so every little thing we can do to keep it the same helps.  

The polling stations were open this week for students to step up and vote in the East Riding Youth Parliamentary elections. Nine of the candidates were our own students, who did their own lobbying before the polling stations opened. It was great to hear students discussing the options, and some very strong views on some of the manifesto messages. Nearly 300 ballot papers have been collected, with some tutor groups smashing the turnout percentage at nearly 50%!!!!! We now need to wait till March before the results are announced, but good luck to all candidates

Have a great weekend 

Mr Nixon 

Headteacher