I hope that you all had a fantastic festive period, and a very Happy New Year. It has been great to welcome students and staff back to College this week, for a busy first week back.

Ski Trip

In the first week of the holidays, 80 students from across years 8-11 went on our annual ski trip to the Italian resort of Claviere. The students and staff had a fantastic time enjoying some beautiful skiing weather and taking part in skiing lessons and a range of other activities. We are particularly grateful to the staff for giving up their holiday time to support the trip; without significant staff support we would not be able to run such an adventurous and large-scale trip!

Coffee Morning next week

Next Wednesday (15 January) at 8.30am we have our first coffee morning and tour of the new term. This is an opportunity for parents to come along and meet members of the senior leadership team, hear about what is going on in College and ask any questions. There will be a short tour afterwards so that you can visit lessons and see the College in action. If you would like to book a space, please contact the office by Tuesday morning.

Year 13 Mock Exams

This week our Year 13 students have begun their mock exams, sitting a full schedule of IB and BTEC exams to help them prepare for their final exams after Easter. We have been incredibly impressed with their hard work in preparation for the mocks, and in their attendance and conduct so far. We look forward to seeing how they have got on!

Top of the Bench trip

This Wednesday the Science department took a group of students from years 9-11 to participate in the Royal Society of Chemistry’s ‘Top of the Bench’ competition regional heats at the Open University in Milton Keynes. The students completed a range of challenges both practical and theoretical, and really did us proud! We are eagerly awaiting news of how they did, and whether or not they made the national finals. 

Mobile phone usage

Since the start of this academic year we have no longer allowed students to use their mobile phones during the College day based on the recent recommendations from the Department for Education (DfE), the wider landscape and educational research, as well as the views of parents, students and staff.

We would like to thank everyone for their support with the implementation of this policy and it has been really positive to see students have more direct communication with each other during the school day.