Welcome Back Term 1 – September 2nd 2019 - Week “Zero”

I would like to welcome everyone back to a new school year. I hope that all families are rested and ready for the year ahead. If you are joining us in Year 7, you are very welcome. We will have an information evening on Thursday 12 September so that we can talk to you about life here at WCSA. In fact, these evenings will run for all year groups, on a Thursday in the weeks to come. Please do join us as we will go through our homework system (familiar to many of you by now) as well as explaining how GCSEs work, who your child’s Head of Year is and how best to support your child here at WCSA.

Please do know that, if you are a WCSA student, you are in good hands. We celebrated success with our outgoing Year 11 students in August. Pictured below are Iris and Jess who got a string of Grade 9s – almost unheard of. We have lots of smiling faces on success day.

As a new school year gets underway, I would like to make parents aware of a few things. We run a termly parents forum and would be delighted to welcome any parent who would like to be part of this. We listen to your views, concerns, suggestions and ideas and report back on how we have made any changes or improvements as a result of what you tell us. I have been delighted with the support of the forum – if you (the parents) can share your views, then we can help to shape the school and go from strength to strength.

I would also like to remind you of a few basic expectations. We need shoes to be black and polishable. We are happy to lend shoes, and have updated our stock over the summer. All of our shoes are currently brand new! Blazers need to be worn at all times please. When it gets cold, there is a black school jumper which can go under the blazer. We have a stock of new jumpers in Student Services and are happy to lend. An outdoor coat can be worn over the blazer to add an additional layer. We do ask that coats are not worn instead of the blazer.

The one change that we have made is to the use of mobile phones. We do realise that students may need a phone on the way to and from school, to call parents, arrange lifts and make plans. However, to limit screen time, as well as to safeguard everyone, mobiles will need to be switched off, at the bottom of a bag. Any phone seen after a student enters the school will be confiscated and returned at the end of the school day. Any student needing to call a parent/carer during then school day will be able to see a teacher or go the Student Services. We are quite happy to facilitate students talking to their parents/carers if they need to within school hours.

Finally, please note a couple of changes. We will not be sending out paper copies of our newsletters anymore. We will still be producing a newsletter and will send it to you electronically. If you would like a hard copy, please let us know and we will ensure that you get one. We will not be producing a written, end of year report, although we will continue to report THREE times a year. We do know that parents often ask about the reporting system and this will be one of the things that we run through at our parent information evenings (mentioned above). We are committed to celebrating success, so please look out for the celebrations on the calendar. Below is our new sign (which can be seen on entry to WCSA via Redwing drive). These are our top students of last year. Congratulations!

Dates Looking Ahead:

12th Sept              Y7 Parent Information Evening

19th Sept              Open Evening

26th Sept              Y8 Parent Information Evening

3rd Oct                   Y9 Parent Information Evening

8th – 11th Oct       Spamalot productions

15th – 17th Oct     Art Exhibition (provisional dates)

17th Oct                 Y10 Mock Interview Day

18th Oct                 INSET Day – Students not in school