The Year 11s have been working exceptionally hard this week and the Pre-Public Examinations are in full swing. The students are taking the exams seriously and have obviously prepared themselves well. It is an excellent opportunity for them to experience the conditions that they will face in the summer and I'm glad to say that they appear to be coping with the situation very well. We are expecting great things from the current Year 11s and they are on course to achieve the school's best ever results again. With this in mind I thought that it was a good time to highlight the School Performance Tables that have been published by the Government in the last week. These provide information on the examination performance at GCSE of all schools in the country and they make for some interesting reading. In the local area only two schools showed improving GCSE A*-C with English and Maths and I'm delighted to say that Roding Valley was one of them (with Braeside being the other). We have certainly caught up with certain nearby schools and have overtaken others by some distance. Of course I am doing everything I can to ensure that we continue to make improvements and your support is, as ever, much appreciated. The Parents' Forum on Monday evening was well attended and there was a useful discussion regarding homework. Miss Bentley presented her findings on how we have moved forward with the setting and marking of homework and it is clear that students are being challenged much more than they were previously. To my mind homework is a crucial aspect of students' learning and it gets them into very good habits that they will need when preparing for GCSEs, A Levels and beyond. Independent study skills are vital and students must be given every encouragement to work on their own and grapple with their work. It is only in this way that they will be able to make sustained progress. I would like to thank Julia Martin, our Librarian, for putting on such a wonderful evening activity for our students on Thursday after school. The Harry Potter evening was an opportunity for students to answer questions, discuss plots and generally enjoy the world created by JK Rowling. There was fancy dress and cakes and Mr Murray certainly wins the prize for the most terrifying witch. I thought that it was a lovely atmosphere and all of the hard work from the staff was well received, This was a superb way to encourage young readers and I would implore all parents to urge your sons and daughters to read every day. The students (and staff) appeared to have a great time in the library and I certainly hope that this will not be a one-off event. It is fantastic that activities such as these still go ahead despite the other demands on staff time and I thank all concerned from the bottom of my heart. I wish you all a very enjoyable weekend. Mr J Luck Headteacher
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