Dear all,

This week it has been absolutely fantastic to welcome all of our students, including those already with us and those who have just joined. Students have made an excellent start in their lessons, getting straight into learning and building relationships with their new teachers. In particular, I wanted to highlight our youngest students, Year 7, who have handled the jump up to secondary school so well. Staff have commented just how impressed they have been in all their interactions with them, which bodes extremely promisingly. We have also had a number of new staff join us and they have all made a brilliant contribution over the past week.

The start of a new school year always abounds with such potential. In the opening assemblies on Wednesday I spoke to students about what we will offer them at Holmleigh Park to help them achieve everything that they want to:

Disruption-free learning. Our expectations, behaviour systems and routines mean that our classrooms are calm, purposeful and maximise learning times. These expectations underpin everything we do at Holmleigh Park and help ensure we can be kind to everyone in our school.

Outcomes. By the time all of our students leave us, we will have supported them to work incredibly hard to achieve the strongest possible set of GCSEs, Extended Diplomas and A Levels. These outcomes keep the widest array of paths open to students for after they have left us. These paths may include attending Sixth Form, attaining a higher apprenticeship or going to university. I want HP students to be able to take control of their destiny and be able to start adulthood able to select from a range of paths to support them to build meaningful and fulfilling lives.

Opportunities. Whatever path our students choose when they leave us, for them to achieve their potential they need to be well-rounded, self-confident and equipped with a range of skills. I want HP students to maximise their time with us at school and take responsibility for getting involved in opportunities outside the classroom. On Wednesday this week, Years 11 to 13 had an assembly about our new Enrichment and Senior Sport opportunities. Next week we are launching our expanded clubs programme with a brand new Extra Curricular Fayre for Year Groups 7 to 10.

I wanted to finish by reminding about the importance of attendance. Our staff team work very hard every day to ensure the best possible educational experience for all of our students. We want everyone to take advantage of this by being in school. There is also such an undoubted link between outcomes achieved by Year 11 and Year 13 students and their attendance at school. If there are ever any barriers to attendance please get in touch with your child’s Head of Year or our Attendance team. We look forward to seeing everyone on Monday morning.

I wish you all a lovely weekend,

Mr Hudson
Headteacher