This week it has been the turn of the Year 10s to take their examinations in the Hall. This provides a chance for them to experience what it will be like when they take their GCSEs next year. For these internal papers we insist on the same standards of conduct as for the GCSEs themselves as we need to get them used to performing at the highest level. This year we have made it a focus to provide all of our students throughout the school the experience of sitting formal examinations as the changes that the Government has made for future years means that Controlled Assessments / Coursework will be a thing of the past. I am pleased to say that the vast majority of our students have responded well to the demands of this rigorous testing and we will continue to support them to achieve highly. On Thursday we were delighted to receive a visit from a party of 48 students and staff from a school in France. The group hailed from the beautiful city of Carcassonne in the Languedoc region of southern France and they were treated to a full day at Roding Valley High School. They engaged in a Maths Challenge, played a spirited game of netball and then enjoyed a range of lessons throughout the departments. It was great to see so many of our students interacting with our French friends and it was a good opportunity for our GCSE and A Level linguists to get some practise speaking the language. I would like to thank Mrs Lasfer for arranging the visit and for putting on such a varied array of activities. I spoke to the visiting teachers and a number of the students who all told me what a great time they had had. They were full of compliments about the school and our students which is always lovely to hear. Thanks also to all other staff and students who were involved in lessons and made them feel so welcome. Thursday was also the day of the BBC School Report. This is an annual event around the country whereby school children turn into intrepid reporters for the day and then create videos that are published on the BBC. This year our students had previously conducted their research in Stratford and were reporting on the impact that the 2012 Olympics and the development of the Westfield Centre have had on the regeneration of the area. Students from Years 7, 8, 9 and 10 worked collaboratively on the project and produced a professional video report that can be seen on the school website. I would certainly encourage you to have a look at our wonderful students in action. I would like to thank all those that took part and especially Mrs Musker, Miss Stockings and Miss Bates for all of their hard work and support. J Luck Headteacher
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