From the balmy start in September 2023, with pupils in PE kit due to the unusually high temperatures, to the Autumnal feel at the end of this eight-week term, I think our young people (and staff) deserve their half term break.

Speaking of ‘eight’, the Department for Education has recently published the latest performance tables for all secondary schools, showing overall performance at the end of Key Stage 4 in 2023. I am pleased to say that the hard work of pupils, staff and parents has paid off. The headline figures show that the progress made by our Class of 2023 was above average and in terms of 'Progress 8' we are well-placed in the county. See performance tables for all secondary schools in Gloucestershire.

Cirencester Deer Park is an inclusive school with high expectations for all. These principles are echoed in our values of Trust, Kindness, and Determination. I cannot fault the determination of our Class of 2023 to overcome the hurdles of the last few years and make such good progress as a whole year group. In advance of welcoming the Class of 2023 back to Deer Park on Thursday 16 November for their Celebration of Achievement Evening, I say ‘Chapeau!’

For our current Year 11s, the important number right now is not ‘eight’ but ‘four’. That is the number of weeks remaining until the start of the written Mock GCSE Exams on Monday 27 November 2023.

Whilst the mock exams are an important stage of the journey to success in the summer, they are not an end in themselves. Pupils should use the mocks to make sure that they hone in on areas of the curriculum which they need to revisit or sharpen up on. We have found from previous years that pupils who embrace the mock exams experience positively - treating the revision and the exams as a stepping stone (albeit a very intense step) and part of preparation for the summer - are able to move on in January in leaps and bounds. The Year 11 Mock GCSEs timetable has been released to pupils and is available in Satchel:One Show My Homework and on our Exams page.

Many of our Year 10s will be sitting GCSE Religious Studies Short Course next summer and they have two mock exams in December. Not only is this good preparation for the summer exams but also the discipline of revising for the exams alongside other homework and study is a useful rehearsal for this time next year when they will be wearing Year 11’s shoes. To this end, a revision timetable put together by our Ethics and Computing team will be given to the Year 10 pupils at their Year 10 Learning Conference on Wednesday 8 November. The main theme of the Learning Conference will be how to revise and will give the pupils practical and effective techniques to help them with their Religious Studies’ mock exam and revision throughout the year. We encourage all Year 10 parents and carers to attend the Year 10 Learning and Curriculum Evening, 6.30-8.00pm on Wednesday 8 November.

Years 7, 8 and 9 have all made a strong start to the year. It is particularly pleasing to see how well Year 7 have settled in to their first term. In the last few weeks of term, we have been delighted to see pupils from each of the three year groups representing their tutor groups in the Key Stage 3 Inter Tutor Group Rugby and Netball Tournaments.

As the weather eventually turns colder, we remind parents and pupils of our uniform guidelines (see Uniform):

• Hoodies are not items of school uniform and should not be worn on the school site. A school jumper or 1/4 zip top on top of a school shirt should provide sufficient warmth inside; coats should not be worn in classrooms or offices or when seated or eating in the Hall or Atrium, unless there are exceptional circumstances, in which case staff will inform pupils.
• If wearing socks with a skirt, girls should wear black socks.

We hope that you have a recuperative half term break and enjoy the arrival of Autumn. We will all be back to school on Monday 6 November, which is a Week 1.