We would like to thank all members of our school community for their patience and support while we have made our way through the pandemic. In line with our own road map out of lockdown, we are beginning to plan ahead.

In keeping with our established practice at Deer Park, we will be promoting our year groups in June and introducing a new timetable from Tuesday 8 June 2021. This will provide a fresh start for everyone. While the legacy of COVID will exist in our retention of staggered breaks and lunchtimes (in case we need to re-implement tighter systems of control next year), tutor time will return to the beginning of the school day for all year groups and we hope teachers will be back in their own classrooms.

It has been a challenging year, but we have made our best endeavours to prioritise our pupils’ learning. This has been at the heart of all we have done. We have been impressed by how everyone has adjusted to new ways of working and by the high levels of engagement of our pupils and staff. They and their actions have epitomised our 4Rs - they have been reflective, resilient, resourceful and reciprocal.

While we have recently had to adapt our practice again, the return to school feels as if it has been relatively seamless and we are keen to move forward.

We are very grateful for the feedback we have received. This has helped us enormously by reassuring us that we are on the right track or by helping us see things from a different perspective! It has also helped us understand our strengths and areas for improvement.

From Tuesday 4 May 2021, the Trustees of the Corinium Education Trust, of which Deer Park is a member, will be inviting pupils, parents and staff across our multi-academy trust to complete one of our stakeholder surveys. These surveys, which can be completed online, include questions similar to those asked by Ofsted during an inspection (Parent View) and will provide valuable feedback which will inform our own and The Corinium Education Trust’s evaluation and planning.
 

We appreciate that any survey will represent a snapshot in time and will often reflect what is happening or has happened at or around the time. However, we invite you to reflect on your experience of the school as a pupil, parent or member of staff and hope you will do so in the spirit of our school standards and ethos.

We look forward to reading your responses.

Once the surveys have been completed and data analysed, we will share the feedback and stakeholder perceptions with members of our local governing body and Trustees and provide a summary on our website. We will use the information we receive to inform our self-evaluation and our planning.

Thank you for your cooperation.

Chiquita Henson, Headteacher