Friday 29 November 2013

Head Master's Weekly Notes - 29th November


Whilst England were doing everything they could to throw away the First Test, Government funding and the importance of state boarding schools were the topics of debate and discussion at last weekend’s SBSA Conference in Norfolk. Politicians, government officials and educationalists led a very useful conference which will I am sure help further shape the educational landscape as we see it. State boarding schools are the jewel in the state sector’s crown and the Secretary of State for Education, the Rt Hon Michael Gove mentioned Sexey’s on The Andrew Marr Show on the BBC on Sunday morning - in a positive way I hasten to add! You can watch the interview in full by clicking here (until tomorrow!) and read the story on the website. The story has obviously generated a lot of media interest but it’s important we keep our feet firmly on the ground and concentrate on what we do best and that’s to provide an excellent all-round education for our students. Do please keep an eye on the website for useful information and important updates and for those of you who are social media savvy, do follow us on Twitter (@SexeysSchool) - we hope the regular posts on Twitter and Facebook help to keep you up to date with the myriad of activities that occur in the School.

It is the most wonderful time of the year - with Christmas decorations nearly up, the Choir in fine form and staff practising in earnest for the Staff Review, the festive spirit has certainly arrived at Sexey’s - and it’s still only November! Thank you to all parents who have contributed gifts for the Senior Citizens Christmas Party next week (Weds 4 Dec) – Mrs Latif and her elves are busy wrapping up the presents in time for Father Christmas (our very own Mr Keith Partridge) to deliver them. That very evening, the Christmas Concert will be taking place at 7pm in the Main Hall and it would be lovely to see you all there to see in the festive season – it will prove to be a most wonderful occasion!

In preparation, I’ll be decking the hall with boughs of tinsel and the like, and thank you to those students who have volunteered to help. A sense of humour and a Santa hat are essential!

A reminder that we are holding an eSafety Evening for all parents next Thursday (5 Dec) at 7pm in the Humanities Building where Mr Ian Gover, an eLearning specialist from Somerset County Council, will be talking to parents on how to help their children be responsible and careful whilst on-line and provide necessary strategies in order to facilitate this. I do urge you to attend this very useful event which can only help support our students navigate safely while they are connected – please do let my PA, Mrs Sarah Stallion, know if you are attending so that we can make the necessary arrangements for the event. Staying on the technology theme, Y11 Trial (Mock) Examination results will be available for Y11 parents to download from next Thursday – full details on how to do this are below – my thanks to Mr Dan Bull for arranging this facility. A hard copy of the results will also be given to the Y11 students on Thursday morning too. I hope you find this new method of communication useful and the intention is that from the New Year you will be able to download all of your son’s/daughter’s reports. Again, if you know of any parents who do not have on-line access, please do ask them to get in touch so that we can make alternative arrangements for them.

This weekend will see our Mo Bros shave off their cultivated upper lips after growing and nurturing them for a month and I am proud to announce that the 6th Form together with staff have raised over £1000 for the Movember charity. Similarly, yesterday’s Second-hand Book Sale in the Library in aid of the Zambia Exchange raised £100 – thank you all for your continued support and efforts – it is very much appreciated by the school.

The boarders are off to Bristol for Christmas Shopping and by my reckoning, there are only 26 shopping days left to Christmas and only 5 days left to the Second Test in Adelaide…

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