The penultimate week of exams for our Year 11s has been completed. Two more days of exams next week and then they can all enjoy a well-deserved rest! I continue to be impressed with their conduct and resilience, and look forward to enjoying next week’s leavers events with them.

Our Year 7 – 10s continue their preparation for their forthcoming Order assessments and end-of-year exams which are rapidly approaching. Full details and revision materials are on Satchel One. Thank you in advance for supporting your child with their preparation.

Last week we received confirmation of our annual DofE volunteering total. It was brilliant to see that almost 1000 volunteering hours with a social value of £6000 have been amassed by our DofE students in the past year. This volunteering has included: being a young leader at Scouts, coaching younger age groups in their chosen sport, helping at primary school after-school clubs, raising money for local charities, helping with event management for local charities, undertaking duties with the local police cadet force, helping the elderly, reading to children and helping at the local library. I would like to congratulate all the students who have contributed to these numbers and hope that, having started their volunteering journey, they will choose to continue this and carry on supporting those who have benefitted from their time so far. 

Our Outdoor Ed group continued their adventures with a canoeing session at Raven's Nest Fisheries, near Tintern in Monmouthshire. The session introduced the students to the open boat canoe, testing their skills as paddlers, their ability to communicate as a small team (starting as a pair) and their stamina on the water. This session was the preparatory phase for their river journey, due to happen on the River Wye next week.

Fixtures this week included:

• Year 7 Cricket – on Monday evening our Year 7 cricketers travelled over to Crypt for their first away cricket fixture. Two teams took part: teams 'Severn' and 'Vale'. Both teams played two games each, losing one game and winning another. Everyone got to bat and bowl, which was great to see. Special mention to Seth L and Dylan B for some brilliant bowling.

• Year 8 Cricket – our Year 8 Cricketers also travelled to The Crypt this week for their latest fixture. Again, this saw the boys split into two smaller teams to play games against both The Crypt and Holmleigh Park. The nature of the games gave the boys the opportunity to build on their cricket fundamentals. There was some excellent batting and fielding on display, but special mention goes to Josh D who managed to get multiple wickets in one over through his great bowling.

• Year 9 Cricket - the Year 9 boys travelled to Gloucester Academy for their first full fixture of the year. The format of the game suited the boys and our openers, Rhys L and Tyler G, gave the team a great start, with plenty of 4s and 6s between them. The game was won with 10 balls to be played thanks to their initial onslaught together with some great fielding and bowling by Jack W. All the boys played their part in a great game of cricket played in the right spirit.

Also on the sporting front, I was delighted to hear that Year 9 student Emmy Leach completed her first one-day event with her horse at the Broadway Horse Trials last Sunday. Her top 10 place saw her earn a qualification to the School’s Eventing Championships.  Well done Emmy.

As always, I include my weekly reminder about Free School Meals eligibility. If your financial circumstances have changed, your child may be eligible for Free School Meals. If you click on this link you will find guidance on the eligibility criteria and the application process. It's a quick process and we are notified of all FSM entitlements by Gloucestershire County Council each Monday. I would urge you to take a look if you think you may benefit from financial assistance.   

I do hope you enjoy a great weekend.

Kind regards,  

Richard Johnson 
Headteacher