Posted May 3 - 2024Headteacher's Newsletter
what's happening at Chesham Grammar
Posted on: June 12th 2020
Head's Blog
Dear Parent,
And so we end our ninth week of lockdown learning. It certainly feels like longer. We have had a number of students working in school each day this week and we are so looking forward to seeing Year 10s this week and Year 12s the following week as we seek to work out exactly where each student is with their learning in each subject. This will enable us to identify any issues which need to be addressed before the end of the academic year which, hard though it may be to believe, is just five weeks away. We also want to talk to each student to see how they are from a wellbeing point of view. We have put in place all the necessary measures to ensure the site is safe and instructions have been sent to Year 10s which they must adhere to when they arrive next week.
We would dearly love to be able to see all our other students too but at present, we have been asked to prioritise those doing their GCSEs and A levels. The Prime Minister this week spoke of his desire to get all students back to school in September and we are dearly hoping this will be the case, while also planning for a range of scenarios so that we are as ready as we can be for any eventuality.
This afternoon, I pressed 'submit' on the last set of centre assessed grades and signed off all the A level and GCSE grades and rankings for our students, numbering almost 2,500 in total. My sign off was the final stage in a process which has consumed the last eight weeks. I am immensely proud of the way in which staff have approached this process, one unfamiliar to us all. Never before have public exams been cancelled and never have teachers been asked to use their professional judgement to arrive at a centre assessed grade in the way we have been this year. We have all been mindful of the huge weight of responsibility this brings and I cannot thank teachers, Subject Leaders, the SLT and the support staff involved in any way in this process enough. I do not think our process could have been any more robust. The final fews days in our schedule were set aside for a final check and two members of staff have spent two days meticulously checking every grade entered onto the exam board portal by subject staff against the original spreadsheet to ensure there were no errors. This has been done for every one of almost 400 students and when this was complete, Mrs Dax and I have done the same again as part of our final signing off process. I can say with some feeling that I would be quite happy not to see another spreadsheet for some time to come. Though many staff have spent a huge amount of time on this, Mrs Dax is deserving of special mention. As the SLT member overseeing data and assessment, she has lived and breathed and no doubt dreamt of exam results for the last eight weeks. She has guided Subject Leaders through the process and led the work of the SLT. And so, our work is done and it is now down to the awarding bodies to do their job, to standardise the grades we have given and send them back to us in August as examination results. We are told that there will be changes; some will go up and some will go down depending on the outcome of the statistical process they will go through their end but we have done our bit and now keep our fingers crossed.
Had we not been living in the time of a global pandemic, today would have been a time of celebration for our Year 11s. With the exception of those doing the further maths qualification, today would have been the very last GCSE exam and around 3.30pm, 180 tired but elated students would have emerged from the hall having taken their very last paper which, for the record, would have been physics. As I was glued to my screen at the time this afternoon, I took a moment to imagine the scene as it should have been outside my window. There is always a 'post exam buzz' as students leave the hall and enter the quad and any teacher will tell you that they would recognise this noise anywhere! But as you can imagine, this is amplified when they emerge on mass from the very last exam. The Year 11s would each have sat around 30 papers over a five week period so their elation and inevitable relief would have been well deserved and long awaited.
I was delighted to hear about the mural painted in Berkhamsted by Megan in Year 10. This was a tribute to the NHS heroes and a photo of it can be seen on our Twitter feed should you be interested. Well done Megan. Well done also to Israa and Alice in Year 13 who have set up a Lockdown Art Challenge, details of which were contained in my weekly email to students on Monday. We are very proud of Freddie in Year 9 who entered a poetry competition run by Earthwatch Wild Days, coming 3rd in the 12-16 category with his poem 'In the Woodland' and winning a bundle of signed books as well as wonderful feedback from Michaela Strachan (of Country File and Springwatch fame). Well done Freddie. Do continue to let us know of your child's achievements during this time; it is particularly nice to be able to share positive news at present.
As you know, we plan to hold an enrichment week during the week beginning June 29th. This half term is always an incredibly busy one at school and we really want to try to give the students the opportunity and the space and time to take part in some enrichment and extra curricular activities. We have a number of things planned and these include some of the events which would have taken place during the next few weeks such as House Performing Arts - virtually this year of course! Further details will follow.
With best wishes for a relaxing weekend,
Annmarie McNaney
Headteacher
