The penultimate week of term is complete and it has been an incredibly busy one with lots of great activities for our students.

A group of our Year 7 and 8 students joined Mr Cutcliffe and Mr Waggon for a trip to the Bacon Theatre in Cheltenham to attend this year's Gloucestershire Schools' Annual Christmas Science Lectures. The event featured two engaging talks by top science communicators. The first presentation explored the question, "What makes you normal?" Through an interactive presentation, and even some brain art, the talk covered statistics, genetics, evolution, and brain plasticity to uncover what makes each of us truly unique, leading to the conclusion that maybe none of us are "normal" after all...Talk number two was a high-energy finale, that took students on a wild tour of the digestive system, following the journey food takes from mouth to toilet. It opened with explosive demonstrations showing just how much energy food contains, then plunged into a stomach-churning look at digestion, featuring vivid (and occasionally nauseating) demos and real footage from inside the body. The students had an amazing time and represented Severn Vale incredibly well.

This week, the maths department welcomed representatives from BAE Systems and the Armed Forces, who delivered an inspiring STEM workshop to our Year 7 and Year 8 students. They explored the role of Artificial Intelligence in the modern world, discussing both the exciting opportunities it brings relating to future careers, and the important ethical considerations. Students then had the chance to get creative by producing their own song and music video using a range of AI tools — showcasing fantastic enthusiasm and teamwork throughout. A particular highlight was meeting “Fluffy”, the robot dog, who captured everyone’s attention and curiosity with its ability to imitate dog movements, as well as stand up, balance and talk to the students.

Our Winter Showcase also took place this week. This saw performers from across the year groups deliver some great music. As always, there were an eclectic range of musical genres represented, as well as a dance performance. It was clearly evident how much practice underpinned these fantastic performances. Thank you to the many performers, and to the Music department for supporting the students to deliver such a great night of music.

We know that a small but significant group of our students are young carers, and we want to provide in-school support to them. We have a Young Carers group and part of our provision is a monthly drop-in. This week’s event marked the one-year anniversary of these Young Carers group drop-ins and offered festive music, copious amounts of snacks, drinks, games and a Christmas craft activity.  We are very proud of the group that has been created and know that our offer exceeds what most other schools do. If you know any young person acting as a young carer, please do ensure that we have their details so we can offer support as part of this provision. Either contact their Head of Year or our Young Carers lead, Mrs Stevenson.  

On Thursday we held our annual Year 7 Christmas Disco. This is always a fun evening where the students can really let their hair down. I have been incredibly impressed with the great start our Year 7s have made to their secondary school life and really enjoyed sharing this evening with them.

Also, this week, we hosted the Gloucester Bench Ball tournament. It was a brilliant morning with seven schools from across the city taking part.  It was a joy to see all the students representing their schools in a fun, but still competitive environment. Thanks to Miss Hammond and Miss Harper, who helped organise the event through the SV Flow club.

Our GCSE PE students continued their cross-school moderation with a badminton event with students Holmleigh Park. The activity gives the students the opportunity to develop their skills in a format that will be used later in the year as part of their practical assessment. It was great to see the students from both schools demonstrating a great attitude and performing really well.

Severn Vale played host to the second of the District Schools Football Tournaments, with two U14 teams in action. Despite the challenge of Storm Brom, some excellent football was played throughout the evening. SV Blues drew 3 games and lost 2 and SV Reds won 1 drew 3 and lost 1. Unfortunately, both teams missed out on making it through to the semi-finals. Our players of the tournament went to Laila (Blues) and Brooke (Reds). 

On Thursday, Severn Vale hosted the last of the District Schools Football Tournaments, the U16s. The quality of football throughout the evening from all schools was brilliant. Our girls played some of their best football with 3 wins, 2 draws and 1 loss. We finished in 3rd place with Henley Bank 1st and Ribston 2nd. Our player of the tournament went to Lily for showing such incredible skill, physicality and scoring some superb goals.

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 have a look if you think you may benefit from financial assistance.  

I do hope you have a great weekend.

Regards 

Richard Johnson  
Headteacher