The first ever Essex teaching awards were held this week in Chelmsford in the prestigious surroundings of the Lord Ashcroft International Business School at Anglia Ruskin University. Mr Murray received a Life Time Achievement Award which was presented by the Chairman of Essex County Council, Cllr. Kay Twitchen. Mr Murray said: "I am absolutely thrilled by this award and would like to thank the school for nominating me. I have thoroughly enjoyed my 32 years teaching in the Epping Forest area and have had the privilege of working with excellent pupils, colleagues and parents. Teaching is a hard, full on job but each day is different, nearly always enjoyable and each day usually has its own moment of magic.” I would like to add my ‘congratulations’ to Mr Murray on behalf of all the students, staff, parents and governors. He is an excellent role model for students and has dedicated his whole career, both in school and outside school as a local town and district councillor, to the local community. We are all very proud of this achievement! We hosted an extremely busy and well attended Year 9 Parents’ Evening last night and it was a pleasure to have so many conversations with students and parents about the options that they are considering for next year. Our Options Evening takes place on Thursday 13th February and myself and Mr Davies will go through the process for selecting GCSEs. This is a very important evening and I would encourage all parents to attend. The government has announced changes to the structure and grading of GCSEs for this year group so, even if you have had older children go through the process previously, this year will be very different for students in some exams. Teachers and subject leaders from all subject areas will also be on hand during the evening to offer advice and information. Another important part of this process is the annual ‘Careers Fest’ that is held at Epping Forest College every year. Organised by careers staff across the district, including our Careers Officer, Mrs Mason, this is a very popular event. It runs from 3.30-6.30pm and further details are contained later on in the bulletin. We have the next meeting of our Parent Forum next Thursday (30th January) from 6pm-7pm in the school hall. The focus of this meeting will be looking at some of the work we are doing with our staff and students in lessons around the development of a ‘growth mindset’ and how this impacts on improving educational performance. This will be an interactive session and I would encourage all parents to attend. Finally, could I take this opportunity to remind parents about our policy on the use of mobile phones in school. Students are permitted phones in school but they must be switched off and kept out of sight during the school day (including break and lunch). If a phone is being used and is seen by a member of staff it will be confiscated. On the first occasion this happens the phone will be returned to the student at the end of the school day, however if this happens on more than one occasion we will only return the phone to parents. I wish you all a good weekend. Paul Banks Headteacher
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