Friday 22 November 2013

Head Master's Weekly Notes - 22nd November


I woke up this morning and was reminded of two things as I looked outside onto the Somerset countryside – firstly, the freezing cold spell is here to stay and secondly, England’s remarkable talent of snatching defeat in the jaws of victory. The teams collapse (136 all out) in their first innings after their commanding performance in the field with Stuart Broad taking 6-81, is I hope not a taste of things to come over the bleak winter. The sledging will continue (as I am sure it will here when the snow eventually falls) and I hope Cook and his men can regroup and turn things around Down Under – it will be an exciting Ashes contest. Speaking of contests, the 1st XV put on a great display against Sherborne losing narrowly in the final kick of the game 14-15, whereas the U14s and U15s found considerable success winning convincingly against Sherborne. More details about the week’s sporting success from the Head of Sport, Mr Boyd, below. Also many congratulations to Jemma Jones (12 GLY HA) who is through to the U21 National Tetrathalon Finals and is also being considered to represent Great Britain in Australia next summer where she will be competing in the four disciplines of shooting, swimming, horse riding and running.
 
Our commitment to Charity continues to be strong, not only did we raise £580 for Children in Need, we also raised £2150 for Cancer Research UK through the Race for life event that took place last term. The school presented a cheque to Miss Lisa Sweeting from the charity on Tuesday and spoke to the 6th form (many of whom took part in the 5km race) during morning assembly. Next year we hoping to get the whole town involved, so expect to see a splash of pink around Bruton! Mr Stephen Baker from the Somerset Rural Youth Project also spoke to the 6th form about the work that they do in communities. The SRYP will be running the National Citizen Service programme in Somerset next year which offers opportunities for those in Year 11 and 12 to become involved in community projects and I am delighted to inform you that 10 of our Y12 students have signed up to this worthwhile project. With university offers coming in - Justine Taylor (13 KNI RH) has already picked up 5 offers to read History - our Y13s were given a lesson in financial management by Student Finance England during assembly. It will be the students responsibility to manage their money come next October – with student loans, tuition fees, accommodation and living costs to juggle as well as attending lectures, tutorials (and the odd disco) - careful budgeting must be one of their priorities. The 6th Form team are always on hand to provide advice and guidance in this important area of higher education; please do not hesitate to get in touch with them. Also, if your Y13 son or daughter has yet to submit their UCAS form in, please do hurry them along!
 
With the Siberian weather upon us and icy pavements and footpaths the norm over the next couple of months, please do make sure that your son and/or daughter is wearing a suitably warm coat to protect them from the harsh chill – any colour so long as its black; gloves and a scarf (the School scarf, which is reminiscent of my old college scarf, is great value and is available in the school shop) and an umbrella would be useful kit travelling to and from school over the next few months. A good hot breakfast inside them too will keep away the dreaded cold and avoid them having to go to see Nursey in the Health Centre – prevention is much better than cure. Preparations are well under way for the Christmas Concert on Wednesday the 4th of December with the Senior Citizen party taking place in the Main Hall that afternoon – if you could donate a small gift for this party, both Mrs Latif and I would be most grateful –the students would really like to show the old people a good time at Sexey’s. A week later we have the School’s Christmas Carol Service at St Mary’s, Bruton and you are all cordially invited to attend. However, due to the limited capacity of the Church, if you could let my PA, Sarah Stallion know that you will indeed be attending we can then plan for the afternoon accordingly. After the service, the PSA will be organising mulled wine and mince pies in the warmth of the Main Hall – again you are welcome to this and it would be lovely to see you at the end of term. According to tradition, it is the Head Master’s duty to decorate the School’s Christmas Tree in the Main Hall – any help would be gratefully received! There are plenty of Christmas events in and around Bruton, to get the community into the festive spirit – whether it is Carol Singing on the High Street or doing a reading at St Mary’s, Bruton – I hope to see many of you around. It is easy to keep up to date on all the latest news by following us on Twitter (@SexeysSchool).

The Year 11s are now in the home straight with regards their Trial Examinations (Mocks), and having spoken to many of them over lunch and the like, they have found it a useful experience and I am sure they will do the school proud come next summer. They are sitting their English this afternoon and on Monday afternoon will be sitting Religion and Philosophy. On Monday morning, the Y11s will be given guidance on study skills and useful revision techniques by the Positively Mad team which will further consolidate the work they have done already and help them prepare for their GCSEs next year. Results for these Trials will be made available to the students on Thursday 5 December and will be available for you to download from Moodle – details on how to do this will be sent to you in due course. From the New Year we are looking to have all reports (progress and full) available on-line for you to view and download – if you do know of any parents who do not have on-line access please do ask them to get in touch and we will make alternative arrangements. We hope you will find this a more useful and effective way of keeping track of your child’s progress at school.

It’s been a busy few weeks to say the least and I wish you all a relaxing and peaceful exeat. I will be keeping up to date with Captain Cook’s exploits this weekend whilst at the State Boarding Schools’ Conference in sunny Norfolk…

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