Posted May 3 - 2024Headteacher's Newsletter
what's happening at Chesham Grammar
Posted on: July 10th 2020
Head's Blog
Dear Parent,
It is hard to believe that this is my penultimate message of the school year. We will finish next Friday at 1pm and during the morning there will be end of year assemblies which will feature some of the superb achievements and work done during enrichment week as well as an overview of the year. I am also hoping to be able to award the House Cup and will be announcing the winners of the House Performing Arts Competition which is obviously being held virtually and is today at 4pm. I have had a sneak preview and can tell you that we are in for a treat so please do try to 'attend'.
During the week it has been wonderful to see all our Year 10s who have benefited from sessions in maths and sciences as well as a good number of Year 12s. The school feels more normal again with a good number of students in it and I am really looking forward to seeing Year 7 next week and to September, even though it will not be CGS quite as we know it. I will be sending information home about September next week so that parents and students know what will be happening but I would like to reiterate that all students will be back and that full school uniform is expected. We are trying to operate as normally as possible but with all the measures in place we need to do so safely. The one thing which we have to change about our school about which I am very sad is vertical tutoring. The guidance is quite clear that minimising contact between groups of students is a key priority in September and having given this a huge amount of thought and sought advice on ways in which the guidance could be interpreted, unfortunately, there is no way we can maintain a situation where students from every year group in the school mix every day. I know that this will be hugely disappointing for our students and parents but it is a necessary safety measure. Having read the guidance many times, I am coming to terms with the fact that Heads need to have different priorities next year. Our routines need to be based on the need to minimise contact and socially distance as far as is possible and practical rather than on what fits the ethos and culture of the school. Vertical tutoring will therefore be replaced by horizontal tutor groups until such time as we can return to a vertical system and we are just working the details of this through at present. It is a significant structural change for us which has to be effected very quickly but we hope to give you further details before the end of the term if we can. Rest assured that we will make this work when we return in September. Other measures we are implementing include the staggering of both break and lunchtimes and the zoning of social spaces to ensure the year groups have as little cross over as possible. As I said, more detail will be with you next week.
Tonight, the FOCGS hold their virtual wine tasting and I know that around 100 parents are attending. Enjoy! Thank you for supporting the school. Our raffle draw also takes place today and I am delighted that this has raised around £6,000 which is fantastic and again, thank you so much for your support and a huge well done to the FOCGS for their creative fundraising, even during lockdown.
Last week our WE Club undertook a sponsored walk to raise money for the homeless charity Crisis. They set a target of £500 and exceeded this with the total standing at £675. Well done to them all. If any parent would like to support them this can be done here:
When the term resumes in September, we have decided to change the year groups which will be in on the first day for students, Thursday September 3rd. Given the current situation we want to have Years 7, 11 and 13 in school with the other year groups starting the following day. This will give us a little time to work with these three groups on that day and I hope that parents will understand that we feel this is the right thing for this coming year.
With best wishes for a relaxing weekend,
Annmarie McNaney
Headteacher
