Week five and it has begun. The sniffle. The cough. The lengthening cover list. 

After six weeks summer break, school staff almost bounce into school at the start of September (well, most do).  That injection of energy and enthusiasm carries us all the way through September and, if we are lucky, almost to half term.  But the challenge arrives with the bugs and the illness.  And this week, it has landed. 

Whilst attendance (staff and students) remains high, and higher even than last year at the same time, it is noticeable that individuals are struggling.  In meetings, those staff carrying bugs sit themselves at the end of the room, away from others.  And around school, the students who are similarly under the weather, can be seen sniffling and doing their best to get through the day. 

We have a culture of resilience in our school – one of our core values.  We know that the best route through illness is sometimes to take total rest and be absent from school or work, we also know that this is not always required.  We try to teach students to do their best to stay active, to stay in school and to take maximum rest on an evening.  In most cases, it works, and we thank all of you for your support in building this sense of responsibility and resilience in our young people. 

This week, I have been spending lots of time in Year 10 lessons and have been particularly pleased with how students are engaging with their new GCSE subjects.  I often say that I would love to be able to study our curriculum – it has so many great topics and themes and provides opportunities to develop wonderful skills.  This was seen in the lessons I visited this week, including History lessons where students were fascinated by the civil rights topics; in Food Technology lessons where they were exploring food contamination and in Resistant Materials classes where students were as happy learning about the properties of different manufacturing materials as they were carrying out practical activities.  I can confidently say that our Year 10 cohort are one of the most motivated I have seen for many years and will surely go on to achieve great things in the future. 

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For parents of students in Year 11, please be aware of the upcoming Open Evenings for our Consortium Sixth Form offer.  Next Thursday (9 October), Wolfreton School hold their event, followed by our own at Hessle on Tuesday 14 October.  For those interested in studying at our Sixth Form College, I would strongly recommend that you visit both campuses so that the full breadth of our subjects and facilities can be appreciated.  As a student at the Consortium Sixth Form, you have access to resources on both sites so they really are worth a visit.   

For more information, please visit The Consortium Sixth Form College - Curriculum. 

Thank you for your support as ever and have a nice weekend.

Mr Groak

Headteacher