I would like to start by reminding all Year 11s and their parents that we are holding the Sixth Form Open Evening on Tuesday 20th October. The evening will run from 6pm to 8pm and there will be presentations from myself and Mr Harris, Head of Sixth Form, as well as from our Head Boy and Head Girl. There will also be ample opportunity for students and parents to speak to Heads of Department and subject teachers in depth in order to develop an understanding of what each A Level entails. It is crucial that students wishing to stay on at Roding Valley Post 16 attend the evening as it is the best chance to ensure that an educated choice may be made regarding the subjects that are best suited to them. A Levels are certainly challenging and choosing the right options is a significant factor to secure success. If students are considering other schools or colleges for their Post 16 studies I would still encourage them to come along to the evening to see what we have to offer here. I have been delighted with the start that the new Sixth Form have made. The lessons that I have observed have been of a very high quality and students are certainly being challenged to achieve highly. The small group sizes mean that individual attention can be given to each student and this will increase their rate of progress significantly. The atmosphere in the Common Room is lovely with a cohesive group of students working together. I have also been pleased to see how keen the students have been to involve themselves with extra-curricular activities, supporting younger students with their learning and getting community projects under-way. All in all I think we can be incredibly proud of our Sixth Form and I am confident that we will go from strength to strength in the years to come. On Thursday evening of this week we hosted the Year 7 Parent Information Evening. This was billed as a means to guide parents in the best ways that they can support their sons and daughters to succeed in secondary school. The evening involved a number of presentations referring to the changing demands of schooling from Primary to Secondary and how the students can be given every chance to flourish. There was also a focus on the Accelerated Reader programme and the Literacy focus that we have throughout the year. Finally the Maths Faculty ran a workshop highlighting the Maths Mastery programme that we are following in the school. I spoke to a number of parents at the end of the session who had been given a series of Maths questions to answer and had appeared to have enjoyed the challenge. I hope that all those in attendance found the evening useful and if anyone has any comments, in addition to the feedback from, please do get in touch. I would also like to say a very big well done to the Year 7 boys Football Team. Mr Hudgell is delighted with the impressive start that they have made so far this season in both the Essex and National cup competitions. They have been playing some outstanding, attractive football so far which has been a pleasure to watch. So far they have won 4 and have a perfect record. Long may this continue. I would also like to congratulate the girls and boys Cross Country teams who both performed incredibly well in the championships this week. There were some excellent individual and team performances and we are very proud of our students. J Luck Headteacher
6th Form Open Evening Calling all parents of Year 11 students—our Sixth Form Open Evening will be held on Tuesday 20th October 2015 at 6.30pm in the Hall. Please come along and have a look at what we have to offer.