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Posted on: November 17th 2023

Headteacher Update 17.11.23

Alaric govan sml picWeek 12: “I'm planting a tree to teach me to gather strength from my deepest roots”- Andrea Koehle Jones

Two weeks ago, Year 11s received their Silver PPE results. This is the first set of mock results that Year 11s receive this year (they also sit mock exams in early Spring). Unlike previous years, we staged a Results Assembly at the end of the day and handed out the results in envelopes - in replication of what will happen next August. Doing this involves risk, because we are all aware that some students feel anxious about receiving results in this manner, and staff were ready and primed to support and console where necessary. But the other side of the argument is that we need to prepare students how to cope with success and (relative) failure. Behind every success is a number of ‘failures’- it’s how we cope with these knock backs that ultimately develops us.

As expected, some students were very pleased and some were disappointed. The key thing now is that students, staff, and parents/carers work together to make sure that Results Day this August is positive. Our mock exams were a few weeks earlier this year; the positive for us (staff, students and families) is that it gives us a good block of time to work on misconceptions and gaps in knowledge and skills.

Linked to that is our ongoing push on attendance. Attendance continues to be a concern for myself, the Heads of Year, and the Attendance Team. I’ve mentioned this before: if a student has 90% attendance this means that they are missing one day a fortnight. This adds up to four weeks a year and twenty weeks in total across Years 7-11. We all know that if we missed one day a week in our jobs, our employer would very quickly be making it clear this couldn’t continue. But my concern about low attendance is the lost learning incurred by students and the impact of this. The national picture is that if students have good attendance, they make good progress; the analysis of our 2023 GCSE/ BTEC results reflect this national trend. You will know when your children are genuinely ill and when they are not, but we do need to work together to develop good attendance behaviours that will help them achieve well and go on to be successful after school.

Despite the non-stop rainfall, sporting fixtures have still managed to continue. Some of the highlights, reported to me by the PE team:

  • In Year 7, our football team lost a close game 2-1 to Bourne; the netball team beat the Free School 12-3 and lost to Bishop Luffa 11-8; and the rugby team beat 6 Villages.

  • In Year 8, the rugby team has won twice.

  • In Year 9, the football team beat The Academy Selsey 12-2

  • In Year 11, the netball team lost to St Philip Howard and Felpham; In A West Sussex tournament of all the schools, they were only one goal away from joint first, which is an incredible achievement. The football team won against St Philip Howard.

  • Our 6th form netball team lost to Chichester College

As always, it’s not just the results that matter; it’s the spirit of the competition and I am always delighted to hear from the PE team about the amazing attitudes of our students during these matches. That’s real character - the ‘deepest roots’.

Have a good weekend.

Alaric Govan
Headteacher
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