Posted Nov 15 - 2024Headteacher's Newsletter
what's happening at Chesham Grammar
Posted on: October 9th 2020
Head's Blog
Dear Parent,
It has been another busy week at CGS. I have been especially delighted to see some of our extra-curricular activities resume and I know that lots of students have enjoyed the after school netball and football sessions which have started this week and that many have signed up for the various choral and instrumental activities which are on offer from next week. All of these are being done very carefully as you would expect and I would like to thank our dedicated staff for making them happen. I am particularly happy to see our Year 7s given the opportunity to start to get involved in the wider life of the school.
Over the next two weeks, we are holding a series of meetings for Year 7 parents so that we can - belatedly - welcome them to CGS and get to meet them. We would usually hold an information evening for all parents in the year group but are instead inviting parents a class at a time so that we can observe social distancing and keep everyone safe. This of course means holding six information sessions rather than just one but it is really important that we are able to outline to parents what lies ahead as well as discuss ways in which we can work effectively together over the next seven years. We also want to give parents the opportunity to ask any questions they may have. I look forward to meeting those of you with a child in Year 7 over the next couple of weeks.
On Wednesday, the Friends of Chesham Grammar School held their first Committee Meeting of the year and it was really good to see so many parents joining this virtual meeting. Despite the pandemic, the FoCGS raised over £30,000 last year which is fantastic and there are some exciting fundraising events planned for this year which I hope you will try to support. I would like to mention a very easy way to help them raise money which requires no effort on your part and where there is absolutely no catch! If you shop at Tesco, Sainsbury's John Lewis or Waitrose you can place a monthly order for giftcards on which the FoCGS receive a bulk buy discount. This is a very easy process to set up as a parent and one which any parent buying food or goods from these stores can very easily support. The cards can be used online and can be topped-up so please do look out for the information which will come from the FoCGS about this very soon. There are other easy ways to raise money. If you shop online you can use Amazon Smile, Easyfundraising or The Giving Machine when making purchases and this will mean that a small percentage of what you spend gets donated to the school. As the Tesco slogan goes, every little helps!
If you are in Little Chalfont tomorrow, I do hope that you will pop into Bojangles Creative Café and support Rosie in Year 12 who is holding a fundraising event for Liberty's Legacy. A flyer is attached. Most of you will know that Liberty died in October 2017 at the age of 14 from Ewing Sarcoma, a rare form of bone cancer. Liberty's elder sister Olivia attended CGS and during her final year delivered a most moving assembly to the whole school community during which we learned about Liberty's life, illness and death and about the legacy set up in her name. We have raised a significant amount of money for Liberty's Legacy and are proud to continue to support Olivia who left us in 2019. Rosie will be selling cakes, wristbands and badges and I know she would very much appreciate the support of anyone from CGS who may be in Little Chalfont tomorrow. Well done and I hope it goes well, Rosie.
I was delighted to hear that Libby in Year 9 has been selected to join the U15 Bucks County Netball Academy. Libby will train as part of the England netball pathway and will represent North Bucks in county netball tournaments. Congratulations, Libby. Well done too to Noah in Year 8 and Freddie in Year 10 who took part in a lockdown project which involved creating a social project that would help communities during this difficult time. Mrs Rasekh entered their projects in a Young Changemakers national competition and we were delighted to hear that they are two of the three national winners. Freddie has also received a grant £750 from the Queen’s Commonwealth Trust to make his project a reality. Wow! Well done, boys.
Thank you to Mrs Lovelace, our Careers Leader, who organised workshops for some of our Year 11s this week aimed at helping them to consider what they would like to do beyond GCSE. Many thanks too to Mrs Rasekh who has run CPR sessions for students this week, teaching them vital skills which could help save a life. Finally, thank you to Jess and Alexander, Head Girl and Head Boy and to their Deputies, Ella and William, who presented to Year 12s in Sixth Form Studies this week, sharing their top tips for successful A level study.
Can I remind parents that our Parent Governor election ends at 2pm on Monday. Given the current circumstances, parents may vote by email if they wish but I must stress that such votes will obviously not be anonymous.
Next week, we have some catch up immunisation sessions going on and on Thursday, we are holding our EPQ Presentation Evening so that those in Year 13 who have undertaken the Extended Project Qualification can showcase their work. This will obviously be held virtually this year and I would like to congratulate those taking part who have researched a wide range of fascinating subjects of personal interest to them over the last few months. This qualification is excellent preparation for undergraduate study and I always thoroughly enjoy watching the passion with which the students talk about their work.
Finally, I would like to thank parents for their patience in waiting for refunds for school visits which could not go ahead due to the pandemic. It has been a colossal job to process the insurance claims and the refunds, especially in the midst of the IT issues we experienced over the first few weeks of term, as a consequence of which, this has taken longer than we would have liked but we are just about there now. Thank you to Mrs Dax, Ms Cruise and other staff involved in sorting this.
With best wishes for a relaxing weekend,
Annmarie McNaney
Headteacher
