Welcome back to the new academic year. It was lovely to greet all of our students at the start of term and I was delighted with how smart they looked on entering the school on Monday. Clearly the shops have been doing a roaring trade on new shoes and I must say how impressed I am by the way the students have risen to the challenge of the new uniform expectations. Several members of the local community have already commented to me about how well turned out the students are and what a credit they are to the school so very well done to all concerned. I am delighted to say that our Year 11s performed very well in their GCSEs and there were some superb examination results. I must mention our Head Boy, Naru George, who achieved 12 A* grades as well as Sophie Humphreys, 9 A*s and 1 A grade and Olivia Tinker, 6 A*s and 5 A grades. Overall the students achieved 62% A*-C including English and Maths which was an impressive outcome given the higher than expected grade boundaries in Maths and English. I am very proud of the fact that our students achieved a positive Progress 8 score which is the Government's new measure for school performance. This means that our students secured better than expected progress across their best 8 subjects which demonstrates that the Teaching and Learning at Roding Valley is in fine fettle. It has been an exciting week in school as we have welcomed back our first Year 12s into our brand new Sixth Form. I must say it has been a pleasure to see them returning to Roding Valley and enjoying their form groups, their lessons and their new Common Room. They look fantastic in their "business dress" and have made a tremendously positive start to their A Level studies. We set very strict criteria for entering the Sixth Form here and the students that we have accepted have achieved excellent GCSE grades and are highly motivated. I am confident that this group of students will perform very well this year and I expect to be celebrating some excellent outcomes next August. May I just mention that the Year 10 Parent Information Evening is taking place next Thursday evening, 17th September. If you are the parent of a child in Year 10 please do make every effort to attend as the evening is designed to support you as parents to help your child achieve highly at GCSEs. We realise that this can be a stressful time for parents as well as the students so we want to arm you with everything that you need to know to navigate the waters of GCSE study. Since there are so many changes to the GCSEs this year it makes it even more important that you as parents attend the presentation so that you are fully aware of the challenges that lie ahead. Finally could I just request that has many parents and friends of the school as possible come along to the PTA Quiz Night on the 25th September. I am hoping that this will be an enjoyable event for all and a good opportunity to socialise and pit your wits against teachers, Governors and other parents. If you can make it I look forward to seeing you. J Luck Headteacher
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