GOVERNORS
Autumn Term Report RICHARD THOMAS CHAIR OF GOVERNORS
It has been a busy term and we are all looking forward to Christmas. It will be one which will be gratefully received and well deserved for all in the school family.
We should all, however, reflect on what has been achieved during this term. We are still in a pandemic, there have been many challenges in school and within families during the last three months, but there has been a return to inclusivity in our community in that time. Last week I attended the Choristers Evensong, recorded and performed live for BBC Radio 3. It was such a pleasure to see a full choir together celebrating in the cathedral. I also had the pleasure of seeing the school play Boudica, a whole-school production with a live audience to match. It was performed with an expertise and enthusiasm we have not seen in a personto-person experience for some time. It is the return of these rites of passage that are so fulfilling this term; the mixed sports and clubs beyond the previous year-group sessions, the greater variety of activities for pupils to enjoy and even the benefits of eating together with social interaction. This does not go without exemplary planning and management of risk. There is a difficult balance to be achieved between an open school and maintaining a safe environment. As an establishment, I have been impressed with the way that the Head Andy Johnson and the Business Director Kieran Topping, along with their teams, have taken sensible and logical decisions to make school life feel as close to normal as possible, in order to give the best education and co-curricular activities possible as the individual circumstances permit. As a governing body we were very pleased to see the new strategic plan delivered and issued at the beginning of term. It is a document that Governors and Senior Leadership Team initiate and rely on to maintain the positive trajectory of the school. We were vastly impressed by the input through the school to the document, from the broad strategic aims to the
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preparation of annual goals to ensure that delivery remains on track. I compliment everyone involved in the process and, in particular, our Head, who devoted an immense amount of time and thought to the direction of the school in the next five years. It is a document which sets out a clear vision and ambitious programme to deliver the best for pupils, staff and all our stakeholders and I encourage all to read it. The Christmas break will offer an opportunity for rest and revitalisation, well deserved, and a chance (hopefully) to be with family and friends. It is important of course that we all stay safe and enjoy company at a distance. It will be a spring term which will hold its own element of doubt, but one which the school will embrace to give the best offering achievable.
On behalf of the governing
body, I wish you all a happy Christmas and prosperous and fruitful New Year.
