As we enter into the last month of our academic year, we are taking the time to reflect on our progress and achievements this year. Students will be taking part in reflection activities with their tutors during registration and we would love to hear about any reflective conversations you are having at home. We will also be asking students to submit their 'highlight of the year' so we can share some of the amazing experiences Year 9 have been a part of with the whole year group.

The upcoming online Year 9 PRE on 7^th July from 3:30 – 7pm is another opportunity to both reflect on Year 9 and plan ahead for Year 10. Please do make sure you have appointments with your child's teachers and encourage your child to join the conversations. A reminder including the link to book your appointment has been sent out on Edulink, please check your spam/junk boxes.

Finally, we invite you to come to support our fantastically talented students preforming A Night at the Musicals; an exciting production for you and your family to enjoy. Performances are running from 7pm on 5th - 8th July at Samuel Whitbread Academy. The link to purchase tickets can be found below.

Having returned from maternity leave, I’m really impressed to see our Year 10 students modelling our school values within their lessons and around the school. I have also been pleased to see that the vast majority of the year group are neatly presented and consistently meeting our uniform standards. It has been great to see how the students have matured and are focused and committed to their learning. With only a few weeks left of the academic year, I would encourage the year group to use this opportunity to reflect on their mock results and speak to their subject teachers to find out how they can best prepare as they move into Year 11.

In the upcoming weeks, a subject and written tutor report will be sent home which will provide you with detailed information on how your child is progressing in their subjects, and specific targets to further improve on. As a year team, we would encourage you to read through this report with your child. Should any queries arise following the report, please contact the relevant subject teacher or your child’s form tutor in the first instance.

Last week was Pride Week which saw our year group engage with a range of activities developed by the school Diversity & Equality team. I am really proud that the team includes a number of Year 10 students who were directly involved in creating and developing the resources used with support from staff.

Our Year 12 students were off timetable last Friday to complete their ‘Next Steps Day’. This was an opportunity to further inform our young people of their potential future options. We had sessions on the UCAS process and personal statements, as well as alternative routes such as apprenticeships and school leaver programmes. We also had a session titled ‘finance for your future’ which was delivered by Miss Philbin, Head of Business, which engaged students with important information regarding financial decisions they will have to make in the coming years. We hope the students found this day informative and interesting. These last few weeks of term are incredibly busy for the year group, with Internal Progression Exams, work experience and Sports Day to come. We thank parents for the support and guidance they are giving the students at this crucial time.