Welcome to the first Headmaster Blog of the new academic year. It is so good to be able to welcome all of the students back to their school and return to some form of normality. School is going to be a different place for some time - we have had to make many adjustments to the school to be in a position to welcome everyone back – but those adjustments are worth it in order to bring life back to MGS. I have missed the students, as it is the students, not the buildings, that define MGS; and already after only a few days, laughter has returned. The induction days for years 7 and 12 went extremely well, welcoming over 400 students back last Thursday and Friday. They were joined by years 11 and 13 on Monday, and will be joined by years 8, 9 and 10 on Wednesday. I look forward to saying hello to many of them over the coming days and weeks.
The main focus of the first few weeks is to teach the students how to be students again. Some will not have been in formal school for 24 weeks, and so they are going to need our support in settling in as well as ensuring any gaps in their progress are filled. We of course do not know how things are going to develop over the coming year. We still do not know what the public examinations are going to look like for years 11 and 13, and we don’t know if there is going to be a need to ask some students to work from home for a period of time if there is a local lockdown, but we are flexible and ready to make any required adjustments to ensure the students receive the best possible experience in any eventuality. I was so proud in what we did achieve during lockdown - thank you again for the overwhelming positive feedback from parents - and we are ready to do the same again if required.
