Headteacher's Newsletter

what's happening at Chesham Grammar

Posted on: September 24th 2021

Head's Blog

A visit from our new MP

It was a pleasure to welcome our new MP, Sarah Green, to CGS this afternoon. She was invired into school by our Politics Department to talk to those in years 12 and 13 studying the A level course and as is always the case, they asked insightful and challenging questions about a range of topics. Thank you to Dr Southwood for organising this.

Birthday Teas and a blast from the past!

This week, I held birthday teas for those in year 7 and year 13 who have recently turned 12 or 18 respectively. Happy 12th birthday to Dev, Max, Richard, Georgie, Samuel, Hrishikesh, Erin, Milo, Kirsty and Annabel and congratulations to Tilly, Mia, Sam, Jeremy and Lucy on their 18th. During my conversation with the year 7s, I was asked by Milo if I knew his Mum who went to school here. I asked her name and when he replied I was taken back in time to The Class of 2000, when I was Head of Sixth Form here. I do indeed remember her and taught her at A level! Of course it made me feel old, having the child of a student I taught now in the school, but it was also a wonderful moment. Interestingly, two other members of the Class of 2000 who are married to each other also have a child in our year 7, as I found when one of them approached me after our recent Year 7 Information Evening. We know that a number of our parents are CGS alumni but I am sure that there are others we do not know of yet. We love to reconnect with our alumni so please do get in touch if you attended CGS (or CHS as it then would have been). You can use this link CGS Alumni Network to register directly and we also have Facebook, LinkedIn and Instagram accounts @alumni_cgs. We look forward to hearing from you!

Culinera, our new catering partner

As you will be aware, we have new caterers providing food across the school. Culinera is a small local, independent company with which we are delighted to be working. The feedback we have had from students so far has been overwhelmingly positive, even more so this week, following an upgrade to the till system which has halved the queuing time for students. Food is served in the main dining room, the Curtis Sixth Form Centre and the outdoor pod in the quad and there is a wide range available for students to choose from.

Payment for food is made via ParentPay in the dining room and the quad while in the Curtis Centre, contactless payment including Apple Pay is used instead. Please can I ask all parents to check their child's ParentPay account over the weekend? Lots of students have been getting to the till this week to find that they do not have money in their account to pay for the food they have chosen. As the parent of a child in the school myself, I have just set up the 'auto top up' facility on my ParentPay account which means I no longer have to remember to log in to add money to it. Having one less thing to remember to do is most welcome! If you prefer, you can ask ParentPay to send an alert when funds are low. Please do take a few minutes to check that your child has sufficient funds in their account if they wish to purchase food at school. Thank you.

The food themed days which have been run so far have been really popular and there are more of these to come. In addition, breakfast is now available from 8am and students can enjoy freshly made pancakes and waffles, a healthy fruit bar as well as some great offers such as free porridge when you buy a topping. Finally, Culinera will be trialling an after-school offer for 15 mins after school ends each day from Monday which they hope will prove popular with students before they leave school for the day. For more information, including menus and prices, please go to https://www.redkite.culinera.co.uk.

Friends of Chesham Grammar School

As you will know, we have a very active and dynamic PTA, The Friends of CGS and every year, they organise a range of events to raise money for the school and to allow students and parents to socialise. There is a Halloween Disco for those in years 7 and 8 on Thursday, October 21st (note the change of date). This is the day we finish for half term. Details can be found in this letter. On Monday evening, there is a FoCGS Planning/Committee Meeting at 8pm. This will be held on Zoom and all parents are invited to attend and will be assured of a very warm welcome. If you would like to attend please email friends@cheshamgrammar.org so that you can be sent the Zoom log in details. Also next week, the FoCGS have the Bags2School collection taking place on Wednesday 29th between 8am and 9am, with the drop off point being the school field. Many thanks to the FoCGS for organising all these events and to parents for supporting them.

Covid-19 Immunisation for 12-15 year olds

As you will know, children aged 12-15 are being offered the first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine. This is organised and run by the School Age Immunisation Service (SAIS) who will be visiting CGS on October 4th. Parental consent will be sought in advance by SAIS and further information will be sent out on Monday. Can I ask you to encourage your child to continue to undertake twice weekly lateral flow testing and to do a test this Sunday. Thank you for your continued support with this.

Well done to...

Congratulations to Sophie in year 8 who has recently been selected for the U13 Bucks hockey squad. Very well done too, to Ruby in year 11 who held a coffee morning during the summer to raise money for the Foodbank at which she volunteers. Ruby raised £375 which is superb. Dan in our sixth form participated in the Young Film Academy’s summer filmmaking residential camp where he got to focus on his passion, and intended career, filmmaking. His wrote the concept for the short film and worked with a team to create it over the week long programme. His film was nominated for an award as part of the YFA's Annual Academy Awards ceremony, held at the British Film Institute on Saturday, August 28th, which he attended. After a nail-biting wait, Dan's film was the winner for his age category! (Best Film, Ages 12-13).

Remote Education Arrangements

As you will be aware, schools are required to provide remote education to any student who has to self-isolate due to Covid-19. Please find a letter from Mr Patteson about arrangements for remote learning at CGS here.

Safeguarding at CGS

As part of our ongoing safeguarding work at CGS, we have recently made available to students an anonymous reporting tool called Tootoot. Mr Bradbury has talked to students about this in assembly and explained that the facility allows a student to seek advice or support or to raise a concern and to do so anonymously. Tootoot allows for a dialogue to take place with a member of staff with the anonymity remaining unless there are concerns for a child's safety.

Mr Bradbury recently wrote to parents about Young Carers Bucks and a number of you have since been in touch about this. A young carer is defined as any young person who undertakes a caring role within their household, not just as a sole carer. If there are any other parents who would like to get in touch about this so that we can support your child, please complete this form by Friday, October 1st. CGS Young Carers Form

Half Term Holiday

We are just around the mid-point of this half term and it is a good opportunity to remind parents that this half term ends on Thursday, October 21st and that we return to school for the second half of the term on Tuesday, November 2nd. Friday 22nd and Monday 1st are therefore included in the holiday dates.

Jeans for Genes Day

Thank you to the parents and students who supported Jeans for Genes Day last Friday – we raised over £1600.

Finally...

Well done to all those who have represented the school with pride in sporting fixtures this week. There have been some superb results which can be found on the P E Department's Twitter feed @CGSSport. Fixtures for next week can be found here.

With best wishes for a relaxing weekend.

Annmarie McNaney
Headteacher

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