Posted Dec 19 - 2024Headteacher's Newsletter
what's happening at Chesham Grammar
Posted on: February 18th 2022
Head's Blog
Dear parent
I hope our students are enjoying the first day of their half term break, despite the extreme weather conditions. I want to congratulate them on what they have achieved since the start of term and thank them for their contribution to school life and their teachers for their commitment and sheer hard work. I say this at the start of every holiday, I know, but it is too easy to take all of this for granted and so I make no apologies for regularly repeating myself!
Yesterday, as you know, we had a staff training day. Most of this was spent in departments. Staff were given time to carefully consider and work through the implications for years 11 and 13 of the exam board content disclosures made last week. They have looked at how this affects the upcoming assessments, revision, remaining lesson time etc and we will be writing to parents and talking to students about this after half term. Parents with a child in year 11 and/or year 13 will know that we have updated revision lists for the assessments next half term in light of the content disclosure so that students are not being asked to revise any content which has been removed from a specification. There has been much in the media about the differences in content disclosure between exam boards and between subjects, none of which is a particularly positive or helpful message for our students to be exposed to! Please reinforce the message at home that we will make sure they are ready for what lies ahead and I would urge parents to ignore 'the noise' too, a message I have repeated throughout this pandemic. Positivity and reassurance in the remaining weeks is what our students need both at school and at home. As always, please get in touch if you have any questions, queries or concerns.
FOCGS BAG2SCHOOL
Thank you to parents who supported the FOCGS with the Bag2School collection this week. Payment is based on weight and the total this time was 800kg which resulted in £320 being raised for the school. Many thanks to the FOCGS for organising.
BIRTHDAY TEAS
I enjoyed my last birthday teas of the half term. Happy 12th birthday to Macey, Violet, Isabel and Henry in year 7 and congratulations to Maddy, Siobhan, George and Tom who have recently celebrated their 18th birthday.
SPORT
In sport this week, our year 9 and year 10 basketball teams both won their match against Aylesbury Grammar School on Wednesday with the year 9s winning 33-21 and the year 10s 29-21. In netball, our year 7A team beat Beaconsfield High School 10-8 while the B team played well but lost 6-3. We have had lots of fixtures across a range of sports this half term and I would like to congratulate all those who have represented the school and thank the staff for making it all possible. The fixture list for the first week after hafl term can be found here.
75th ANNIVERSARY ASSEMBLY
My assembly this week focused on the 75th anniversary of Chesham Grammar School. When the school opened in April 1947, it was a legal requirement for Headteachers to keep a log book and it is fascinating to read this. It stops abruptly in the late 1960s when I can only assume this requirement was dropped. In this our anniversary year, I am keeping a log book, writing an entry every day for the academic year. While much of it is ordinary and mundane, I hope that it will be interesting for those who come after us to have a written record of what life at CGS was like in 2021/22. I am sure that there are some things about the here and now which will seem quite bizarre to students and staff in the future, just as they would have to us before March 2020! I do hope that some of you will be able to work with us to plan and organise our 75th anniversary ball; without your help, we won't be able to make it happen!
FINALLY
Finally, many thanks to you all for your continued support of your children and the school this half term. With best wishes for a relaxing weekend and half term,
Annmarie McNaney
Headteacher
