It has been the turn of the Year 10s to sit their examinations in the Hall this week. I look forward with interest to seeing how they have done, especially as they will be the first cohort of students to tackle the new examinations which will receive a grade from 9 to 1 rather than A* - G. The current Year 10s will be sitting the new style exams in English and Maths and a huge amount of work has been completed to ensure that they will be ready for the increased degree of challenge that the Government has insisted on. As they move into Year 11 we will continue to work the students hard to give them every chance of success in 2017. The Year 7 trip to the Forest of Dean was a great success and the students have returned in buoyant mood. Although the week was rather damp the students threw themselves into the wide variety of activities and had a wonderful time. I would like to thank Mr McManners, Head of Year 7, for leading the trip but he was ably supported by Ms Wybrant, Ms Stockings and Mr Punungwe. I am delighted that there are so many opportunities for students at Roding Valley to take part in extracurricular events and I would always encourage students to try and get involved with the activities that are taking place every day after school as well as any trips and visits that they may have the chance to go on. Finally I would like to mention another superb achievement for two of our students. Santiago Aldridge (10S) and Matty Noble (12R) are proud members of the Redbridge Youth Theatre Workshop who entered a competition against over 500 other young theatre companies. They performed Carl Grose's Gargantua at the Theatre Royal Stratford East and such was the quality of their performance they have been chosen to close the show at the largest Youth Theatre Festival in the country. Matty and Santi now find themselves playing on the Olivier Stage of the Royal National Theatre on London's South Bank. Clearly this is a fantastic achievement and a great opportunity for them both and I wish them every success. The date for the performance is the 4th July and tickets are going fast so if you would like to go along I would encourage you to book immediately. James Luck Headteacher
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