Headteacher’s Newsletter to Parents

Ofsted

Outstanding for almost 15 years!

12 September 2017

Sandbach High School and College

Middlewich Road, Sandbach Cheshire CW11 3NT

www.sandbachhigh.co.uk

www.sandbachsixthform.co.uk

office@sandhigh.cheshire.sch.uk 01270 765031

Welcome back everyone!

Dear Parent/Carer

I very much hope that you and your family enjoyed the summer. Here in school, whilst many of us were

enjoying our break, our Caretaking and Cleaning staff were working hard to ensure the school was

‘sparkling’ for the return of students and they have done a super job. Thank you.

Best State School in Cheshire East

The summer saw the publication of some hugely impressive GCSE and A level results that students and

their teachers who were ably assisted by members of our support team can take great pride in. These

results follow on from us being classified as the best state secondary school in Cheshire, according to the

2017 Real School’s Guide.

Welcome

As is customary at this time of year I am delighted to extend a very warm welcome to parents and their

daughters who are joining us for the first time and to colleagues who take up new positions with us. We

wish everyone joining us a happy and successful time.

A special welcome is extended to my new

colleagues:

Mrs Nikki Abson – English

Mr James Beardmore – Science

Miss Emilia Bell – Curriculum Leader History

Mr David Garcia – MFL

Mr Ian Jepson – Maths

Mrs Anita Jinks – LSA

Mrs Claire Livesey – LSA

Mr Patrick McDevitt – MFL

Mrs Ampora Mendoza – Maths

Miss Rosanna Shaw – MFL

Miss Jessica Squires - History

Miss Becky Stone – D & T

Miss Lisa Timms – Maths

Also our best wishes are extended to:

Mr Kyle Sullivan (Finance), Mrs Deborah Rollason (Finance) and Mr Mark Talbot (Caretaker) who joined us towards the end of last term.

Congratulations on their marriages are extended to Mrs Liz Clark (nee Moore) and to Mrs Vicky Thomson (nee Gavin).

A warm welcome is also extended to three trainees joining us, Mr Ross Pemberton (Geography), Mr Matthew Robinson (English) and Miss Karen Ingram (Business).

A number of colleagues have returned and I am

pleased to be welcoming them back:

Mrs Heather Davies (Art)

Miss Maria Devon (Art)

Miss Sarah Friend (PE)

Mrs Kate Harford (Maths)

Mrs Jackie Perriam (LSA)

Miss Ruth Hibbert (Maths)

Mr Glynne Jones (D & T)

Mrs Elaine Vukovic (Maths)

Mrs Janet Astins A selfless, committed and very experienced Governor who has been a critical friend to the school and me for many years is relinquishing her role as Vice Chair of the school’s Governing Body as she enters her final year as a Governor.

It is hard to put into words the contribution that Mrs Astins has made as Chair and subsequently as Vice Chair. Suffice to say at this point her influence has permeated every element of school life, a contribution Mrs Astins can feel immeasurably proud of and one that has been pivotal in shaping the future of our school.

I very much look forward to Mrs Astins enjoying her final year as a Governor and sharing with us all her invaluable experience as we continue to move forward our school.

Exam Results

We need to set this year’s results into context – continued and significant changes both at A level and GCSE.

A Level – linear examinations coupled with curriculum changes.

GCSE – “hardest exams since 1980” – curriculum changes, demise of coursework and introduction of New Numerical GCSE grades from 9 to 1 with a 9 being reserved for the ‘elite’ students nationally.

Our teachers, with the help of support staff, have collectively ensured success and that students haven’t been disadvantaged as a result of all the changes taking place – our students results indicate that colleagues can take great pride in how they have protected student outcomes as our students have performed better than arguably we could have expected.

After nearly 28 years at Sandbach High School (with practically 25 of those years serving as Headteacher) I remain at a loss as to why so many local members of our community including parents and students fail to recognise what a strong school this is not just in terms of educational outcomes but also in terms of recognising the personal development all our students make. Within that reluctance is an unwillingness to celebrate our success—

Our success at A level was, once more, rather special especially when compared with local schools. Our A level students achieved practically twice the number of A* grades as compared with Sandbach School and at Grade B or better we out-performed them by over 25%.

Similarly we performed much stronger at GCSE with our Year 11 students achieving 13% A*/8/9 grades compared to 9% for Sandbach School, for example.

Many people do recognise our successes not least the independent reviewers such as Trinity Papers who based on attendance, attainment and progress ranked us as the top performing school in Cheshire East.

Also, there is a very special review on our school that can be found in the Good School’s Guide, a national independent assessment of successful schools. It really is worth reading and reflecting on.

An often under appreciated element of our school life is the success that our College students achieve. This summer’s successes include the following:

Students have progressed on to their preferred choice of course at university (with 58% of the year group heading off to University (including 34% of places being secured at Russell Group universities)) or moving in to apprenticeships (10%) or employment (28%) reflecting their favoured career pathway whilst a number of students (4%) are taking a gap year.

Some individual successes:

Annabelle Elleray: AAA reading Earth Sciences at Oxford University Emma Bach: A*AA Medicine at Bristol University Emma Pearson: A*A*A reading Geography at Exeter University Sophie Tonge: AAA reading French & Politics at Durham University Emily Redford: A*AB Equine & Veterinary Science at Aberystwyth University Katie Coleman: A*A*B reading Film at University of Leeds

Our high achieving musicians:

Chloe Ravenscroft securing Musical Theatre at Trinity Laban conservatoire Shelly Robinson: Music at Royal Holloway University of London

Our high achieving sportswomen:

Anya George: Sport & Exercise Science at Exeter University Laura Kirby: Sport Science at University of Birmingham Gabrielle Goodman: Sports Coaching at Liverpool John Moore's

BTEC Health & Social Care students and BTEC Sport students achieving 100% Distinctions

Sophie Shepherd: Apprenticeship at AstraZenica Beth Lucas: Apprenticeship at Media City Jessica Wilberforce: Apprenticeship at Keele University

Most importantly of all congratulations to all our students on some fantastic results.

What a wonderful set of comments from a moderator……

“The school completed all paperwork correctly and the display of students’ work was exemplary. The school offers an exciting and well-structured course providing students with opportunities to demonstrate their developing knowledge, skills and understanding in this subject. Students experimented with a wide range of media and materials to develop ideas and realise their intentions. Some really exciting work; the students’ enjoyment was evident in the work sampled. There was evidence that skills-based work produced by students in response to the initial project led in turn to confident, diverse and more individual lines of enquiry in subsequent topics. It was a real pleasure to moderate the work”

And from some very proud parents….

“Hi Mr Leigh, we have had a great day finding out about—and celebrating our daughter’s results (and the results of her friends). As they all have worked hard and have done really well.

I just wanted to take a moment in all of the celebrations—to send a massive thank you to both you and your amazing staff, for everything that you have done to ensure that she has not only worked towards her qualifications but also gained massively in confidence and maturity in her time at Sandbach High School.

Please pass on our thanks to all of your staff; a great team effort!

We are so pleased that she has chosen to continue her education at Sandbach College and look forward to seeing her continue to flourish under the Sandbach High School wings”

Keeping in Touch

Home-school communication is very important to us and we invest a tremendous amount of energy in

seeking to maintain strong dialogue. This is not to say we always get it right but we do make every effort

to keep parents (and the community) informed of what is going on in school.

To support home-school communication we use Intouch, a SMS based system; we have regular

Newsletters including my Newsletter which goes out on average once every four weeks and G8Way 3

which enables parents to access a range of data pertaining to their daughter/son. Further information on

how to access G8Way3 can be obtained from Mr P Jones who can be contacted at

pjones@sandhigh.cheshire.sch.uk.

Pastoral Support—Year 7

Miss S Gregory has taken on the role of Achievement Coordinator for Year 7. She will be supporting Miss

Whalley (Associate Headteacher) as well as the team of Year 7 Form Tutors in helping to ensure all of our

new students continue to settle and enjoy their time.

Haslington

Please can I take this opportunity as thoughts turn to September 2018 applications that Haslington is,

remains and will remain an integral and important part of our catchment area. Contrary to speculation

there is no possibility that Haslington will be removed from our catchment area meaning parents and their

daughters can look forward positively to continuing their education here in Sandbach.

Sandbach High School and College—School Fund

Reflecting current financial pressures and as is the case with so many schools we are re-launching our

School Fund. Whilst this is a voluntary contribution it is hoped that most parents will sign-up to the

contribution reflecting a greater commitment to protect the education offer available here to all our

students. The contribution is set at £10 per student (which with Gift Aid equates to £11.25) and these

contributions individually and collectively, will make such a difference. Thank you for your support.

Uniform

If you have any items of the new school uniform that your daughter has outgrown we would be happy to

receive it in school where it can be re-cycled to very good use. The school’s Uniform Shop is open every

Tuesday during term time between 2.30pm and 5pm.

Caterlink

Early indications are highly reassuring as students and staff comment favourably on our new catering arrangements with Caterlink. Quality and presentation have improved and our partnership with Caterlink has certainly got off to an impressive start.

Headteacher’s Surgery

As part of my commitment to home-school communication the next series of Headteacher’s Surgeries will

shortly commence.

If you have any concerns or simply would like an opportunity to meet with me please pop along on any of

the following occasions—no appointment necessary.

Monday, 18 September 4.30pm - 6pm and Monday 2 October 5pm - 7pm

In the meantime, if you need to contact me please email me on jmleigh@sandhigh.cheshire.sch.uk and I

will reply as soon as possible.`

Yours sincerely

J M Leigh, Headteacher

Thursday, 14 September Year 7 Bushcraft Induction Trip Thurs—Sat (16 Sep)

Wednesday, 20 September COLLEGE OPEN AFTERNOON 1.15pm —5.30pm

Wednesday, 20 September Year 7 Parent Information Evening 6pm—7pm

Monday, 25 September PROSPECTIVE YEAR 7 Open Evening

Year 4, 5 and 6 welcome

5.30pm —8.30pm

Monday 25, September PFA Meeting

All welcome!

5.30pm—6.30pm

Monday 2, October Year 12 Form Tutor

and Parents’ Evening

4.30pm —7.30pm

Wednesday, 4 October Parental Engagement Evening

KS3 English Information

6pm—7pm

Thursday, 5 October Year 7 Form Teacher and Parents’

Evening

4.30pm—7pm

Friday, 6 October Year 7 Family Fun Night TBC

School holidays 2017/2018 HOLIDAY DATE DATE OF CLOSING DATE OF RE-OPENING

SUMMER 2017 THURSDAY 20 JULY FRIDAY 1 SEPTEMBER (STAFF)

MONDAY 4 SEPTEMBER (STUDENTS)

AUTUMN HALF TERM 2017 FRIDAY 20 OCTOBER MONDAY 30 OCTOBER

CHRISTMAS 2017/2018 THURSDAY 21 DECEMBER WEDNESDAY 3 JANUARY 2018

SPRING HALF TERM 2018 FRIDAY 16 FEBRUARY MONDAY 26 FEBRUARY

EASTER 2018 THURSDAY 29 MARCH MONDAY 16 APRIL

SUMMER HALF TERM FRIDAY 25 MAY MONDAY 4 JUNE

SUMMER 2018 THURSDAY 19 JULY MONDAY 3 SEPTEMBER (STAFF)

TUESDAY 4 SEPTEMBER (STUDENTS)

Forthcoming Events