Posted May 3 - 2024Headteacher's Newsletter
what's happening at Chesham Grammar
Posted on: November 13th 2020
Head's Blog
Dear parent,
Children in Need
It has been good to see the students enjoying the mufti day today for Children in Need and to see our Sixth Form Darwin House Captains dressed up as Pudsey Bear collecting money and encouraging students to take part in the events taking place. Well done and thank you to all involved and especially to Arran and Victoria in Year 13 who organised it all and ensured that we raised a good deal of money and had fun in the process - all the more welcome at this point in time.
Remembrance Day
On Wednesday, we marked Remembrance Day with a virtual assembly about The Unknown Warrior which was followed by our 2 minutes silence. Our Remembrance event is amongst the highlights of this half term and certainly the most solemn occasion in our school calendar. I did not really know how it would work with everyone watching the assembly and observing the silence within their own tutor room which is obviously without the natural sense of occasion our collective act of Remembrance brings each year. While the assembly was being broadcast, I walked around the school and there was total and respectful silence during both this and the formal 2 minutes observance. I could not have been more proud of our school community. A number of students came to talk to me during the day to say how moving they found the story of The Unknown Warrior who made his last journey back from France to be buried in Westminster Abbey exactly a hundred years ago. We also watched and listened to Abide With Me, one of the hymns sung at his burial in the Abbey in 1920. The version we watched and listened to, by The Military Wives Choir, was recorded for this centenary and the video contains original footage of The Unknown Warrior as he made his way back from France, through the streets of London on a gun carriage and into Westminster Abbey on 11th November 1920. This footage very cleverly fades into footage of modern-day London and these familiar, 21st century scenes, helped us all relate to what happened in the same streets in 1920. If you would like to see this for yourself, you can do so here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kRKyjJN0HRg
Well done to...
Well done to Saoirse in Year 12 who has been accepted onto the Pathways to Law Programme at Oxford University and to Alex in Year 9 who recently passed her grade 1 violin exam with Distinction, gaining 144 marks out of 150 which her teacher tells me is a quite phenomenal score. Staying on the musical theme, Emilia in Year 12 also gained a Distinction in her exam. In her case, she sat grade V piano. Congratulations. During the week, I have seen and read some truly outstanding work. This included a very moving poem by Edward in Year 12 entitled 'Apology' which he submitted as an entry to the competition run by the History Department during Black History Month as well as a series of amazing storyboards created by Emma in Year 12 telling the story of Shakespeare's Hamlet. Hundreds of House Points have been awarded once more to recognise the excellent effort our students make during their studies. Well done to everyone.
Mock exams
Year 11s have now finished the first of their mock weeks, with Year 13 starting theirs next week. We have been impressed by the way in which the Year 11s have approached the week and we are looking forward to welcoming them back to lessons on Tuesday. We wish the Year 13s all the best with their exams over the next fortnight. You will have seen the news that A levels and GCSEs have been cancelled in Wales, to be replaced with teacher-managed assessments which will be externally set and marked but delivered in a classroom environment under teacher supervision. This has, quite understandably, worried some of our students and I have repeated my mantra to those to whom I have spoken: ignore the noise. We will focus on what we can control within the school and make sure students are ready for whatever may happen to A levels and GCSEs here. We cannot control anything beyond that and I would ask that you support this message at home so that together we can try to bring some stability to a period of great uncertainty for them.
The Friends of Chesham Grammar School
I would like to thank The Friends of Chesham Grammar School for their continued hard work and commitment to raising money for the school. Some parents have joined Shopsmart since information about it was sent home a couple of weeks ago. This is such an easy way to raise money for the school and with Christmas approaching, please do consider signing up; I can assure you, having done so myself, that it is quick and painless! The FoCGS have their wine tasting event later this month with over 100 parents signed up to attend and later this term, there is a Virtual Christmas Fair. A number of local businesses have already signed up and thank you to those parents involved in this. There’s still time to do this and it presents a good opportunity to both promote your company and support the school – just email focgfundraising@gmail.com for a copy of the form. I know the Friends are also starting to look for unusual and exciting items for their Winter Auction. If you can offer any brand-new gifts, creative or luxury items, vouchers for a treat or service or a free consultation from your business please let them know using the email address above.
Chesham Toybank and Foodbank
Finally, thank you for all the donations to our local Toybank and Foodbank. I was most touched by a conversation with a student as he dropped off a donation of several bags of toys this week. As I passed him in the foyer, I said 'thank you' and he told me how he had just had a clear out of things he no longer uses with the intention of making some money by selling them on ebay but had instead decided that 'the thought of making a young child's Christmas is worth much more to me'. I left with a tear in my eye!
With best wishes for a relaxing weekend and we look forward to seeing the students back with us on Tuesday,
Annmarie McNaney
Headteacher
