Dear Families,
Each week, I visit as many lessons as possible to see the fantastic work our team does to deliver the best education. Lessons are consistently calm and purposeful, with students following clear routines and meeting high expectations. Teachers use a variety of methods to check understanding, including whiteboards—which allow all students to participate—and targeted questioning to address any misconceptions immediately. It is great to see students proudly sharing their STARR cards, celebrating their daily successes and achievements in school. We continue to celebrate these wins at assemblies each week with our STARR Card raffle.
Black History Month
Mrs. Ogunbadero, along with students from our culture and diversity team, led our assemblies this week on the theme of Black History Month. They discussed the background of the celebration and highlighted key figures often overlooked for their contributions to society and the wider world. For example, they celebrated Dr. Gladys West, the mathematician whose work on satellite data models was pivotal to the accuracy of modern GPS systems. They also recognised Granville T. Woods, who developed the first electric roller coaster, the 'Figure of 8'. It was wonderful to see students showing such respect for the assembly and for one another as a community.
Student Voice and Community Engagement
We are committed to ensuring all members of our school community have a voice and feel heard. Our Year 11s completed our first student voice exercise of the year, and their valuable feedback has been shared with subject leaders to swiftly address any areas for development, while also celebrating the excellent feedback received.
I am keen to engage more with the local community, and I look forward to sharing more information with you next week about an exciting new partnership with a national charity. Our aim is to work more closely with our community and increase opportunities for parental engagement.
Safeguarding
Safeguarding continues to be, and always will be, our number one priority. Thank you again to our community for your vigilance in reporting a serious concern involving social media. This allowed us to quickly alert the school community, protecting our students from potential harm.
We strongly encourage you to talk to your child about their social media use. We strongly advise that you sit with your child to review and change their privacy and security permissions so that unknown individuals cannot add your child to group chats on platforms like WhatsApp and Snapchat. A quick search on Google will provide instructions on how to change these settings.
Year 7 Meet the Tutor Evening
We would like to thank all families for attending the Meet the Tutor Evening. We hope you found this evening useful and informative, and a great opportunity to find out how your child is settling into #TeamRushden. If you were unable to attend, please contact the reception team who will arrange for your child’s tutor to provide a brief update.
PTFA Beetle Drive
Next Thursday, October 24th, the PTFA is running a fun Beetle Drive event to raise funds for the school. It would be great to see as many of you there as possible! The evening starts at 6:00 PM. Further details can be found on our social media channels.
Year 11 Mock Exams
Please note that Year 11 students will complete their first round of mock exams immediately after the half term break. These exams are crucial for helping students identify areas for development and allow teachers to tailor future lessons to address any learning gaps. We kindly ask that you ensure your child has all the necessary equipment for these exams. If you need support with purchasing equipment, please contact the reception team, and we will happily assist where possible.
Finally, please remember that students finish school for the half term break next Thursday at 3:00 PM. The school will be closed on Friday for a Trust-wide training day.
We hope you all have a lovely weekend, and we look forward to seeing all students on Monday for the final week of this half term.
Yours sincerely,
Mr J Firth
Principal
