Dear Parents and Carers,

As part of our ongoing commitment to providing the very best educational experience for our pupils, we are beginning the process of shaping our School Development Plan for the next three years. This plan will outline our priorities, guide our decision‑making, and help ensure that our school continues to grow, improve, and reflect the needs of our whole community.

To support this work, we are collecting a wide range of views from across the school. Your perspective as parents and carers is an essential part of this process. The information you share with us will help shape the direction of the school, support our long‑term planning, and allow us to revisit and strengthen our core values.

We would be grateful if you could take a few moments to complete our short questionnaire, which can be accessed using the link below:

Parent Survey: https://forms.gle/xJLNJcAfSPXwAy7L6

Alongside parent feedback, pupils, teachers and our community partners will also be asked a series of questions, helping us build a balanced and meaningful picture of our school community. By working together and gathering a range of voices, we can create a development plan that is purposeful, ambitious, and reflective of everyone it serves.

Thank you in advance for your time and continued support.

Please see letter sent to all parents:School Development Plan – Parents Letter

Please see letter sent to all parents and guardians regarding the introduction of the IRIS Absence Call System.

This system is designed to be an efficient and cost-effective tool to help reduce unauthorised absences and improve punctuality across the school.
Each day at approximately 9:45 a.m., an automated message will be sent to the parent or guardian of any child who has been marked absent. If you have already contacted the school and provided a reason for your child’s absence before this time, you will not receive the IRIS Absence message.

This system will help reduce time-consuming phone calls between school and home regarding unauthorised absences and will ensure that you are alerted promptly if your child is absent without explanation. Once the message is sent by our administration staff, you will receive a notification stating that your child has been marked absent on the register. You will then have the opportunity to reply to the message with the reason for their absence. This information will be recorded on SIMS, ensuring accurate coding of attendance.

Benefits of IRIS Absence Call:

• Better Outcomes: Reduce unauthorised absence, truancy, and improve punctuality.

• Improve Engagement: Strengthen home-to-school partnerships with a system that suits busy and hard-to- reach parents.

• Ongoing Support: Enable early interventions for persistently absent pupils to support learning.

• Save Time: Reduce administrative workload and empower staff with dynamic reporting and data.

• Save Money: A cost-efficient platform designed with busy schools in mind.

We believe this system will enhance communication between school and home and support our shared goal of improving attendance and punctuality.
If you have any questions regarding IRIS Absence Call, please do not hesitate to contact the school office.

Please see the attached letter for information relating to the Year 11 parent teacher meeting on Thursday 5th February:

Year 11 Parent Teacher Meeting

Please see the attached letter for information relating to the Year 13 and 14 parent teacher meetings on Monday 15th December:

Year 13 and 14 Parents Evening

Access arrangements are governed by guidelines laid out by the Joint Council for Qualifications (JCQ). Schools have a statutory duty to follow the guidelines which clearly stipulate the following:
• 25% must be the pupils ‘normal way of working’ and the school must first prove that supervised rest breaks are not sufficient for the pupil.
• Pupils must have evidence (mock examinations and feedback from teachers) which clearly shows the use of 25% extra time.
• Pupils must have two below average scores in tests of reading, writing or processing speed.

JCQ have indicated that supervised rest breaks are often more appropriate for pupils without a diagnosed learning difficulty. Supervised rest breaks present an opportunity for a pupil to pause an exam for a short period of time and step away from their paper. This allows them time to calm their mind and settle down before restarting their time. The new guidance has a number of implications for schools going forward in ensuring pupils are provided with the correct arrangements and that evidence is on hand to support any application. Therefore, the following steps will be
taken:
• Your child will be provided with rest breaks (instead of extra time) to determine the impact on their examinations and to determine if this arrangement is not sufficient.
• Your child will be tested to determine if they have scores which may contribute to evidence for extra time.
• Discussions with class teachers and evidence gathering for individual subjects to determine a genuine need for extra time.
• Review after mock examinations to determine if extra time is needed.

Please see information sent to parents: JCQ Access Arrangement Guidelines 2025 2026

Year 11 Access Arrangements: Access Arrangements Oct 2025

The Year 12 Parents Evening will be on Monday 15th September from 3:30-5:30pm.

Please see the attached document for more details.

Year 12 Parents Information Sept 2025

Thank you for your continued support.