On Wednesday 25 November 2020, we welcomed the Class of 2020 to our virtual Celebration of Achievement event. Although we were sad that we were unable to see our former pupils in person, we were glad that over half the year group attended with their parents/carers.

The evening was a great opportunity to celebrate the success of this year group. The Class of 2020 had to endure such an upheaval in these unprecedented times. As a year group, we commend you on the way you conducted yourselves following the news that schools were closing in March 2020 and you would not be sitting your exams. You showed understanding, resilience and continued to demonstrate that you wanted to make the most of this difficult situation. Read about our farewell to the Class of 2020 (May 2020)...

Having missed out on so much this year - their exams and the Leavers' Ball - it was, therefore, even more important that we celebrated pupils' success whilst learning with us in Key Stage 4.

Pupils had been nominated by each Faculty for their achievement and effort across the curriculum. On Wednesday evening Heads of Faculty announced the winners. In addition to the Faculty awards, we recognised those pupils who had participated in extracurricular activities, both in Expressive Arts and PE. Headteacher, Chiquita Henson, and Chair of our Local Governing Body, Adrian Danks, celebrated the success of individuals who had attained the highest grades across all curriculum areas. A special mention must go to Louis E and Tanwen B who received the Headteacher's Award.

We were very sorry not to be able to welcome our Class of 2020 back into school for our formal celebration of their achievements. However, we were absolutely delighted so many joined us for our virtual event. It was important that we had the opportunity to reflect on their time at the school and recognise the progress they had made. We could not have imagined back in September 2019 at the start of their Year 11, what happened in March 2020, but on the strength of their commitment across Key Stage 4, our teachers had strong and sufficient evidence to inform our centre assessed grades. I hope all in our Class of 2020 will continue to be the best they can be. We owe them our gratitude: as we entered a period of lockdown, our Class of 2020 embraced online learning and, as a result of this, our staff honed their teaching skills in MS Teams and these now underpin our remote learning plan. This is their legacy. They were trailblazers and I trust they will continue to pioneer and persevere in all they do. I definitely appreciated the opportunity to wish them all every success and happiness in the future.

Chiquita Henson, Headteacher

Adrian Danks, Chair of our Local Governing Body, summed up the evening perfectly: 'In such an unusual time and an unprecedented school year for this cohort, I feel that there should be a number of aspects to the vote of thanks this special year.

First and foremost to all of you the students, you, like no other had a challenging year to contend with. You should in no way be defined by the Covid challenges you faced, but you should all be proud of your resilience and resourcefulness in coping with learning in lock down, not just those recognised this evening, but all of you. Thank you for your example to the rest of the school and your representation of Deer Park. I, along with all the governors, wish you all the best of luck for the future.

Secondly, to you the parents for all your endeavours in supporting home learning. Thank you to all the staff who have worked so hard to ensure resources and support were available to all students and for enduring the turbulence of “centre assessed grades”.

Finally, thank you to Mr Bellamy and Mr Clutterbuck for making this event happen despite the lockdown challenges.

So please join me in a virtual vote of thanks to all those I mentioned, but especially you, the Class of 2020 - Thank you.'

Collection of GCSE Certificates

We are inviting the Class of 2020 to come up to school to collect their GCSE Certificates from Monday 7 December to Friday 11 December 2020 inclusive. These will be available from the Main Hall between 4.00pm and 4.30pm each day. This will be a socially distanced event, and pupils are asked to wear a face covering and bring their own pen to sign to confirm receipt of their certificates. The Class of 2020 will receive a Leavers' Booklet with a collection of photographs from their time at Deer Park. Pupils who studied Art or Design subjects will be able to collect their coursework at the same time.