On Monday, Steve Eadon gave a talk to Year 9 students about all the benefits of choosing a language at GCSE. He has had an illustrious career thanks to his language studies, working for Arsenal FC and travelling all over the world: students really enjoyed listening to his stories. We hope many students will choose to take French or Spanish when they select their option subjects in the summer term. Thank you, Mr Facey, for arranging this.

Thank you to Ms Hansford for taking both the Year 7 and Year 9 netball teams to Coombe Wood on Tuesday. For Year 7, it was their first-ever match representing the school, and I am delighted to report they won 10-3 with the captain, Princess, selected for the player of the match. For Year 9, despite a performance of the season, they lost in the last minutes of the game. A special shout out goes to the Year 9 captain, Amara, who was selected as the player of the match, but also as she was not feeling 100%!

Our House charity competition is in full swing and this week we started collecting for our annual Shrublands Food Bank drive. Donations of non-perishable items are very much welcomed and students can drop these into their designated house box near reception. Please keep them coming in.

On December 20th, students are encouraged to come into school wearing a festive jumper and donate £1 in aid of The Mizen Foundation charity in memory of teenager Jimmy Mizen who died in an unprovoked attack the day after his 16th birthday in 2008. We have been fortunate over the last few years to have Jimmy's parents, Margaret and Barry, come in to talk to us about their message of forgiveness, peace and hope to inspire many to build safer, more peaceful communities. We encourage our students to be imaginative and add a bit of tinsel or baubles to an existing jumper rather than spending money on new items.

Notices

Friday 20th December will be the last day of the school term. There will be a staggered dismissal between 11.45am and 12.15pm. We will text parents when all children have left the site. All children return to school on Tuesday 7th January.

A reminder that Thursday is Year 11 parents’ evening, which begins at 4.00pm.

Ms C Moran, Headteacher