Dear Parent/Carer
What a fantastic term we have had! The weeks have been crammed full of curriculum and voluntary activities, culminating with the ‘We Will Rock You’ show, the first school play for several years. At the time of writing I have just witnessed the first public performance. It was absolutely brilliant! A shining example of what can be achieved by highly talented students in partnership with dedicated teachers and community volunteers.
Just as we approached the end of the term, the school was informed of a full Ofsted inspection. Once again I hope you will share my sense of pride in what our school has achieved over the past few years. The school closes for the Christmas break tired but extremely proud and happy!
Ofsted Inspection of The Radcliffe School – 23-24 November 2011
We are delighted that the Ofsted team recognized the tremendous progress the school has made over the past three years. You will probably recall that when last inspected in October 2009 the school was judged Good (2) in all aspects of its work other than Sixth Form which was judged Satisfactory (3). The school is now judged at least Good in all aspects of its work, including the Sixth Form, but with twelve judgments of Outstanding!
I am sure as you read the report that you will share our sense of pride in the achievement of the whole school community. Our students are truly Outstanding representatives of our school and the partnership between staff and students goes from strength to strength.
The report also notes that the school community is careful to guard against complacency and I wish to reassure you that we still view our school as ‘a work in progress’. We look forward to moving yet more judgments from Good to Outstanding when Ofsted next visit.
We would like to thank you for your support. Without the partnership between parents/carers, students and staff such improvements in the quality of the provision would not have been possible.
Uniform
Our school uniform has proved very popular with the majority of parents and students although we still experience a small but significant number of students who continue to challenge the rules. Once again, I wish to remind you of the essential uniform requirements in the hope of avoiding further issues next term.
The uniform list is as follows:
• School blazer
• House tie
• Black trousers (for the summer students may wear knee length tailored shorts), or Black skirt (A-line, knee length, not of stretchy material)
• White formal shirt with collar (no polo shirts)
• Black sensible shoes (not trainers)
For PE students must wear:
• School polo-shirt, socks, shorts and games shirt
• Jewellery: if worn must be limited to one ring per hand, earrings must be either stud, or small hoops (the small hoops must be no larger than a 5p piece in diameter). No additional facial piercing of any kind may be worn.
Mobile telephones
Thank you very much for your support of our firm stance against the use of mobile telephones when in school. I am delighted to report that we have seen a significant reduction in the number of telephones being confiscated and we hope that next term we will have evidence of having eradicated the problem altogether.
Christmas Closure
School will finish for students at 12.15pm on Friday 16 December 2011; students wishing to stay for lunch may do so, but must leave the premises by 12.45pm. We hope that you have a very good break and look forward to seeing students at 8.20am on Wednesday 4 January 2012 (Tuesday 3 January 2012 being a staff training day).
Thank you again for your support, we wish you all a very restful break.
John O’Donnell, Headteacher
REAP