Dear all,

I want to start by extending my very warm congratulations to Mr Hudson on being appointed Headteacher from September 2023. I will save my farewell for later in the term, but I do want to say that while I am very sad to be leaving such a wonderful school, my sadness is tempered by knowing that I am leaving it in the best possible hands. Having worked very closely with Mr Hudson for the past year,there is nobody I would trust more to lead the school forward. I am very excited for the future, and very pleased that I will remain actively involved in Holmleigh Park in my new role (as will Scramble!). 

Moving on, we've had a relatively quiet first week back - with our focus of course remaining on Year 11 and Year 13. They are very close to the finish line now and are doing a brilliant job at maintaining their focus and determination.

I also want to talk briefly about behaviour. As you know, we have extremely high expectations for students at Holmleigh Park - including strict rules regarding classroom conduct.

Yesterday, the Department for Education published its first annual behaviour survey - and it makes for sobering reading. Amongst the headlines are the fact that across secondary schools, an average of 6.3 out of every 30 minutes are lost to dealing with disruptive behaviour. This equates to just over 20% - in other words, one day is lost per week in the average school to misbehaviour. At HP, we believe that students deserve disruption-free learning, and we will do our best to make sure that figure remains as close to 0 as possible every single day.

This is why we will continue to insist on our high standards for behaviour, effort, homework, uniform and equipment- so that students can enjoy the best possible chance of success.  

A highlight of the week for the Senior Leadership Team was hearing yesterday from representatives of our newly elected School Council. We're very grateful to Tom E, Folu A and Denzel O for taking the time to come and share their thoughts on the school's next steps - an early start at 07:45 too!

Our Y9 girls have had some fantastic sporting efforts this year. This week they did fantastically at the rounders districts winning all of their pool games and playing Denmark Road in the final. The match went down to the very last ball and, even though they lost by the narrowest of margins, they showed amazing sportsmanship throughout. As well as this they got to the final in the netball tour tournament earlier on this year, where they also demonstrated these same qualities and represented the school brilliantly. Miss Abebrado has told me how their positive attitudes were specifically mentioned by officials from both tournaments, including England netball umpires, and she is very proud of both their accomplishments and their attitudes.

Finally, good luck to our students heading out on DofE this weekend. The Met Office's weather warning means that some changes will be necessary, which Ms Austin will be communicating to parents shortly - but I'm very grateful to the team who have effectively replanned the entire weekend at very short notice!

Best wishes,

Mr Farmbrough

Headteacher