Principal Newsletter December 2019

SUMMIT LEARNING TRUST
Principal’s Christmas News
December 2019
Welcome
Dear Parents and Carers,
As we approach the Christmas holidays I would like to, as usual,
thank all of our staff, students and their families for a fantastic
term and their continued support in our improvement journey.
I hope you find my termly letter of use and also enjoy our
enclosed ‘Parental Engagement Newsletter’ which shows the
amazing opportunities we provide your children at the school.
We were pleased to welcome OFSTED to school in the
penultimate week of the last academic year in July. Their
overall judgement was that the school ‘Requires Improvement’,
something that we agree with. Although we have made so
much progress in the last couple of years, there are still further
developments to make the school even better. The full report is
available on our website if you have not yet seen it. There are
many areas to celebrate and some key priorities for us to work
on this year.
Here are some quotes from the report to draw your attention to:
• The Summit Learning Trust has been pivotal in improving many
aspects of this school.
• The recently adopted assessment systems ensure that leaders
are now able to intervene quickly when pupils need to catch
up.
• Pupils feel safe and are safe in school. They are well cared for.
• The curriculum is well thought out, offering a range of
subjects that meet pupils’ needs. The school’s ‘cultural capital
programme’ provides pupils with valuable experiences on
visits and trips.
• The school’s provision of careers information, advice and
guidance is strong. It has a positive impact on pupils’
destinations. Leaders provide a range of exciting opportunities
for pupils to meet with employers and universities.
• Pupils benefit from a wide range of leadership opportunities.
For example, they can apply to become prefects, eco-leaders
and house captains. Pupils are involved in community projects
and fundraising for local charities.
On the back of this report we were delighted with the GCSE
results this year. Our year 11 students performed superbly and
secured the best examination results the school has achieved
for many years. Our improvement in progress is the second
highest jump by any school in Birmingham and our improvement
in attainment is the fourth highest across Birmingham. So quite
rightly we are very proud of the teachers and students who
worked so hard to achieve this. As I always say to the students,
although we provide them with a vast variety of skills, knowledge
and experiences our ‘Core Purpose’ is always to get students
to achieve the best possible examination results as this is the
currency they need to access the best universities and careers
for their future.
With our report and our results in mind I’d like to share with
you our four main priorities for this academic year. I’ve shared
this with you previously via our new weekly Twitter ‘Parental
Weekly Bulletin’ but just in case you are not on Twitter.
Cockshut Hill Core Aim:
We will be an oversubscribed school
of choice where students are fully committed to their learning
and make good or better progress and our staff develop and
excel within their profession.
Priority 1 – We will successfully introduce a direct instruction
model of lesson delivery with modelling being the key focus.
Priority 2 – We will all attend school and arrive to our lessons
on time and be ready to learn.
Priority 3 – We will have a data driven formative assessment
system that promotes good or better progress.
Priority 4 – We will embed a cultural literacy programme to
enhance students’ reading ages year on year.
If you require any clarity on these priorities your child will be
able to explain them or do contact myself or a member of the
senior team.
Change in School Leadership
It is with both professional and personal sadness that I inform
you that our Vice Principal Ms Creedon is leaving us to fulfil
her ambition of Headship. She has had a massive impact on
the improvement of our school and will be missed by all but of
course we wish her well. The structure of our Senior Leadership
team from January 2020 will be as follows;
Principal
Executive
Senior
Team
Jason Bridges
Marc O’Malley
-Vice Principal ‘Quality of Education’
Jim Stevens
-Vice Principal ‘Quality of Support’
Paul Charlton
-Business Manager
Anne Marie Keane
-Assistant Principal ‘Teaching & Learning’
Kevin Dutton
- Assistant Principal ‘Attendance’
Gemma Sheerman
-Assistant Principal ‘Achievement’
Ben Lumley
-Assistant Principal ‘Behaviour & Attitudes’
Arlene Croydon
-Assistant Principal ‘Personal Development’
In addition to the departure of Ms Creedon, I would like to say
farewell and best wishes to Miss Moore who is leaving us to join
Archbishop Isley School. I’d like to thank her for her service to
the school, we will all miss her. I am delighted to announce the
arrival of Mrs Williams who will join our English Department in
January, so we remain fully staffed.
www.cockshuthill.org.uk | @CockshutHillSch | #NothingButTheBest

Alumni Opportunity
We are looking to use the experiences and successes of our past
students to help raise aspirations of our current children. So if
you are a former student of Cockshut Hill School or know of any
former students who have gone onto great things, please do get
in touch. (email: news@cockshuthill.org.uk)
Attendance
I am delighted to say that at the time of writing our whole school
attendance is over 95% with the national average being 94.5%.
This will be the best end of term attendance for over 5 years!
Attendance is so important for your children in achieving their
academic potential so thank you for your continued support in
helping us to improve attendance.
Contact details
I would like to remind all parents and carers that having your
up to date contact details is really important. Obviously in the
case of an emergency, being able to contact you is vital but we
also send out letters, texts and telephone home on a regular
basis with information and positive comments. You and your
child could be missing out on important information if we are
unaware of the changes. So could I ask that you inform us of
any change of details as soon as possible. We will be asking
you to check details at all parents’ evenings this year.
School Site Safety and Parking
Due to the location of our school being in a residential area,
parking spaces around our school site is at a premium.
Unfortunately, we have received complaints from our neighbours
concerning inconsiderate driving; blocking driveways and
double parking. We are also very concerned about the safety
of our students and ask that you do not drive into our car parks
at the start and end of the school day.
We appreciate that families may live too far away from school to
be able to walk and some parents/carers need to drive to work.
I would like to suggest a Park & Stride idea as a simple solution
to these problems and it means that children at least walk some
of the way to and from school. Parents are encouraged to park
a good distance away from the school and walk the last five or
ten minutes.
• Cars are no longer concentrated in one mass outside school,
or in the car park, making it safer for all.
• Good for the pollution levels around the school environment.
• Counts towards the recommended 30 minutes of daily
exercise,
We do ask that you park with care and consideration for
pedestrians and our neighbours when parking around the school
vicinity and please observe all driving and parking regulations
for the area.
Please Park
& Stride P
DATES FOR YOUR DIARY
(subject to change – updates will always be on the schools website)
Tuesday 17th December
Wednesday 18th December
Friday 20th December
Monday 6th January
Mon 6th – Fri 24th January
Thursday 16th January
Tuesday 21st January
Tuesday 11th February
Friday 14th February
Mon 17th – Fri 21st February
Monday 24th February
Tuesday 3rd March
Thursday 2nd April
Friday 3rd April
Mon 6th – Fri 17th April
Monday 20th April
‘Safeguarding your child’ – Parental evening 5pm
Christmas Showcase & Talent Show 7pm
End of term – Students dismissed at 3.00pm
Christmas Holiday
All students return to school
Year 11 Pre Public Examination season
Senior Citizens Party
Year 10 Parents Evening
Year 9 Options Evening
End of half term – Students dismissed at 3.00pm
Half term Holiday
All students return to school
Year 8 Parents Evening
End of term – Students dismissed at 3.00pm
INSET Day for staff only
Easter Holiday
All students return to school
I wish you all a peaceful Christmas Holiday and I look forward
to seeing you all next term.
Yours sincerely
Jason Bridges - Principal
Email – jason.bridges@cockshuthill.org.uk
Twitter - @JBridgesCHS
www.cockshuthill.org.uk | @CockshutHillSch | #NothingButTheBest