Last night we held the Sixth Form Open Evening and it was wonderful to see so many of our current Year 11s and their parents coming along to discuss their plans for next year. Initially there was a presentation in the Hall where I spoke about my vision for the school moving forward. Not only do I want Roding Valley High School to become the school of choice for Year 6 students and their parents, I also want us to be the school of choice for students Post 16. We have made a tremendous start to the Sixth Form and I am eager to keep up the momentum and see our students achieve great things. Mr Mammen, Deputy Head, explained about the competitive entry requirements that students will need to achieve if they are going to join us in Year 12 and Mr Harris, Head of Sixth Form, extolled the virtues of Post 16 study at Roding Valley and explained how we support each and every student to achieve their very best. The highlight of the evening for me, though, was the speeches from the four current Year 12 students. Lauren and Chloe Humphries, Kyle Johal and Matthew Tinker all spoke warmly about their first half term in the Sixth Form at Roding Valley. All four would have been warmly welcomed at any local Sixth Form as their GCSE grades are superb but I am delighted that they chose us. Indeed Kyle joined us from another school and was keen to state how impressed he's been with the welcome that he has received and the way the Sixth Form is set up. After the formal presentation in the Hall the students and parents circulated around the departments speaking to the A Level teachers and current Year 12s and 13s to get a good idea of the demands and the content of the individual courses. I really enjoyed listening in to these conversations and while the teachers were fantastic and enthusiastic about their subjects, there is no doubt that the students are the greatest ambassadors for our Sixth Form as they were delightful and incredibly keen to showcase their school. Finally I would like to mention that Matthew Tinker represented Epping Forest as part of the National Youth Parliament. This involved travelling to Westminster this morning to take part in a debate in the House of Commons presided over by the Speaker of the House, The Rt Hon John Bercow MP. Whilst I can imagine most young people would find this sort of arena rather intimidating, Matthew stood up to give his maiden speech. I have had the pleasure of seeing a recording of his words of wisdom where he speaks with passion about the future of the NHS. I think it's fair to say that he brought the house down as he spoke without notes with humour and verve and received a huge round of applause at the end. Very well done to Matthew and clearly a career in politics beckons. Have a lovely weekend. James Luck Headteacher
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