Headteachers' Blog
Week Commencing Monday 30th January 2012
Year 11 Parents’ Evening
On Tuesday we have our Year 11 Parents’ Evening between 3:30pm and 6:30pm. Students, by now, should have made appointments with their subject teachers. This is a vitally important evening and we strongly encourage all parents to attend. Our Coffee Shop, ‘Stanley Perc’, will be open throughout the evening.
Opening Event
Following discussions with the Mayor of London’s Office, there have been some slight amendments to our Community Opening event. Boris Johnson will not be able to get to the school until 4pm, and, as a result, will not be cutting the opening ribbon at 2:45pm. This ribbon-cutting will be undertaken by 4 students, one from each of the four schools, in front of the whole school community and 75 special guests. At 4pm Boris will visit the school. This is at the same time that we are open to parents and our local community. With this in mind, students will be bringing home a special invitation on Tuesday. This invitation will allow two members of each family to tour the school between 4-6pm.
Please note that some students will be helping teachers during the Opening event.
Lockers
We continue to distribute the lockers to students that have paid their £5 deposit. This process will be completed by the end of this week. Our apologies for the delay in this process.
Sports Results
Year 7 Netball v Carshalton Girls - Won 10-9
Year 8 Netball v Carshalton Girls - Lost 11-4
Year 9 Netball v Carshalton Girls - Drew 8-8
Year 7 Girls Football 5-a-side Tournament - Finished 4th
Year 8 Football v Overton - Won 2-1
Year 9 Football v Overton - Lost 3-0
Year 10 Football v Overton - Won 7-2
U18 Football Academy v Wealdstone – Lost 4-2
Individual Table Tennis Tournament Seniors - George Harris and Mickel Miller played in the final. Both qualified for the Nationals in Doncaster.
Sports Fixtures
Monday 30th January
- Year 7 Girls Football v Overton - A
Tuesday 31st January
- Year 7 Netball v Greenshaw - H
- Year 7 Rugby League 9's Tournament @ St Josephs School
Wednesday 1st February
- U18 Football Academy v Wingate - H
Thursday 2nd February
- Year 7, 8 and 9 Netball v Overton - H
Saturday 4th February
- Year 7-10 Football v Cheam @ Nescot
Week Commencing Monday 23rd January 2012
Last week went exceptionally well. As the photos show, the students have settled into their new environment. From their written feedback it is evident that they are extremely impressed with the new facilities.
A quick update on a few new site issues:
- Please can you avoid driving your child to and from school. There are particular problems at the end of the day with parents parking in front of the school; thereby preventing the designated coaches from picking up our students. It is very likely that stopping and parking restrictions will commence in the area in the next few days.
- The last of the lockers were installed on Friday and we have started to distribute them to the students. We will continue to collect the deposit of £5 throughout this week. This is best done through ParentPay.
- Our opening event will take place on Thursday 9th February 2012. The cutting of the ribbon will take place at 2:45pm and this will be conducted by Boris Johnson, Mayor of London, in front of the whole school community. He will be supported in this by one student from each of the four schools. There will be approximately 75 special guests joining us at this time. All of these individuals have helped us realise our dream of a new school in some way. Unfortunately we will not be able to host parents at the ribbon cutting ceremony. However, the school will be open for you to look round between 4-6pm on that day.
Post 16
On Tuesday we have our Post 16 Open Evening between 6-8pm. There will be two introductory talks available in the theatre at 6:15pm and 7:15pm. Staff representing all offered subjects will be present, as will our Careers Advisor. We strongly encourage all Year 11 students and their parents to attend. Year 10 students will also find it informative.
Sports Results and Fixtures
The girls’ football team played well on Friday 13th January but narrowly missed out on reaching the semi-finals. The needed to beat Charlton in their last group game but only managed a 2-2 draw, having hit the bar with 5 seconds to go. It was their first setback this season but they are still in all the cups and have a 100% record in the league.
Our U18 Academy Football Team continue to do very well. Last week they reached the last 16 of the National Cup in defeating Dulwich Hamlet 1-0.
Tuesday 24th January
- Year 7 Girls 5-a-side football tournament @ Nonsuch
Wednesday 25th January
- U18 Football Academy v Wealdstone (H)
Thursday 26th January
- Year 7 Netball v Car Girls (H)
Friday 27th January
- Individual Table Tennis tournament @ Whitgift- 1.30-6pm
Saturday 28th January
- Years 8, 9, 10 Football v Overton Grange @ Beddington Park
Week Commencing Monday 16th January 2012
We apologise that this will be a shorter Blog. Last week was extremely busy but we are ready to open today. Our staff worked extremely hard to unpack and prepare the rooms for the students. Some of the areas within the school will continue to have some minor work this week but we will be able to operate a normal timetable.
Whilst we are not expecting any disasters, we recognise that any new building takes a few weeks to settle and there will be issues that arise that we will have to respond to. Nevertheless it looks absolutely marvellous and we will be delighted to see the expressions on the faces of our students as they encounter the building and its fantastic facilities for the first time.
A few issues:
- If you can avoid driving your child to school please do so. Parking in the area will be heavily restricted.
- Please be patient with locker keys. A deposit of £5 will be collected throughout the week. This is best done through ParentPay. However, it will take up to a week to distribute the keys to over a 1000 students, as we initially have to match the keys to each of the individual lockers.
- Whilst our cafeteria and coffee shop will be operating this week, they will be providing a slightly restricted menu.
- Parents will not be able to tour the building until Thursday 9th February. We will have our official opening on that day, starting at 1:45pm. Further details will be provided in the next few Blogs.
- If you can avoid driving your child to school please do so. Parking in the area will be heavily restricted.
- Please be patient with locker keys. A deposit of £5 will be collected throughout the week. This is best done through ParentPay. However, it will take up to a week to distribute the keys to over a 1000 students, as we initially have to match the keys to each of the individual lockers.
- Whilst our cafeteria and coffee shop will be operating this week, they will be providing a slightly restricted menu.
- Parents will not be able to tour the building until Thursday 9th February. We will have our official opening on that day, starting at 1:45pm. Further details will be provided in the next few Blogs.
We have attracted considerable media interest and we will be giving a few interviews on radio during our first day This will start at 6:20am on BBC Radio London programme, followed by LBC Radio at 11:15am and Radio Jackie in the afternoon. We have been told that these radio interviews will be repeated in news bulletins throughout the day. Also, we will be appearing in the Evening Standard on Monday and will have coverage in the Sutton Guardian and Sutton Advertiser later in the week.
Finally, we would like to say a big thank you to all of the parents for their fantastic support of the school. You have been very thoughtful regarding the pressures on us and made very few demands on our time over the last few weeks.
Week Commencing Monday 9th January 2012
One week to go and all is well with our move, although the strong winds and heavy rain certainly tested us and our new building last week.
The two photographs below show that most of the furniture has been assembled and located in the classrooms. The first photo shows an English classroom and the second an Excellent Futures Studio. Both are in World.
Our removal company have started to move our equipment and to date Motor Vehicle Engineering, PE and the Science Chemicals have been relocated. The remainder will be moved by Wednesday.
Staff will be visiting the school today but will not start the unpacking until Wednesday as the Atrium floor will be sealed on Tuesday.
Today we welcome back our Years 10-13 students. Please remember that they finish at 1pm each day this week and that there are no catering facilities available. External examinations start this week for these Year Groups. Please see the Exam Info page in the Parents tab for the January 2012 timetable. Remember all January exams will take place on our current site, even after we have transferred to the new site. This will require students to transfer between our two sites but they will be given plenty of time to do so. If you have any concerns about this please contact Miss Patel, Mrs Smedley or Mrs Hemmings in the Examinations office.
We will be sending a letter on Tuesday with the following information:
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The school’s new address is Damson Way, Carshalton, Surrey SM5 4NS. Our phone number (0208 647 5842), fax (0208 254 7800) and absence line (0208 254 7804) all remain the same.
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Directions to the new site can be found in the Contact Tab
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We are keen that we do not cause traffic congestion in the area surrounding our school, so I politely request that your child travels to school by walking, bicycle or public transport. However, should you feel that there is a need; there will be a special bus service between Shotfield and the new school site. Mitcham Belle will be providing two double-decker buses at both the beginning and end of the day. In the morning the buses will leave at 7:35am, 7:40am, 7:55am and 8:00am. To minimise the pressure on these buses we will expect those students that currently travel on the 154 bus to continue to do so. They should get off the 154 bus at the bottom of Fountain Drive and walk the last 400 metres to the school. If students do get our special bus service we strongly encourage them to get the earlier buses. Any student that is unable to get on the 8:00am bus because it is full will still have sufficient time to get to school on the 154 bus or by walking. Students who are late will still be subject to the current detention arrangements. At the end of the day the buses will each make two return trips to Shotfield.
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Please note that due to the late start on the 16th January 2012 the buses will run from Shotfield at 8:35am, 8:40am, 8:55am and 9:00am.
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On normal days your child will be able to enter the school from 7:30am. The only entrance/exit is at the front of the school.
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The Coffee Shop (Stanley Perc), located at the Performance/Trade end of the atrium, will be open at this time and will remain open until 9pm.
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Our Learning Resource Centre, Spark, is located on the ground floor of Horizon and will be open to students between 8am and 5pm.
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The arrangements for food/drink at breakfast, break time and lunchtime remain unchanged, although we now have new caterers, Harrison. Students will be able to purchase food and drink from Stanley Perc or from our restaurant, Flame. Parents will need to use the current ParentPay procedures. Students in Year 11 will no longer be allowed to leave the site at lunchtime. Post 16 students will be able to do so.
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A Locker will be available to your child and we strongly encourage them to use one. Your child will need to bring in a £5 deposit in order to receive a key. If your child loses their key they will lose their deposit.
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Parents will be able to visit the school for our Opening Event on Tuesday 9th February 2012. Whilst the timings are yet to be confirmed, it is likely to be between 1pm and 2:25pm.
A basic plan of the school will be included. We hope this provides the basic details needed to get your child through the first few days and satisfactorily answers any initial questions you may have.
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The school’s new address is Damson Way, Carshalton, Surrey SM5 4NS. Our phone number (0208 647 5842), fax (0208 254 7800) and absence line (0208 254 7804) all remain the same.
-
Directions to the new site can be found in the Contact Tab
-
We are keen that we do not cause traffic congestion in the area surrounding our school, so I politely request that your child travels to school by walking, bicycle or public transport. However, should you feel that there is a need; there will be a special bus service between Shotfield and the new school site. Mitcham Belle will be providing two double-decker buses at both the beginning and end of the day. In the morning the buses will leave at 7:35am, 7:40am, 7:55am and 8:00am. To minimise the pressure on these buses we will expect those students that currently travel on the 154 bus to continue to do so. They should get off the 154 bus at the bottom of Fountain Drive and walk the last 400 metres to the school. If students do get our special bus service we strongly encourage them to get the earlier buses. Any student that is unable to get on the 8:00am bus because it is full will still have sufficient time to get to school on the 154 bus or by walking. Students who are late will still be subject to the current detention arrangements. At the end of the day the buses will each make two return trips to Shotfield.
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Please note that due to the late start on the 16th January 2012 the buses will run from Shotfield at 8:35am, 8:40am, 8:55am and 9:00am.
-
On normal days your child will be able to enter the school from 7:30am. The only entrance/exit is at the front of the school.
-
The Coffee Shop (Stanley Perc), located at the Performance/Trade end of the atrium, will be open at this time and will remain open until 9pm.
-
Our Learning Resource Centre, Spark, is located on the ground floor of Horizon and will be open to students between 8am and 5pm.
-
The arrangements for food/drink at breakfast, break time and lunchtime remain unchanged, although we now have new caterers, Harrison. Students will be able to purchase food and drink from Stanley Perc or from our restaurant, Flame. Parents will need to use the current ParentPay procedures. Students in Year 11 will no longer be allowed to leave the site at lunchtime. Post 16 students will be able to do so.
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A Locker will be available to your child and we strongly encourage them to use one. Your child will need to bring in a £5 deposit in order to receive a key. If your child loses their key they will lose their deposit.
-
Parents will be able to visit the school for our Opening Event on Tuesday 9th February 2012. Whilst the timings are yet to be confirmed, it is likely to be between 1pm and 2:25pm.
A basic plan of the school will be included. We hope this provides the basic details needed to get your child through the first few days and satisfactorily answers any initial questions you may have.
Week Commencing Monday 2nd January 2012
