I hope everyone is able to take a breather at some point during the May/June half term break.

At Deer Park we are at the unofficial end of the school year and, unlike most secondary schools, everyone will move up a year when we return to school on Tuesday 6 June 2023:

• Year 7 will be (new) Year 8
• Year 8 will be (new) Year 9
• Year 9 will be (new) Year 10
• Year 10 will be (new) Year 11.

Whilst we try to retain the continuity of teachers from (current) Year 10 into (new) Year 11, all other year groups will have new curricula to be studied, new teachers and new classrooms. All pupils and staff will have a brand-new timetable in Term 6. The benefits of this move in the summer outweigh the logistical complexities, benefiting the pupils enormously. In particular, our (new) Year 10s will start their GCSEs, ensuring that they have a full two years in Key Stage 4 before sitting their GCSE exams in the summer of 2025.

Spare a thought for our Class of 2023. They are now halfway through their GCSE written exams and are showing plenty of determination. As the culmination of 5 years study at Deer Park nears its end, they can have a little breather over half term (for a couple of days perhaps) but need to get their heads back down and crack on with their revision. Their next exam is English Language on Monday 5 June.

Most of our Year 10s (new Year 11s) are sitting their GCSE Religious Studies Short Course this summer - their final paper is on Tuesday 6 June.

Our (new) Year 11s will have a short series of practice exams in late June and they too need to revise. 'Little and often' is the mantra they are familiar with and following this now will pay dividends into next year. Check our Effective Learning page.

Have a good half term break. We look forward to seeing everyone back in school on Tuesday 6 June.