A really positive first term of the academic year draws to a close today.

A standout has been the sustained improvements in attendance we have seen. This means that we end the term with attendance levels well above the national average. That is important because great attendance is not only a foundation for academic success but also because it plays such an important part in our students’ wellbeing. Thank you so much for your support in helping our students to achieve such improvements in attendance.

On Thursday, the School League Tables were published. These showed just how fantastically well our class of 2026 performed. On all the key metrics, our students achieved at levels well above national averages. Those great results have provided those students with an amazing foundation from which I know they will go on to achieve even better things.

On Friday we held our annual Lockdown drill. This gives us the opportunity to practice what we would do in a “worst-case” scenario. The experience of schools locally shows us why drills such as these are so important. The drill went very smoothly, the students responded superbly, and lessons were able to resume within 15 minutes.

Once again, our English department has been delighted to take students from across the school to the Cheltenham Literature Festival. As always, the students have represented the school superbly. Our Year 7 students were able to listen to, speak with, and meet Matt Goodfellow whose books discuss the transition into secondary school. He very kindly gave our students more of his time to sign books and talk about writing. To accompany their recent Gothic Writing work, Year 8 students took part in an author led workshop on how to write gothic fiction - just in time for their Order Test!! Our final trip was to watch the amazing poet Dean Atta read and discuss his work which covers identity in the 21^st century. These trips are excellent opportunities for our students to hear a range of voices and to indulge their passion for reading.

This week saw the launch of our new Chess Club for Year 7 students, with fantastic support from a number of our Year 11 student leaders, who helped to facilitate the session. It was brilliant to welcome 28 students to the club. Some arrived with previous chess experience and were straight into competitive games, while others were completely new to the game and made great use of the help sheets that our Year 11 leaders had prepared. The atmosphere was fantastic, with students learning new skills, challenging themselves, and enjoying the opportunity to play against their peers.

Over the past two weeks our term 1 lunchtime platforms have taken place. These are a fantastic opportunity for our school's keen musicians to perform to an audience. Plenty of students have been wanting to be involved in our live music culture at Severn Vale, and over the last few weeks our Music department has hosted many performances from soloists, duos and various bands. The very strong start to our performance platforms for this new academic year has been extremely encouraging. The platforms as always featured some students new to performing, those returning for a second or few times, as well as students who have signed-up practically every single term since they have been at SVS! The range of experiences and music chosen has been really good to showcase and very enjoyable to listen and watch too. Well done to all who have participated.

Our Friends of Severn Vale group have just held their first meeting of the year. They have just agreed to use monies raised previously to fund items for Geography, SEND, Wellbeing and ADT. They have a number of events coming up including a Christmas Wreath workshop on Friday 20 November and their AGM on Wednesday 25 November. They are also busy planning our Annual Santa Run. I am enormously grateful to the Friends for their work and for the valuable funds they raise to support the school. If you think you could help, please contact Tracy Cooper - tcooper@severnvaleschool.com.

It’s been a busy week on the sporting front, including:

Year 7 Netball - the Year 7 A & B team played in a netball fixture against St Peter's. The A team lost and the B team won! Well done to all of the girls involved. A special shout out to Mia and Betsy, who were our players of the match in their respective games.

Year 7 Rugby  - there was a fantastic performance from the Year 7 rugby team in their fixture against Gloucester Academy, winning the game 35-20! Those involved showed relentless bravery when tackling and also their ball carrying to score some brilliant tries. They also put in a great shift protecting the ball through some outstanding rucks thanks to some strong forward play. The boys conducted themselves really well and represented the school superbly. Player of the match went to Quazeem for his 5 tries!!

Year 8 Netball – the Year 8 netballers travelled to St Peter’s for their latest fixture. It was a successful evening for the girls with the A team winning 12-8, and the B team 13-1. Well done to all those who took part, in particular Izzy, Lilly, Promise, Sophie and Freya. Well done girls! 

Year 8 Rugby - our Year 8 rugby team travelled to GA for what is always a tough encounter. Our boys started at a ferocious pace, scoring within the opening few minutes. Building on the momentum from last week's victory, the boys played with confidence, energy and determination from the very first whistle. Their tackling, support play and teamwork were outstanding throughout the first half, helping SV establish a deserved 20-5 lead at the break. GA responded strongly in the second half, and despite a tremendous effort from SV, we found it difficult to contain some of their powerful runners. In an exciting end-to-end contest, the game eventually finished 40-40, a result that reflected the commitment and quality shown by both teams. Special mentions must go to Broady, who scored an excellent hat-trick of tries and tackled everything that moved, Jake, who crossed for two tries, and Aiden, who also scored twice.

KS3 Hockey – our KS3 Hockey team enjoyed a lovely game against Ribston this week. For over half the team, it was their first ever game. We came away with a 2 – 0 defeat but showed some great determination and progress made throughout the game. Players of the match went to Joe and Arya. 

KS4 Basketball - our KS4 basketball team took part in the first round of the district basketball championship last Friday. We faced tough opponents in our pool in Kings, St Peter’s and Pates. The boys showed great determination to keep going despite facing more physical opposition. We rallied together to put in our best performance of the afternoon in the final game, losing narrowly to a strong Pates team. Players of the day went to both Harry and Tyrese for their leadership and work rate.

KS4 Football  - the girls played their third round ESFA cup fixture away to Bishops Hereford this week. They played some of their best football, demonstrating a real desire to win and a fantastic togetherness. We were 1-0 down at half-time, but we came back fighting in the second half to get it back to 1-1. In the later stages of the second half, their striker scored a hat-trick, taking the game to 4-1. The game seemed over at this stage, but the girls carried on fighting in the last 10 minutes of the game, scoring 2 well created goals through Amber and Izzy. The game finished 4-3. However, the girls should be proud of their performance.  Players of the match went to Lily and Milly.

Whilst the approaching half-term break offers the students an important chance to rest and recharge their batteries, it also offers them an excellent opportunity for revision too. Students in KS3 will be sitting their Order A assessments in Maths and Science in the second week of the new term. Full details of the assessments and the associated revision activities have been posted on Satchel One and sent home to parents. 

Our Year 11 students also have key exams on their return after half-term. In the second week of term, they will be taking their first Core Mocks of the academic year. These assessments will enable the students, and their teachers, to see where they are in their learning as they move towards next summer’s GCSE exams. It is really important that the students prepare properly for these exams to get the most out of them. Thank you in advance for your support in encouraging your child with their revision. 

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 half-term. We will see the students again on Monday 2 November. This will be a week B.   

Regards  

Richard Johnson 

Headteacher