Dear Parent or Carer

Welcome to our end of half-term three newsletter.  Within the relatively short-days this term, students and staff have managed to fit a lot of activities in, ranging from: visits to Oxford University, The Emirates Stadium, an enjoyable Quiz Night organised by the PTA, many sports fixtures, a Hamlet trip, a lecture by the Wycombe Astronomical Society and a Night with Shakespeare.

We really encourage students to take part in a range of activities outside their lessons, to enrich their learning experience, develop new skills and different friendship groups and importantly to have as diverse a range of experiences to draw upon when interviewing for Sixth Form, University, Apprenticeships and jobs.

As part of our Microsoft Schools Development we are trialling different approaches the use of different tools on student devices.  Can we take this opportunity to encourage all students to bring their devices in as part of their normal equipment, fully charged, to minimise lost learning time in class.  We are getting a lot out of using the Immersive Reader app from Microsoft and Microsoft Lens which are great tools for all students, but in particular those with dyslexia and EAL.  Please read the article in this newsletter to find out more.

Our students think deeply about situations that are going on in the world and are currently raising money for the Wycombe Homeless Connections charity, with a Bake Sale.  They have also been profoundly shocked by the terrible 7.8 magnitude earthquake on 6 February in Turkey and Syria, particularly as a number have family in these areas.  Our thoughts go out to them and those who are affected by such tragedies.  Restaurants like the Historia Meze Grill in High Wycombe are appealing for donations of blankets to send out there.  The newsletter ends with this tragedy in mind.

We strongly encourage students to bus, cycle or walk to school to reduce traffic and pollution and to support their own physical wellness.  If you need to bring your child to school by car, please do not drive along Parish Piece to drop off OR pick up.  Please drop and pick up away from the school, parking safely, legally and respectfully.  Please do not park in private local car parks; on yellow zig zag lines; or anywhere that could be dangerous. With the lighter evenings, please encourage your child to walk, cycle or catch the bus to school, it is also a great way of them developing independence.

We are keen to reduce our carbon footprint and have been carrying out works to support this.  Each of our old, inefficient large boilers, have each been replaced by an array of six smaller boilers that are weather compensating and heat smaller amounts of water depending on demand and outside temperature.  These are proving to be significantly more energy efficient.  The new teaching block is fitted with solar panels to reduce its carbon footprint.  We have a rolling programme that is replacing our lighting with LEDs and movement sensors to reduce energy consumption.  Although we have a long-way to go, these are steps in the right direction.

As a reminder, Monday 20 February is a staff training day and all students begin timetabled lessons on Tuesday 21 February.

Reflecting back on the earthquake in Syria and Turkey it is fitting to close with the following by JRR Tolkien | The Lord of the Rings:

“The world is indeed full of peril, and in it there are many dark places; but still there is much that is fair, and though in all lands love is now mingled with grief, it grows perhaps the greater”

I wish everyone a restful half-term.

Ed Hillyard,

Headteacher