This has been a very important week for the Year 11s as they sat their first formal GCSE examination in the Hall when they tackled the English paper. The English faculty spent the morning working with groups of students providing them with last minute guidance and advice as well as giving them a real confidence boost in the hours running up to the exam. I am delighted that our staff offer such support so willingly and the students benefit enormously from the work that they put in. I very much hope that the Year 11s continue to work hard to prepare themselves thoroughly for the rest of their exams. The very best of luck to them all. On Thursday of this week our Sixth Formers had the opportunity to meet with Eva Behar, a 91 year old Holocaust Survivor. Eva spoke eloquently about her experiences of how she and several of her family were put onto a transport train to Auschwitz on 11 May 1944 where she remained until 1 January 1945. She was then selected to transfer to Bergen-Belsen where she remained until it was liberated on 15 April 1945. The students listened with rapt attention and their conduct was first rate. It was pleasing to see how many stayed behind afterwards to speak to Eva and ask questions. It is very important for our students to experience this sort of seminar and I know that it will have had a profound effect on them. As I said last week, the Sixth Form is not just about examination outcomes, it is also about widening the world view of our students and providing them with chances to reflect on events and shape their understanding of the World. This forms a vital part of our Social, Moral, Spiritual and Cultural Education which we are promoting throughout the school. Also on Thursday we welcomed an outside speaker to run a series of sessions focused on the Government's PREVENT programme. The aim of the strategy is to stop young people being drawn into terrorism and to educate students with regard to how they can safeguard themselves and also identify if others are at risk. The presentations were necessarily hard hitting and were designed to make the students sit up and take notice. The feedback that we have had has been very positive and it certainly has raised the pupil's awareness of the issue and provided them with strategies to ensure that they and their friends are able to avoid potential problems of this kind. After school the staff also underwent further training to make sure that we are all vigilant and know what signs to look out for and who to inform if we have concerns. A very useful day and I would like to thank staff and students for taking the issue so seriously. James Luck Headteacher
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