This week saw our Open Evening for prospective students and their parents. It is a key event for the school and one I always look forward to as it gives us the opportunity to showcase our school to the local community. I am proud of our school and believe it has a compelling offer to parents locally. Across the evening, we had more than 700 visitors which was a delight to see. The stars of the evening were the students. Over 350 helped out on the evening as either tour guides or subject helpers. Their input was invaluable, as was the insight they provided to prospective parents. Next week sees the first of our two Open Mornings, when visitors get the chance to see the school on a normal working day. 

The English department hosted a poetry writing workshop, run in conjunction with Amnesty International and the Cheltenham Festivals, this week. The workshop is part of a collaboration that has seen our students performing their own poetry at the Literature Festival for the past 3 years. The students worked with poet John Bernard and a representative from Amnesty on poetry addressing the issue of human rights. They will have the opportunity to perform their work at the Cheltenham Literature Festival next month.

Our school is incredibly fortunate to be part of an exciting enrichment project with the composer in residence at Wells Cathedral, Verity Standen. This involves a group of 21 of our students who will be developing creative ideas which will be formed into a composition by Verity. They will then learn the piece over the next few weeks, culminating in a performance at Gloucester Cathedral on the 7 October. This will be as part of the touring performance of “Everything Slips”, by Verity, which is currently touring. This is a very different vocal project as the musical language explored is more experiential, textural, and ambient than the students will have experienced before; fantastic for all the students, but in particular our GCSE Music students.

We have had a really positive second week of term, with lots of students attending a wide range of lunchtime and after-school clubs across a variety of sports and activities. Fixtures in our more traditional sports will begin next week, and we are looking forward to seeing our teams in action. We have been delighted with the fantastic attendance at Year 7 basketball, rugby, and netball. The year group has really embraced the opportunities on offer, which has been wonderful to see. On Tuesday, Gloucester Rugby delivered the first session of an eight-week programme with our Year 10, Year 8, and Year 7 students. It was brilliant to see those who are new to rugby learning new skills and successfully transferring their football skills into a different sporting environment. SV Flow continues to be a very popular club on Friday lunchtimes, and it is wonderful to see students having fun and enjoying the benefits of 'no-pressure' sport. Our externally coached table tennis session on Wednesday evenings has also proved highly popular, alongside our long-established badminton clubs.

Our Year 10 Boys Footballers did have a fixture this week, against Marling in the first round of the ESFA Cup. It was a really close game with the boys being unlucky to go into half-time trailing 1-0. They lost momentum slightly in the second half and couldn’t quite find the equaliser. There were some great performances all round, but player(s) of the match went to both Miles and Oskar for their solid defending.

Also on the sporting front:

• Congratulations go to Year 10 student Callum Gibbs. Inspired by his dad’s entry to the Ironman Wales, Callum not only volunteered at the event but also competed in the children’s Ironman, finishing first in his age-group wave. Well done Callum (and his dad who completed the event in 15 hours!!)

• Last weekend, class ex-SV student Finley Williamson took part in the British Bowls U25 International Series representing England. Over the course of the weekend, the English team played against Wales, Scotland and Ireland and on Sunday were crowned British Champions. It was lovely to hear that one of our new Year 7 students, Hugo Williams, was amongst the crowds cheering England on. Let’s hope that Hugo can replicate Fin’s successes.

We know that the vast majority of our students leave the school site sensibly and follow instructions, showing care and consideration for both themselves and those around them. We have had a number of reports of cyclists not riding considerately, not cycling with due care and attention and not wearing helmets. I would like to emphasise that this involves only a minority of students, but it is something we are keen to address. During line-ups, students will be reminded of the importance of cycling safely. We will also be giving a message around general road safety which covers our pedestrians as well. Thank you for your support in helping to keep all members of our community safe.

As always, I end with my weekly reminder about Free School Meals eligibility. From the 2026 - 2027 academic year, eligibility is being expanded to all children from households in receipt of Universal Credit regardless of household earnings. This widens the scope of eligibility and means many more families should now qualify. Please do check the updated information, which can also be found here, to see if that includes you.  

I do hope you have a great weekend.  

Regards  

Richard Johnson 
Headteacher