Headteachers' Newsletter
February 2022
Welcome back to the second half of the Spring Term. It's strange to think that we are now officially over half way through the school year, time flies!
Having had a really positive start to the academic year, I have to say that the last half term was somewhat of a challenge at times; I hope that the break has served to refresh our students and that they have all come back to school with a positive attitude to their work and to each other.
Our Pre Public Examinations (PPE's) start in earnest next week and I'd like to wish our Year 11 and 13 students the best of luck. The PPE's serve a number of functions: helping prepare students for their final exams, providing students and teachers with the areas where each student needs additional support, providing the school with the students' overall performance to help with putting in place interventions and giving us a basis in case of the now unlikely event of exams being cancelled, so that we can provide students with teacher assessed grades. I hope our students have used the half term break effectively to prepare for these important examinations.
This week marks a seminal moment for the country and of course our school with restrictions coming to an end and a start of the return to 'normality'. There is more information regarding the changes below but I just wanted to thank everyone once again for their support and patience over the last few years and I hope to use the words "during unprecedented times" for the last time!
As always there is a lot of important information within this newsletter and I hope you find it useful.
Yours sincerely
Daniel Leonard
Headteacher
Key Updates Regarding Covid Protocols
2) From Thursday 24th February, the Government will remove the legal requirement to self-isolate following a positive test. Adults and children who test positive will continue to be advised to stay at home and avoid contact with other people for at least 5 full days, and then continue to follow the guidance until they have received 2 negative test results on consecutive days. Those testing positive, including school staff and pupils, even if you don't have symptoms, will still be advised to stay at home until the guidance changes on the 1st April, after which date people are advised to exercise “personal responsibility”.
3) The requirement for schools to provide remote education to students who are not in school will cease from the 1st April 2022.
4) The requirement for schools to risk assess in relation to the coronavirus will cease from the 1st April 2022.
Uniform Expectations
1) Students are only permitted to wear plain navy blue, black or grey coats, and with the removal of covid restrictions these will no longer be permitted to be worn in lessons.
2) Students are not permitted to wear nose piercings. The wearing of masks has led to a number of students getting nose piercings because they couldn't be seen. Any student wearing a piercing will be required to remove it and will not be permitted to attend lessons if they refuse to do so, even if it will close up. Students are aware of the rules and if they choose to get their nose pierced when they will have to attend school then they take responsibility for their actions.
3) Students are not permitted to wear boots or trainers to school, only shoes. If a student's shoes are broken they will be expected to put a pair of the school shoes on for the day; failure to do so will result in them being unable to attend lessons.
4) Students are not permitted to wear nail varnish or have long false nails. They will be told to remove them.
5) Hoodies are not permitted in school. All students (Yr.7-10 ) must have and wear a blazer and all Year 11's must wear a plain black v-neck jumper.
These are very simple things to get right and are clearly set out in assemblies and in our Behaviour Policy and my Newsletters. Please help your child get these things right.
Communciating with the School
We may not always get things right, but I urge families to remember the challenges they faced when home educating their children during the lockdown and how grateful they were for the work schools do, having had your children at home for three or so months at a time. We have over 1300 children in school and staff will have around 30 young people in a lesson at any one time.
We are always happy to receive feedback and want to work with families to resolve any issues they face or any concerns they have about the way the school has acted in any given situation, but I expect my staff to be treated with dignity and respect so please do bear this in mind when raising concerns with the school.
ON A MORE POSITIVE NOTE....
New Netball Dresses
Thank you to Lonon MEP who sponsored the purchase of the new netball dresses for our U14 Netball team. The Team are wearing the new dresses below for a friendly game in preparation for their Essex Cup Quarter final game which is coming up soon.
Reminder to Students to bring in Refillable Water Bottles
Talking to your Child about Online Sexual Harassment: A Guide for Parents
Important Dates for your Diary
Parent Events
Thursday 3rd March - Year 8 Parents Evening (online appointments)Thursday 10th March - Year 9 Parents Evening (online appointments)
Monday 28th March - Yr.11 Transition Day (online appointments)
Student Events
Monday 28th February - Yr.11 and 13 PPEs begin
Monday 28th February to Friday 4th March - Yr.11 Study Leave
Monday 28th February to Tuesday 8th March - Yr.13 A Level Students on Study Leave
School Closures
Wednesday 9th March - Inset Day no students in school
Friday 1st April - break up for the Easter break - (Yrs.9-13 finish at 1.05pm, Yrs 7 & 8 at 1.15pm)
Year 7 Graduation
A reminder to our Year 7 families to save the date for our Graduation. This will take place on
Saturday 9th July 2022 from 12pm on our school field. This will be an opportunity for us to all celebrate your child’s first year at the school and to recognise how well they have worked and integrated into West Hatch. We hope that all of our Year 7 students will be in attendance, but I have had to meet with some of the Year 7's whose behaviour or attendance falls below our expected standard and I have set them targets, which they must meet if they wish to attend the Graduation. If your child has been set a target then you will have received a separate letter from me.
Our Students' Achievements
Rae Ann Quayle - Yr.7
Molly Sherrin - Yr.9
Ruben Griesel & Adrian James - Yr.13
Ruben and Adrian both represented Essex County RFU last month playing against Middlesex. Although beaten on the day, Adrian scored the team’s first try. A big congratulations to them both on their County selection. Ruben plays for Blackheath RFC & Adrian plays for Woodford RFC.
Mark Rigo - Yr.10
Well done to Mark who took part in the Essex Swimming Championships last month where he competed at the Olympic Pool at Stratford. He successfully achieved times to qualify for the Regional Swimming Competition which will take place later in the year.
Lewis Wiffen - Yr.10
Well done to Lewis who completed his Bronze Duke of Edinburgh Award through the Air Cadets and completed his St John Ambulance youth first aid course.
Melissa Grecu - Yr.7
Martina Dainauskaite - Yr.8
Carlos Morales - Yr.8
Carlos loves playing football, and he is part of the Chigwell Rebels team. On top of his football training and matches, he still manages to find the time to work hard at school and help his family around the home. Keep up the hard work Carlos.
Amaan Mohammed - Yr.13
Well done to Amaan who continues to be successful with his boxing. He made it through to the Semi Finals of the England Boxing National Youth Championships, where he unfortunately lost his fight, but a great achievement nevertheless.
Pawan Lall - Yr.10 & Kamaljot Lall - Yr.8
Pawan and Kamaljot are both heavily involved in music and singing and have been performing since they were young. Their talent mainly focuses on singing Sikh Hymns while playing instruments called the Harmonium and Tabla. They perform weekly at the local Gurdwara and they send their pieces of Hymn recordings to the local radio called Nusound. Please click on the link below if you would like to hear one of their performances. Well done girls.
Finally.....
It has been a challenging few years for everyone in society but it is great to see some light at the end of the tunnel. I will be sending out information regarding our school day for September in the next newsletter; we are doing all we can to get back to some normality.
Once again good luck to those students sitting PPE exams and I hope that the next half term is a positive experience for everyone within our community.