Screen Time

I was interested to read the following in the press on Friday: "TV hits GCSE grades Research from the University of Cambridge suggests that schoolchildren spending extra time in front of the television or computer every day could see their GCSE results fall by the equivalent of two grades. The study of 845 secondary pupils found that the average pupil spends four hours a day in front of a screen, with each extra hour of screen time seeing an average of 9.3 fewer GCSE points scored while students doing an extra hour of homework or reading added an average of 23.1 GCSE points". When I meet with students to discuss their academic performance “screen time” is often a focus of our conversation! It has been nice to hear that many students had busy summer breaks away from screens. Toby Yapp appeared or rather starred in “Life Raft” at the Bristol Old Vic (the precursor to Lord of the Flies - but at sea). He was one of the 2 leads in a story about 13 children adrift at sea in a life boat. It examines the dynamics and drama that ensues as the children try and work out how to survive. The reviews were very positive indeed. Sam Cording got through to the final of a National computer gaming programming competition. Please do follow the link at: http://youtu.be/Y_frQ3VoT4g to see Sam in action at the ICC in Birmingham. Well done to both on fantastic achievements. A number of sixth from students successfully completed their D of E gold expedition over the holidays! Not an easy challenge. Please do encourage your children to share their summer stories with pastoral and academic staff so that we can celebrate their achievements as a community.

Number 10

It was great to be invited to Downing St this week, I have always wanted to see behind the door! We were invited to celebrate the Free School programme and Mrs Yarnold and I managed to have a conversation with Nicki Morgan (The Education Minister) and also with the Prime Minister. The PM mentioned that his daughter had started in year seven that very morning. The BCCS new cohort of year seven began on Friday. They all looked very smart, though a few were still waiting on items of uniform! The new uniform suppliers have not had a good start and we will be looking into the delays in the first few weeks of term. Please be aware that lorries will be in the square for the first four weeks of term. They are moving the books from the central library so that construction work can begin. It is even more critical that you do not drive into the square. Staff are doing their bit by cycling and lift sharing and we have cut the school parking by more than a third.

Term begins

The holidays are nearly over, the SLT meet tomorrow and new staff join us to begin their induction process. There are a number of new colleagues to welcome: James Foster Science Mike Davies Science Charlotte Wright English HOH Terra Glowach English Andrew Parfitt Maths Alistair Russell Maths Barbara Wesley DT Emily MacGregor Attendance officer Jessica Bloom PE Alyssha Harriott Games Cover Hums PSHE Robin Hodge Maths SD Jenny Green PE SD Asia Hersi Science Tec Zig Heimann Head caretaker Emily MacGregor Attendance Alex Yuill Music internship Peter Wagstaff Music admin Lily Cox Classteacher Cathedral Primary Ellen Hornshaw CPS LSA Tara Roney-Dougal CPS LSA The results in GCSE and A level over the summer are a wonderful platform to continue to build upon. We are as always mindful that education is not just about academic attainment. I hope that year eight students have been working on their passport, telling us about their activities and achievements over the summer and was interested to catch the "School Swap: The Class Divide" programme on ITV last week. The Head of Warminster School spoke passionately about the importance of co-curricular learning. The challenge for the state schools is to provide the opportunities within a limited budget! Thank you to those students and parents who have let us know about individual achievements over the summer. Please do ask the students to let form teachers know so that we can celebrate. On Wednesday and Thursday all staff meet to prepare for the term ahead. As ever I will be encouraging all students to become involved in the wider life of the school.

GCSE

Well done all! A fantastic set of results from year 11 today. The ambitious whole school target was 85% A*-C including M+E so to achieve 91% was wonderful. It has been nice to receive thanks from parents and students to teaching staff for going the extra mile in the lead up to the examinations. I will share these with colleagues on the return from the holidays. We all know that students worked very, very hard. Some well deserved celebrations this evening I am sure.

A level Results

Good luck to all those A level students who are getting their results today. As with GCSE, I get to see the results 24 hours in advance, so I know that we will see a lot of happy faces this morning! The results are the best the school has ever seen by some margin representing a lot hard work by students and staff. The media are reporting a record number of places still available at the elite Russell Group universities. There were places on 3,451 courses at Russell Group universities last night, although these are expected to be rapidly filed through clearing. A quarter of all British applicants — more than 100,000 — have also signed up to a new service offered by Ucas giving permission for their results to be shared with universities that are still recruiting, which will further speed up the clearing process. Mary Curnock Cook, the chief executive of Ucas, said: “Most universities will have some courses with vacancies so there will be plenty of choice for students. Universities are well set up to take calls from interested students which means that although things move fast, it is usually easier to get through on the telephone.” The Mail reports that around 26% of today’s results are predicted to be A or A*s, with around 8% achieving the top grade, while the overall pass rate of A* to E is likely to be around 98%, the same as in 2014. However, the Telegraph says the number of pupils being awarded the highest marks is expected drop below 26% for the first time since the Government began efforts to halt "relentless" grade inflation five years ago. I will publish a press release later this morning.

Uniform

I hope you are enjoying a wonderful summer. I note that the media ran a story this week about school uniform: The Daily Telegraph considers the debate surrounding the appropriate length for a school skirt. Dr Rowena Blencowe, head of Trentham High School in Stoke-on-Trent, has stipulated that come September, girls at her mixed comprehensive will be required to wear "business-like" trousers. It is practice that has been taken up in recent years by an estimated 60 secondaries in England and Wales, or 1.5% of the total. "I don't want staff wasting any more time sorting out skirts," she explained. "And it's not pleasant for male members of staff, and students either, if the girls 'wearing short skirts' have to walk upstairs and sit down. After a while, it stops being a uniform issue and starts becoming a safeguarding issue." Her warning is echoed by another head, Sarah Pashley, of Bridlington School in East Yorkshire, who is also instituting a ban. In an explanatory letter to parents she wrote: "To set it 'the ban' in context, on one occasion when a male member of staff challenged a female student on her skirt length, she retorted, You shouldn't be looking at my legs.’” There are schools that introduced a skirt ban but it failed. John Colet School in Wendover, Buckinghamshire, insisted on trousers for girls in 2011, but has just announced the return of a regulation pleated skirt as part of a wider overhaul of the uniform, including the replacement of blazers with sweatshirts. Headteacher Christine McLintock says the change is down to parental feedback. A DfE spokesman said that uniform policy was a matter for individual schools. She added that she was not aware that uniform came within the safeguarding remit. I have some sympathy with Headteachers who are frustrated by the amount of time and energy wasted in negative conversations. We have no plans to ban skirts but please do continue to support us when purchasing new items of uniform over the summer and in conversations at home.

Interview

Following the submission of the sixth form application for a Free School, the DFE have invited us to interview on the 16th July. The interview will take place in London and will determine whether or not we progress to the pre opening stage. There is still a long way to go in the process, but it would be helpful if we could continue to garner support in the lead up to the 16th. Please do consider filling in the "support us" section following the link below if you have not already done so and feel free to forward to anyone you know. I will let you know how we get on. http://colstoncathedralcollege.co.uk