The CCHS Blog

The Head of School Reports

2nd September, 2022

I hope that everyone has enjoyed an amazing summer, making the most of the fantastic weather and spending time with family and friends.

Today we welcomed our new cohort of CCHS students into Year 7. As ever it is an exciting time for both the school and students, as we get to know your children and they get to know the school, meet their teachers and other members of staff and, probably more importantly for them, meeting their new peers, many of which will have arrived from other schools, and through their time together will develop long and lasting friendships.

The new Year 12 students also begin the next stage of their educational journey at Sigma Sixth College, transitioning from CCHS main school, and we send them our best wishes for the next two years at college; good luck!

On Monday, 5th September, the academic year begins in earnest as all other year groups join year 7 in returning to school promptly for registration at 8.45am. At CCHS we pride ourselves on our high standards and expectations and are proud of our standing within the local community. With this in mind, I thought I would include within this welcome letter some important reminders:

Data collection & Communication
It is vital that we hold accurate contact information for parents & carers to ensure that we can reach you in the case of an emergency and to share with you important information. We will shortly be sending home Data Collection Sheets (for yrs 8-11) and would ask you to return these completed, as soon as possible. Please refer to our Privacy Policy on how we handle and store your personal data GDPR privacy notice for pupils and their families. Additional changes to your contact details need to be communicated to the school in written form. An email sent from your registered email address will be acceptable, unfortunately we cannot take contact details changes, such as new mobile numbers, over the phone.

Permissions
In addition to holding correct and up to date contact information we also require up to date permissions and consents for the use of images and video. A consent form will be provided together with the Data Collection Sheet. A form will need to be returned indicating whether you do, or do not give consent.

Uniform & Equipment
Students are expected to wear the correct uniform. The school website has examples of the styles of shoes and trousers that are permitted as part of our uniform, if in doubt, please always check before you buy! Follow the link to find out Everything you need to know about school uniform . Should you need financial support with any uniform items please contact admin@cchs.school.

Some additional uniform and personal appearance reminders:

  • Facial piercings - are not allowed. Students who come to school with a facial piercing will be expected to take it out and a refusal to do so could mean they are removed from lessons until they have done so.
  • Nose studs - must be completely removed when in school.
  • Jewellery – earrings are limited to one pair of studs; no hoops are allowed. Necklaces can be worn, but must be discreet and not on view.
  • Hair - only natural hair colours; e.g. no blue, pink, red, purple, green and no extreme hairstyles. Any student who comes to school with hair deemed unacceptable could be removed from lessons until their hair meets our expectations.
  • Fingernails – should be of an appropriate length for school and for participation in PE, or technology subjects.
  • Make up – if worn, should be discreet and appropriate for school.
  • False eyelashes are not permitted. If your child arrives at school wearing false eyelashes they will be asked to remove them.
  • Socks – plain black or white socks only and these must be worn below the knee.

Students are expected to bring their own equipment, books and everything they need for the school day in a bag large enough to accommodate all of their belongings. Small across-the-shoulder bags are not appropriate as they cannot carry books.

Looking after the planet has been very big news recently especially with the record-breaking high temperatures across the UK and other countries. More and more young people are becoming aware of how man-made issues impact on climate and the natural world and we try to discourage the use of single-use plastic whenever possible. Every little helps and, to support this, students should bring their own named water bottle in school, which can be refilled at appropriate times throughout the day.

ParentPay/Biometrics fingerprint scanning
Biometric scanning of fingerprints remains as the payment method in school. Money should be loaded on to ParentPay accounts in the normal way and allocated to dinner money or pay for other items. Please ensure that there are sufficient funds on your child’s account ready for their return day in September.

Mobile Phones
CCHS is a ‘student no phone zone’. As students come on to the school site, air pods must be removed, phones switched off and put away into bags for the duration of the school day. We believe that giving students a break from constantly being online is good for their mental health, improves their social-interactions with each other at break times, allows them to focus on their lessons and creates a positive attitude to learning. Here and there, we still find a student with a phone out, but they understand that it will need to be handed in and placed into safekeeping for the duration of the school day.

We accept that social media is part of all our lives, but our young people can become very distracted by issues created via these platforms. Your support in ensuring teenage online issues do not spill over into school time is essential. Home and school supporting each other in this regard helps children to feel happy and secure in school; focussed on their learning.

Attendance
There is a direct link between excellent attendance and educational attainment. It is really important that your child attends school regularly and punctually. Being late to school impacts not only on your child’s education but that of others in their lessons; late to working with their teacher, this time cannot be repeated and could create gaps in their knowledge. We encourage and reward excellent attendance via our PROUD Rewards system. Excellent attendance = excellent educational outcomes. We do understand that there are times when absence due to illness is unavoidable, however, please do not book holidays or organise days out for birthdays during term time as we are unable to authorise such absences. Student absence should be reported as early as possible in the day via the Pupil Sick Line on 01255 424266, selecting option 1.

Meetings with Staff
All staff at CCHS work extremely hard to support and educate your children. With such a large school, colleagues have many commitments, whether this be teaching or supporting students or pre-arranged appointments. As parents, you may have an issue, concern or need information about your children, but arriving unexpectedly at reception often means that there is not always someone directly on hand to meet with you, causing disappointment and frustration. Rest assured, we will always do our best to help and assist as swiftly as possible, but please call ahead of any visit to arrange an appointment. If you wish to raise an issue or concern, please communicate respectfully and reasonably with staff; abuse of any kind is not acceptable.

Safeguarding
It is very important that parents are fully aware of online dangers and monitor their children’s interactions with others. Online ‘friends’ come in many guises and it is important to reassure and encourage your child that if they encounter anything at all that makes them feel uncomfortable, they must speak out. Please regularly monitor your child’s online interactions across all of their devices and chat to them about their ‘friends’, this is the best way to protect your child from possible harm from online exploitation. Also, it is very important to know who your child is with and what they are doing when out and about, respect for others and others’
property makes our community a great place to live.

As always, your support in maintaining our high standards of expectations is vital. Home and school are a partnership and by working together we can ensure the best possible outcomes for your children and make school a happy and exciting place to learn and develop.

Chris Taylor, Head of School


19th April 2022

Welcome back to the 2022 summer term!

It was a very busy spring term and so much went on that it is hard to know where to begin to reflect on all that happened.  As you will be aware, the term was not without its challenges but we came through it, without too much impact on students’ learning, and were able to go ahead with the great activities we had planned, all this alongside the mock exams within the main school and at Sigma Sixth.

To sum up on just some of the additional activities that have taken place; there has been a Year 7 Disco, Rewards Trips to the Pier, Duke of Edinburgh excursions, Bletchley Park visit, lots of different sporting events and local competitions, a visit to Cambridge and Twickenham for some Sixth form students, NEMO maths competition, World Book Day, Zoo Trips, Minsmere RSPB, Mercury Theatre, this is to mention only a few things and the list goes on.  

All of these things would not be possible without the amazing staff at CCHS and I would like to take this opportunity, on behalf of senior colleagues, governors, students and their parents, to publicly thank all the teachers and support staff.  As ever, they have worked incredibly hard and will continue to do so for your child, to ensure that they receive great learning, excellent pastoral support and able to access a range of extra-curricular clubs and opportunities.  This is a very important part of school life that children desperately missed out on over the past two years; we feel like we are back in business!

In addition to this, we were finally able to take full possession and move into our fantastic new build; L Block.  The facilities include a four-court sports hall and six brand new classrooms which have really enhanced the Walton Road site. There have also been improvements elsewhere and changes continue with a planned external canopy close to the drama and main student entrance to provide additional outdoor covered space for our students.  The official opening of L Block will take place later in the summer term, we will let you have more details closer to the time.

Safeguarding is always at the forefront of all that we do at CCHS and it is important for everyone to remain vigilant.  Young people need independence and freedoms as they grow and develop, peer groups often become their main priority as they grow resilience, but please ensure you know where your child is and who they interacting with.  This could be when they are out and about in the community or online.  My advice is never be afraid to check, young people can be very private, but through sharing and engaging in dialogue, it opens lines of communicate and can often prevent any upset or distress.  There are some great apps to enable students to know where their child is.

We are very excited and looking forward to the forthcoming term.  Upper school public examinations will be taking place for the first time since summer 2019, the year 11 Prom will be held in June, year 9’s will complete the decision process for their pathways of study for GCSE from September and we hope to continue with providing many more trips and community experiences for our students, alongside a full curriculum of learning.   Summer term is also when we begin to think and plan for our next cohort of students and for those year 6 students who are planning to become part of the CCHS family there will be a full transition programme this year, something that we have really missed doing over the past couple of years.

To all of our families, as ever thank you for all of your support and the many kind words of thanks that we receive from you, these are always much appreciated.  Your generous donations via ParentPay and students’ contributions on the non-pupil day raised £680.87 which has been sent to the Disasters Emergency Charity on behalf of the Ukraine Appeal.

Chris Taylor, Head of School