Charlton School

15^th July 2024

Dear Parent / Carer,

As we reach the end of another academic year, I want to take this opportunity to thank all our staff and students for their contributions to the outstanding year we have had.  Thank you to all colleagues who have gone above and beyond to provide fantastic opportunities for our students, both within and outside of the classroom.

The school continues to go from strength to strength and is becoming ever more popular.  Every year group is full or over capacity, with a waiting list to join in every year.  The number of students we have routinely taking part in extracurricular activities is at the highest levels we have seen recently, particularly in the areas of sports and expressive arts.  All our school trips, within all subject areas are usually over-subscribed.

Please remember we finish at 1:00pm on Friday, all students need to leave school at that time.  School will be closed and locked shortly after 1:00pm and there will be no colleagues on site to supervise students.  We have arranged A-Star transport to take home the students who use the 103 and 104 routes to our rural communities.  They will be waiting in the layby on Whitchurch Road and not Apley Avenue.  We will be holding inter-form sports on the last day and students can wear either PE kit or uniform to school.

Staffing

As is always the case at this time of year we have to say goodbye to a small number of colleagues. Mr Nelson (Maths), Mr McGinley (Computer Science), Mr Baro-Thomas (Maths) and Miss Bingham (History) are all moving on to new ventures within education and Mr Cox (Teaching Assistant) has left to pursue a career in social care.  I am sure you will all join me in wishing them well for the future.

Moving forwards to next year Mrs Joinson is taking over as Head of Maths, Mrs Candlin will be Leading Computer Science and Miss Littleford will be managing our Key Stage 4 vocational qualifications in ICT.  We will be joined by Dr Clayton in Science and Ms Follos in Maths.

Return to School September 2024

In September Year 7 and 11 only will start back on Wednesday 4^th September, with the rest of the school returning on Thursday 5^th September. This is to support the transition of our new cohort.

We have made some changes to the timings of the school day, not the start or end, just the internal timings.

• 8:35am – Students need to be on school site - Year 7, 8 and 9 students enter through the bottom gates and line up on the courts.
• 8:40am – Students enter the school building - Year 10 and 11 through the main school entrance.
• 8:45am – Registration/Form Time
• 8:55am – Reading
• 9:15am – Lesson 1
• 10:15am – Lesson 2 including 20-minute break (10:15am Yr7, 11 and 8X; 11:15am Yr9, 10 and 8Y)
• 11:35am – Lesson 3
• 12:35pm – Lesson 4 including 35-minute lunch (12:35pm Yr 7, 11 and 8X; 13:35pm Yr 9, 10 and 8Y)
• 2:10pm – Lesson 5
• 3:10pm – End of school day

We have made the decision to return to having form time and reading at the start of the school day to allow our pastoral and SEND teams to make all the necessary checks of students in a morning and to ensure they are settled and supported so that the rest of the day can be focussed on the learning opportunities in lessons.

To further maximise the support we can offer pastorally and to take every opportunity to promote academic achievement and outcomes, we have made changes to how our students are placed in tutor teams.  From September the following arrangements will be in place, this will mean your child is likely to have a change of form tutor.

Year 7 – Science rooms

Year 8 – Languages and ICT rooms

Year 9 – Humanities rooms

Year 10 – Maths rooms

Year 11 – English rooms

Where possible teachers from these areas will make up the tutor teams, with colleagues from other subject areas supporting them.  At Key Stage 3 (Year 7, 8 and 9) your child will remain with the same tutor in that subject area for the three years (from Year 7).  At Key Stage 4 all students will change forms and in Year 10 will be placed in the Maths area, mostly with Maths Teachers and all students will change again in Year 11 to be in English, with mostly English teachers.

Whilst we appreciate this move may be unsettling for some students initially, we feel it will allow us to better support our students moving forward over the coming years and help us to maximise their academic potential.

Please can I take this opportunity to thank you all for your ongoing support and look forward to working with you again next year to maximise the potential of your children. Have a wonderful summer holiday and see you all in September.

Yours faithfully,

Mr A McNaughton

Principal