Tuesday 29 September 2020

Thank you to the many members of the school community who supported last Friday’s MacMillan Coffee Morning.  Under the current circumstances we were unable to host the event in the Hall, but across the school site in the various year group bubbles staff and students came together, but at a distance, and enjoyed a slice of cake and a morning cup of coffee.  In total we raised £680, which is a fantastic sum considering the situation we were in.  Thank you.

Congratulations to the many year 11 students who completed the Bronze Duke of Edinburgh expedition over the weekend.  The weather on Friday would have certainly been an element to deal with (!), but knowing the students, they would have not let that deter from their enjoyment.  Thank you to Ms Adams and Ms Alloy for coordinating the entire programme, and to the other members of staff who gave up their weekend to supervise.

Tomorrow is the School’s first charity day.  Again, under the current circumstances, we cannot run our charity days in the way that we would like, but hopefully we can raise awareness and money in support of Childhood Cancer Awareness Month.  Thank you to the staff and students for organising the day. 

Finally, I wish to acknowledge and thank the 52 year 12 students who have stepped forward to support the School in the absence of Year 13.  With Year 13 needing to self-isolate at home we are currently without the entire prefect team.  The prefects play a number of different roles across the school, and the month of October is always a busy one for them.  These 52 students have illustrated once more how many of our students feel about their school and how they wish to support their peers.  Thank you so much to them. 

Tuesday 22 September 2020

We are now into the third week of school and already students and staff are settling into the new way of living and working.  Everyone has really appreciated the adjustments we have had to make, and for that I am extremely grateful.  The weather has been on our side, which has been fortunate, as we all know that the best place to be under these current circumstances is outside.  Sadly, this fine weather cannot last, so the four marquees that we have recently purchased will come in very handy.  A big thank you to all of the staff members who have worked hard erecting them, as well as constructing the many picnic tables and benches that are now around the site for students to sit on.

This week we will be speaking to years 11 and 12 about the Harvard Model United Nations Trip for January 2022.  Sadly, we won’t be able to go this January, but we are keeping our fingers crossed for the following year.  It is an amazing opportunity for the students to attend, so we are keen to continue to run the trip despite the circumstances we are in. 

And this Friday we are acknowledging the MacMillian Coffee Morning.  Sadly, we cannot deliver it in the normal way, but hopefully we will be able to go some way in supporting the charity and come together at a distance over a cuppa and a piece of cake.  Thank you to parents who are sending their children into school with a piece of cake!

Tuesday 15 September 2020

Firstly, I would like to thank the entire school community for the excellent start we have had to the new academic year.  With the many changes we have had to make, both the students and staff have adjusted to them extremely well and have already settled into a new way of living.  All credit to them. 

This week is the first full week for everyone, and so hopefully by the end of the week everyone has got used to things.  With it being the first full week, we have also been able to introduce year group assemblies to each day, with this week’s theme being, ‘It’s Good to Talk’.  This quite simple mantra is being used to re-brand and re-launch the work we already do in school in supporting students with their mental health and wellbeing concerns.  So far the assemblies have been positively received and very much appreciated.

Also this week, on Thursday, every student in the school is having their individual photograph taken; so parents be ready to make a purchase if you would like.  Seeing one’s child grow up can sometimes remind us how old we are getting!

Tuesday 8 September 2020

 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.

 

Tuesday 16 July 2020

Firstly, I wish to apologise for the tardiness of this week’s blog.  As you can appreciate my mind has been focusing on our return in September and ensuring we get as much done as possible before we break for the summer holiday.

This week a number of video presentations have been created and released.  My presentation on Monday provided more detail about the start of the new academic year, and will be followed on Friday with my final assembly.  The Heads and House and Senior Prefect Team put together a video to our new year 6 students; and the School Captain and School Vice-Captain, accompanied by some year 12 students, created an amazing video looking at the work we do in promoting good mental health and wellbeing, saying, ‘It’s good to talk’.  Do look out for these presentation as they get released.

The last thing to say is I do hope that you all have a pleasant holiday and a well-deserved rest.  See you all in September.

Tuesday 7 July 2020

The last week for me was filled with looking ahead to the start of the new academic year.  The Government released its guidance last Thursday illustrating what schools are going to look like in September.  There is plenty to do to make all of the necessary adjustments, and life for a while will be somewhat different, but it will be so good having everybody back together. 

This week we are running a new event: The MGS Virtual Sports Week.  With not being able to hold the normal Sports Day the PE department devised a virtual competition that everyone can get involved with but from the comfort of their own homes.  All participants will generate points for their house, and some houses really do need the points! 

Tuesday 30 June 2020

I cannot believe we are at the end of June and now in Week 12 of school lockdown.  We now have three more weeks before the end of the academic year and there is still plenty to do.  We are still delivering a variety of different subject related sessions to students from years 10 and 12 as well as making the necessary plans for fully reopening in September.  On this second point, yesterday I recorded myself deliver a presentation that will be sent out to students and parents in the next couple of days illustrating our plans.  More information about September was released in the press last night ahead of the Government’s announcement on Thursday.  We still have a long road ahead!

This week, I had the pleasure of meeting the six students who have been selected to lead the three sections within the CCF and the 18 students who have been selected to be next year’s Senior Prefect Team.  We are having to do things differently though.  I would normally gather the students in my office to congratulate them but this year I am speaking to them via Microsoft Teams.  Year 12 is a really good year, and so I am looking forward to working with these students who will now lead the student body.  The task ahead will be a challenge; the first part of their job being to establish how they are going to lead by example from a distance.  They are already full of ideas though.

Tuesday 23 June 2020

This week we continue to welcome more Year 10 and Year 12 students back into school.  Yesterday we delivered the last of the Year 12 UCAS sessions as well as running a drama workshop for Year 10.  We are now moving to more subject specific sessions for Year 12 as well as continuing to run sessions for Year 10 students studying more practical subjects.  It has been so good seeing the students again, and hearing more young voices about the place.  

Much of the focus now is looking towards September and putting a plan together for the new academic year.  We have established a set of principles we wish to follow, which include ensuring we welcome the students back in a phased and safe manner as well as preparing the students for a blended style of learning to enable them to work at school and from home.  Details of this plan will be published soon.

We now have some very good news about our all-weather pitch project.  All of the planning conditions have been signed off so we now have the green light to start.  It has been a long journey, but hopefully we can start very shortly.  The project will take about 20 weeks and will hopefully be ready by November. 

Tuesday 16 June 2020

We have now reached the point where we are able to welcome more students into the school.  Yesterday we welcomed a group of Year 12 students to begin looking at the UCAS application process and a group of Year 10 students to complete essential work in their Film and Media GCSE. The day went very well, and everybody understand the new way of working.  More similar sessions will continue during the rest of the week.

Yesterday we also completed some work on our new virtual Year 6 Induction Programme.  Supporting Year 6 boys during the transition from primary to secondary school has always been very important to us, and this mind-set has not changed during these unprecedented times.  Most of what we have done in the past is now being delivered virtually, and this has required us to think creatively.  We hope that the boys and their parents appreciate our new way of supporting them.

Tuesday 9 June 2020

We are now in Week 12 of lockdown and Week 9 of school closures, but this time next week we would have opened our doors to more students.  From Monday small groups of Year 10 and Year 12 students will be coming into school to receive face-to-face support.  We are starting with students who need to complete essential work that requires school equipment.  Subjects such as Film and Media, D & T, Art and Science are desperate to move their curriculum on but have not been able to.  As we do this we will then move to a position where we can invite other students into the school who require some one-to-one support - those students who may have been struggling at home.  Throughout all of this we will constantly review what we are providing and make any adjustments where necessary.  I am looking forward to seeing the students.