September 2018 Principal Letter

September 2018

Dear Parent/Carers,

It has been great to welcome our students back to school, the start to the term has been extremely positive. Last year’s Year 11 results were extremely good, the result of a great deal of hard work from students, parents and staff. 69% of students achieved Grade 4 (old Grade C) and above in Maths, 43% of students achieved Grade 5 and above. 73% of students achieved Grade 4 and above in English and 57% achieved Grade 5 and above in English. Students at Barlby make strong progress, the final progress score hasn’t been released as yet but at the moment we can say that students make much more progress than the national average. It was also great to see students achieving the very top grades across all subjects.

Now that I’ve been at the school for just over a year I felt that it was the right time to relaunch our Vision and Values. We want every member of our school community to ‘Live life to the full’. This means that they will make the most of opportunities and have a good balance of challenge and fun. The values we want to see developed in all members of our school community have stood the test of time; we want to be gracious, compassionate, loyal, patient, kind, forgiving and just and have been exploring these with students during assembly time and in our Stop the Clock Day.

Student Health and Wellbeing
Please discourage your child from drinking energy drinks, they are not permitted in school due to high sugar content. We no longer issue medication such as paracetamol from reception unless we have had a request from parents of children with particular needs. Please remind students to be very careful when cycling to school and to wear their helmet. 

Attendance
It is very unlikely that I will authorise a holiday during term time as time off school has a very serious negative impact on student progress. If your child is absent from school due to a medical appointment, please provide the school with details of the appointment e.g. appointment card from doctor.

Christmas Shoe Boxes
This year we are partnering with ‘Cry in the Dark’ to send Christmas Shoeboxes to children in Romania who otherwise would not receive a present this Christmas. Each tutor group is preparing 2 boxes for named children and form tutors have given ideas for what might be included. Items such as toys, stationary, sweets, hat, scarf and gloves are all needed.

Extra-curricular
We have an extensive programme of extra-curricular activities which is attached to this letter. As always, we have many trips out of school including numerous theatre trips, the Ski Trip, ‘Women in STEM’, Year 11 Science Live, Poetry Live and visit to Taize.

Year 11 parents
It was great to welcome parents to our Information Evening on Tuesday 18th September. The feedback from parents was very positive; the resources are on the school website, this link will take you straight there: buff.ly/2DgWGxo

Dates for your diary
(All key dates are on our website)
4th October – Open Evening (school closes 12.35pm)
18th October – English Annual Writing competition
26th October – End of Half Term
6th November – Celebrating Success evening
14th November – Stop the Clock Day – ‘Choose respect’
12th December – Christmas Lunch
18th and 19th December – School Production
21st December – End of term (School closes 12.35pm)

Best Wishes

Julie Caddell Principal

September 2018 – Original Letter
Extra Curricular Term 1
Revision and intervention Term 1