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Headteacher’s Letter – March 2023

23rd March 2023

Dear parents and carers,

Easter is fast approaching and as the forty days of Lent conclude, Ramadan commences for our Muslim community. This is a time for prayers and family gatherings. In addition, as we approach the start of the summer term, our Year 11 and 13 students will soon be taking their examinations. This is a time for focus and hard work to ensure the success that our students so thoroughly deserve.

Examinations – Years 11 + 13

Guiding and supporting students in preparing for their exams is a high priority for us. It is essential that our GCSE and A level students engage in serious revision and preparation for the forthcoming examinations over the holiday period. It is said that good exam results are made in the Easter holidays.

Students must plan to work for seven hours a day most days of the Easter break. This may seem a lot, but the students who get the best grades will be working this hard and some exams take place in early May. If you work for 14 days, that will be about 100 hours of revision. For example, in GCSE modern languages you are going to learn vocabulary and grammar. It is best to spend 30-plus minutes on this every day, coming back to the same words again and again.

We hope that full advantage will be taken over Easter to engage in a full revision programme and to use the various support sessions that are running in school. The key message now is to make the remaining time count and to use time productively.

Please note that exam boards have included contingency sessions on the afternoons of 8th, 15th and 28th June. These days would be used in the unlikely event that exams had to be moved because they could not take place when planned. Please be aware that your child could be required to sit exams on these days.

British Council International School Award

Stepney All Saints School has been awarded the British Council’s prestigious International School Award in a ceremony at the Houses of Parliament in recognition of our work to bring the world into the classroom. The award celebrates the achievements of schools that do exceptional work in international education. Fostering an international dimension in the curriculum is important to us as a school, so that young people gain the cultural understanding and skills they need for life work in today’s world.

Stepney All Saints’ international work has included projects with schools in Nepal, Italy, Spain, Greece and India on areas such as climate change, local culture, economics and even volcanoes. In the past year students and staff from our school and abroad were able to meet one another with visits to rural Spain in the province of Burgos, central Greece as well as the capital Athens and a field trip to Mount Etna in Sicily. Currently we are working on initiatives with Taiwan, Spain and India and will look forward to sharing more details with you in the coming months. 

Parent Guide

We are aware that as a large school parents and carers can find it challenging getting to grips with how the school works day to day or knowing whom to contact. A booklet is available for download from the school website outlining the main systems used in the school as well as key contacts such as Heads of Year. The guide can be downloaded HERE.

Eid Al-Fitr

As the month of Ramadan commences and will run over the Easter holiday, we expect the date for our Eid closure to fall on either Thursday 20th or Friday 21st April. We will update you nearer to the date.

Laptops

The IT support team are available every day at break time in the VLE to support students with any issues that they may be experiencing with their IT accounts or laptop.

All students should be looking after their laptops carefully, ensuring they are stored in a protective laptop sleeve when not in use. Parents will be liable for any damage deemed intentional to laptops and chargers.

Key Events for this term

The calendar on our website is regularly updated and contains dates of activities and events that are taking place in school. Key dates for the coming weeks are listed below.

To remain up to date on all school news, click HERE . You can also follow us on Facebook and Twitter @StepneyAS for a wealth of content from students and staff.

End of Spring Term Arrangements 

School will close for the Easter break on Friday 31st March. Arrangements for the 31st are as follows:

Periods 1 + 2:  Normal lessons

11.00am:         Students return to their form room for tutorial time

11.15am:         From 11.15am onwards the students will be dismissed by their Head of Year

It is anticipated that all students will have left the school premises by 11.45am. Full uniform must be worn as normal.

Students eligible for free school meals are able to order a packed lunch form their form tutor by Monday 27th March. These will be distributed to students during form time at 11.00am on Friday 31st March.

Please note that students will return to school on Monday 17th April. This will be a week 2.

I would like to wish a blessed Easter to all, and to those fasting during this holy month I wish you Ramadan Kareem.

Yours sincerely,

Paul Woods

Headteacher