Head of School Letter 10th June 202410/06/2024

Dear Parents/Carers,

Welcome to another week, and welcome back to school to the Year 9 Duke of Edinburgh’s Award students who had wonderful weather for their training expedition at the end of last week. Public Exams continue this week; we are so impressed with the tenacity of our students; they’re over halfway through now. 

Wing Family Fest - Saturday 6th July 2024 We’re looking for volunteers to make Wing Family Fest a real success. If you are able to help, even for an hour or so or just for a specific part of the day, please complete this form: Wing Family Fest Volunteers 

Another reminder that tickets can be purchased for the Colour Run - here’s the link to book tickets: Friends of Cottesloe PTA Colour Run As a community event, it’s open to everyone, not just families with children who attend either school. Please share with friends and neighbours and encourage them to come along for a brilliant day.

Confident Futures Skills Show at Stoke Mandeville Stadium - 11th June Are you feeling unprepared about future career choices for your teenager? Then join the Bucks Skills Hub on Tuesday 11th June, 3.30-5.30pm, for their Confident Futures Skills Show, in the Bowls Centre at Stoke Mandeville Stadium. This event, free to attend, is designed for students facing barriers including SEND, social, personal, cognitive or physical obstacles. It will help both parents and children navigate the career options, with advice from employers, training providers, further education colleges and careers advisors. Book your ticket to meet employers keen to talk to you and your young person! Confident Futures Skills Show 2024 

InvestIN Immersive Careers Experience - 19th June As the summer approaches, it is a great time for students to start thinking about how they can spend their holidays wisely. To get a head start on their futures, students can use this time to upskill and gain valuable experiences that will boost future applications. Join the InvestIN team on Wednesday 19th June between 7pm-8pm to learn more, by booking a space here: InvestIN Careers Event sign-up  Topics covered include:  

• The impact of the changing job market on the future of careers, identifying the shifts in key skills and qualities employers are looking for. 

• A deep dive into desirable skills students can build over the summer and key practical takeaways to implement this.

• How InvestIN can support students through ultimate work experience Summer Experiences, giving them the chance to learn from professionals and test-drive their dream careers.

Drowning Prevention Week: 15-22 June 2024 The Royal Life Saving Society’s (RLSS) summer campaign is designed to explore a multitude of opportunities to proactively raise awareness of water safety ahead of a summer outdoors. Starting in May, through the summer, the risk to the public through accidental drowning increases significantly - Drowning Prevention Week is critical in raising awareness and encouraging everyone to enjoy water safely. In 2022, there was a 46% increase in the number of accidental fatalities amongst children, compared to the 5-year average. 35 accidental child fatalities were reported - equivalent to more than a classroom of children.  In the last 5 years, 30% of accidental drownings in the UK occurred at the beach, shore or coast.

Every young person should have access to water safety skills that can be used throughout their life, no matter their background. This knowledge will keep them safe around the water and enrich their opportunities to engage in water-related activities and play.  Water can provide so much joy but at the same time has the potential to cause unimaginable tragedy. Spending a short time providing a sound water safety education for the whole family can make the difference for a planned day at the beach or the park resulting in everybody enjoying their day and returning home, safely. The RLSS have produced a A Guide for Parents RLSS Water Safety Advice to help everyone have a fun and safe summer around water this year!

Sports Fixtures and Results We had a number of girls’ cricket fixtures last week, well done to everyone that donned their whites and represented the school.  On Monday the U15 Girls Cricket played Radcliffe School. The girls lost but had an excellent experience. On Tuesday the U13 Girls played in a Cricket tournament at Ascott House. The girls won one match and lost three.  On Thursday the U13 Girls played again, against Buckingham School, but unfortunately, they lost in what was a really close game. 

On Wednesday we hosted a Year 2 Primary School Festival, with just under 300 children attending! All the children had a great time and as a school, we received some fantastic feedback about how excellent our Year 9 Sports Leaders were!  It's always great to hear positive feedback from visitors to the school about how wonderful our students have been; congratulations Year 9!

Over the weekend a number of students competed in the County Athletics Championships - more on this next week!

This coming week is a quieter one for cricket with just one match scheduled for Monday; the U13s are playing Radcliffe at Ascott.  Year 7 will be participating in a Rounders Tournament on Tuesday at Aylesbury High School. 

Year 12 Biology and Applied Human Biology students will be attending a Virology talk with an external speaker from Oxford University on Wednesday. Virology, the study of viral infections, such as rubella, herpes, hepatitis and HIV is a topic taught in both the A Level Biology and BTEC Applied Human Biology courses.

Year 10 Triple Science students will be attending the Virology talk on Wednesday with Year 12. Business Studies students will visit Woburn Safari Park on Wednesday.  They will begin by experiencing the park as customers via a guided coach tour, and then attend an educational talk about marketing, a topic they have recently been studying.  This type of opportunity, bringing a topic to life, is invaluable to students to deepen their knowledge and understanding of aspects of GCSE Business Studies.

Year 8 HPV vaccinations will take place on Monday for students for whom families have completed the consent form from the Bucks School Nursing Team. 

Year 7 It’s the Year 7 Parents’ Evening on Wednesday. If you have any queries about appointments or how to log in to the online Parent Evening System please contact the main school office. 

Have a great week and thank you for your ongoing support.

Best wishes, 

Louise Baldwin

Head of School