Whilst this week’s lessons for students have been well attended and lovely to see, the restriction of only being able to bring some students into school means that the site still feels very quiet. It has therefore been lovely to read through the year 8 and 9 student reports and to gain an appreciation for the hard work that all of our students have been putting in over the last few months. Teachers and students alike thrive on routine and interaction and when these are reduced we need to find our new norm.

What the reports highlighted was how adaptable our students are and how successful they have been at creating their new norm. Many a report featured 7’s as student’s Attitude to Learning to mean that they have been self-motivated and engaged with the remote learning provided by our dedicated staff. Whilst the idea of learning from home may have seemed like ‘the best thing ever’ at the start of the year, for many students, the reality came as a surprise and they are very keen to get back into lessons with teachers and friends. Indeed, the challenge of being able to plan their time, prioritise emails and school work alongside homelife should not be underestimated and it was lovely to see these efforts recognised in some small way.

Resilience and independent learning are key life-skills that all of our students report reflect. In some cases, the journey to developing these needs more time and sustained practice whilst in others the ability to navigate the dynamic nature of resilience is already evident in their learning. Either way our three core values of Belief, Motivation and Success remain central to everything that staff and students do.