Monday 23rd March | Head of School Letter
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Welcome to the final week of this short term! As we prepare to break for our Easter holiday this Friday, I want to reflect on a truly momentous few days for our school. As you know, Ofsted visited us last week for our first inspection since November 2021; I am beyond proud of our community. The new Ofsted framework has been in use since last November, and with anything new, it can be tricky to know if your interpretation of the guidance is correct and if you’ll do the school and the community justice. The six inspectors were incredibly impressed with our students' characters, noting how polite, respectful, and resilient they are, both in their learning and around the school site. Importantly, the inspection team saw exactly what I wrote to you about last week - the conduct and maturity that visitors praise is simply who our students are every single day. Thank you so much for the support, kindness, and understanding you, as families, showed us throughout last week.
I would like to extend my sincere thanks to the Senior Leadership Team: Mr Jones, Mr Fox, Mrs Hooley, Mr Smith, Mrs Hankin, Mr Passaro, Mr Henry, Mr Youngs, and our Business Manager, Mrs Hulland, for the energy, effort, and hard work they put in before and during the inspection to ensure everything ran smoothly. I also want to say a huge thank you to all our staff. Whether they are a teacher, an assistant teacher, support staff working with our students in the Base, TEAM Hub, the pastoral team, the LSR, the ISR, sixth form, the library, the careers team, the site team, or in a role that is not quite as front-facing, each person’s contribution is equally important in ensuring our school is as successful as it can be.
Despite the excitement of Ofsted last week, it is still business as usual right up to 3pm this Friday. I would like to wish a belated Eid Mubarak to our Muslim families who celebrated last Friday, and a Happy Pesach to our Jewish families for next week. To all those who celebrate, I wish you a wonderful Easter and to everyone, a super break! Monday 13th April is an INSET day; students return on Tuesday 14th April.
10 in 10 Attendance Competition
We are already halfway through our 10 in 10 attendance competition. A huge well done to all the students who have been in school every day for the last five days so far. As a reminder, to be in with a chance of winning some fantastic prizes, students simply need to be in school, on time, every single day for these final two weeks of term - 10 days in 10 days! With five days left until the Easter break, let’s keep up the excellent effort and finish the term strong.
Congratulations to the new Mrs Nicholas!
We have some wonderful personal news to share regarding Miss Gray, our Head of PSHCE and teacher of Society and Religion, who got married on Saturday. We send our warmest congratulations to the newly named Mrs Nicholas and wish her and her new husband, Andy, a lifetime of happy memories together. It has certainly been a whirlwind seven days for her - alongside the final preparations for her wedding, as Head of PSHCE she was also required to attend several meetings with the Ofsted inspectors last week. We are incredibly grateful for her hard work and dedication during such a busy time, and we are absolutely thrilled for her and Andy on this special occasion.
Wear A Hat Day
On Friday, we will be taking part in Wear A Hat Day to support Brain Tumour Research. With one in three people knowing someone affected by a brain tumour, it is a cause we are incredibly proud to support. Whether they favour a fedora, sport a sombrero, or pop on a Panama, we are inviting all students to wear a hat to school on the day. To take part, we ask for a small donation which can be made easily via MCAS. In addition to the hats, Year 9 student, Edie, will be running a special bake sale under the bus shelter during break and lunch on the day. The bake sale will be cash only, so students should remember to bring some change if they would like to buy a sweet treat and support Edie's fantastic fundraising efforts.
Year 8 and 9 Work Experience
A reminder for parents and carers regarding our upcoming Careers Exploration Days. Year 8 and 9 students will not be in school on these dates, as there is no on-site provision while we host new Year 7 Transition Days.
Year 8: Tuesday 7th July 2026
Year 9: Wednesday 8th July 2026
Every student must have an external in-person placement or a virtual plan for their assigned day. Students should shadow a trusted adult (parent, relative, or family friend) to gain insight into a real workplace. Students are covered by the host company’s Health and Safety policies and Employers' Liability Insurance. These placements help us meet DfE recommendations for meaningful employer engagement. Please arrange a placement for your young person and complete the relevant consent form by Friday 29th May 2026:
- Year 8 Form: Click Here
- Year 9 Form: Click Here
For placement advice including insurance and DBS checks, visit our Careers Hub.
Sparx Maths Update
We are pleased to share the latest Sparx Maths figures, which highlight the consistent effort our students have been putting into their maths practice both in the classroom and at home:
- 1,186,382 questions answered correctly.
- 13,513 hours of maths practice completed this year.
A special mention goes to the following classes for their notable effort this past week:
- Highest Completion Rate: 8y/Ma3 (95.7%)
- Biggest Completion Improvement: 10wy/Ma 5 (+22.2%)
Well done to all the students for their continued focus and commitment to developing their maths skills.
Support for Your Child’s Wellbeing: Free Courses for Parents
Buckinghamshire Family Learning is offering several free workshops and courses designed to help parents and carers support their secondary-age children. Spaces for these courses are limited. To book a place or to find out more, please use the contact details below :Buckinghamshire Adult Learning or call 01296 383582
- Support Your SEND Child at Home (Summer Term 2) Following high demand, a new four-week course for parents of neurodivergent children will launch in the second half of the summer term. To accommodate working parents, these sessions will run in the evening. We expect this to be very popular, so early booking is highly recommended.
- Years 7–9 Mental Health & Wellbeing: A five-week course focused on anxiety and resilience.
- Dates: Wednesdays, 22nd April – 20th May
- Time: 7:00pm – 9:00pm
- Years 10 and 11 Confidence & Stress Workshop: Supporting students through peer pressure and GCSE stress.
- Date: Wednesday, 15th April
- Time: 7:00pm – 9:00pm
Sports Report
Before we look at this week's fixtures, we have some fantastic, belated sports news to share. On Saturday, 7th March, the National Inter-County Cross Country Competition took place at Wollaton Hall in Nottingham. In the U13 girls' race, Poppy M ran for Bedfordshire, finishing a brilliant 55th out of 316 runners, while Freya I, representing Buckinghamshire, placed a fantastic 235th out of 316 in the same massive field. Meanwhile, in the U17 competition, Olive G (also representing Buckinghamshire) delivered an absolutely outstanding performance, coming 23rd out of 268 competitors. A huge well done to the girls on this achievement!
Football
Following the sensational group-stage performances we reported recently, our U15s took to the pitch on Wednesday for their highly anticipated County Cup semi-final against AGS. In a tightly contested and thrilling match, the team were narrowly edged out in a 3-2 defeat. Reaching the semi-finals of the county cup is a massive achievement in itself, and we are incredibly proud of the brilliant teamwork and skill they have shown throughout their entire cup run!
Netball
Our netballers have been working hard in their End of Season Tournaments (EOST) this week! On Tuesday, the Year 10 team put in a brilliant shift, playing some highly competitive netball to finish the day with 5 fantastic wins and 5 losses, showing stamina and teamwork across a long set of fixtures. On Wednesday, the Year 9 team also competed in their EOST. Although they faced incredibly tough opposition and unfortunately lost their four matches, the team showed resilience and determination, keeping their heads up to work hard right to the final whistle.
Basketball
On the basketball court, Wednesday saw our Year 9 team face off against PRS in an absolutely nail-biting contest. The team put on a superb display of skill and effort, battling hard from start to finish before narrowly losing out 34-30. They should be incredibly proud of such a close, high-scoring, and energetic performance!
Vacancies
We are currently advertising for a Lead Practitioner in Science. We’d be grateful if you could share the advert within your networks: Join Our Team
Events happening at school this week
All Week: Assemblies focused on World Sleep Day for Years 7 to 10.
- Monday 23rd March: Year 9 Bronze DofE Wave 1 expedition, Young Carers Workshop, U13 Girls Football vs Culford (Away), and Year 8 Netball Tournament at AHS.
- Tuesday 24th March: Year 9 Bronze DofE Wave 1 expedition, A Level Drama Exam, English Functional Skills Exam, Year 10 GCSE Statistics Mock Exam, Year 9 Basketball vs AVA (Home), Year 7 End of Season Netball Tournament at AHS, and Year 7 Football vs Mandeville (Home).
- Wednesday 25th March: MK Dons Partnership Careers & Coaching, Year 11 Globe Players ‘Macbeth’ performance in school, Year 13 Parents Evening (Virtual), U15 Girls Football vs Kingsbrook (Away), Yr 8 Basketball vs Princes Risborough (Away), and Yr 9 Football vs John Colet (Home).
- Thursday 26th March: Year 9 Td/IPV & MenACWY Vaccinations, ABC Careers Talk with Ethan Manners-Jones, Careers Café Session 2, U13 Girls Football vs Kingsbrook (Home), Yr 11 Football vs AGS (Away), and BandJam.
- Friday 27th March: Wear a Hat Fundraising Day, Celebration Assemblies.
Have a super week, and a really great Easter holiday. Thank you for your support.
Best wishes,
Louise Baldwin
Head of School