Welcome to The Cottesloe School at the start of a new academic year!

Welcome to the penultimate week of the academic year! 

Reflecting on last week's unprecedented heatwave, I want to start this week's HoS letter by expressing my pride and thanks in how our entire school community responded to such challenging conditions. The Met Office's Red Weather Warning meant moving to half days on Wednesday and Thursday, followed by a full site closure on Friday as temperatures remained in the mid 30s. Throughout these disruptions, our community embodied our core values of Prepare, Aspire, Succeed.

By this point in the academic year, the school heating is usually turned off until October. However, because it has been so cold this week, our exam students were really feeling the chill in the Hall and the Old Gym. Sitting still for several hours doesn’t generate much body heat, even with a jumper and blazer on. To ensure our students were fully prepared to focus entirely on their papers without distraction, we turned the heating back on. The weather looks to be warming up to more seasonal temperatures this week, so we hope to turn it off again soon. Despite the unseasonal cold, our students have shown immense resilience. A huge well done must go to our Year 11 and Year 13 students, who are now fully immersed in the main summer exam season and showing the high aspirations we encourage across all year groups. We also extend our praise to the Year 12 students taking Core Maths, Further Maths, and modular BTEC exams, all of whom are approaching their assessments with that same commendable drive to achieve their very best and succeed.

I hope you managed to enjoy some sunshine despite the mixed weather over the Bank Holiday weekend. This week, GCSE written exams begin for students studying Health and Social Care, Drama, German, and Sports Studies. A-Level Art students undertake their 15-hour final exam too. Looking ahead to next week, the written A-Level examinations begin, and for the rest of Year 11, from 11th May.

Welcome back to the start of a new term!  It’s great to be back; we’re looking forward to another busy term. I hope you had a wonderful Easter break and enjoyed some well-deserved time away from work and school routines, connecting with family and friends, and doing the things you love most. I spent last Sunday on the south coast at the Brighton Marathon, running my 103rd marathon overall and my seventh as an official pacer. The weather created some challenges for all runners with strong winds along the coast – there was either a welcome tailwind, or a tough headwind to overcome. I was one of two six-hour-fifteen-minute pacers, and we absolutely smashed our target. As pacers, we have to cross the finish line within one minute under our goal time, so I was very proud to bring my group home in 6:14:21!