Friday 5 September 2008

New Term and a new year ahead.


New year is always a time for reflection and making resolutions about things we want to improve on. This is also true of the new term which began in August.

As always, it's been a very busy and hectic start to another term. Two days in-service gave us the perfect opportunity to ease ourselves in and make the necessary arrangement for the term ahead. After a seven week break, staff and pupils are refreshed and ready. Given the superb results achieved by many of our students it was great to start to term on such a positive note.
In the year ahead a continuing focus for us will be raising expectations for all our pupils. I am convinced that we need to keep raising the bar as our school continues to go from strength to strength.

A main focus for us will be in improving attendance across the school. During the summer all parents had a chance to respond to a questionnaire I sent out seeking their views on setting targets for pupil attendance. Though some parents baulked at setting a threshold for all pupils at 95%, below which, repeating the year or, in the case of senior pupils, not being presented for some exams, will, I am convinced, change many people's views on the importance of attending school. In the next few weeks, following discussion with pupils and colleagues I will firm up our plans in this area.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

...just came across this post, and I was particularly interested by the comments about attendence and having to repeat the year. When I taught in Spain, this was common practice, but I've never come across it in the UK until your post..
Could you perhaps elaborate a little ?