Headmaster's Message
Dear Parents
Welcome to this week's newsletter.
Today sees the launch of our new school video on the School Promise. You can follow the link for this here to get your premiere showing and I hope it will give everyone a reason to smile before the weekend. We enjoyed making the film and I think it has a very clever angle on the school and its unique ethos.
There have been two big stories in the news this week that I wanted to refer to in my message today.
The first one relating directly to us was the announcement on Tuesday by Gavin Williamson regarding the government’s updated plans on the return to school. As I am quite sure you already know, they have taken away the requirement for all children to return to primary schools by the end of this term. However, the new guidance also makes provision for schools who are able to cater for extra pupils to do so in a safe way. My instinct, shared with the rest of the staff I know, is to do everything we can to bring all of the children back, at least for some time, before the end of term. Social interactions with the rest of the group are so important and a return to school, even for a short time, would be a wonderful opportunity to provide closure emotionally on the current year. Of course, against this I have to weigh the need for proper distancing and safe practice. I am currently working hard with the leadership and compliance teams here, looking at the options available. I will be back in touch with all parents early next week with more concrete plans.
The second big story that came to the fore last weekend, is the worldwide protests on the issue of race equality and discrimination. For what it is worth, I would like to add my voice in support of those key messages of anti-racism and equal opportunities for people of ethnic minority backgrounds.
Throughout my life I have held strong beliefs about the rights of all to equality and the evils of racial prejudice. Why should any individual suffer negative or demeaning comments as they go about their daily life? It undermines self-belief and results in a slow alienation from wider society. The impact of spiteful or misjudged comments accumulate over time for those on the receiving end. This sort of everyday racism may seem to be at the low end of the scale when compared with the tragic circumstances of the death of an individual, such as in the shocking case of George Floyd, but can be enormously damaging in their own right. I believe that the message of these recent protests is absolutely about both ends of this spectrum.
We take this seriously in school and celebrating differences is central part of our PSHE programme as well as our broader pastoral message. However, that's not to say there isn't more we can do. As all of us here need to reflect honestly on this and ask ourselves what we can do. We are already doing exactly that as we make our preparations for next school year.
I do hope you can dodge the showers this weekend and enjoy some quality time with your families.
