Posted May 3 - 2024Headteacher's Newsletter
what's happening at Chesham Grammar
Posted on: December 18th 2020
Head's Blog
Dear parent,
I cannot tell you how much we have missed having your children in school this week. In normal times, the last week of the Autumn term is one of the nicest of the year with our own Christmas service, Christmas in Words and Music, being the highlight of a week filled with festive cheer. I can only say that next year, when we hope and pray things will be different, we will make up for what we have all had to miss out on this year. I am most grateful for all the positive feedback we have received about online lessons. The staff have worked incredibly hard and are absolutely exhausted. Teaching remotely is more challenging and draining than being in a classroom as without the students in front of you, you cannot easily 'read' the room or gauge the extent to which they 'get it'. Nor is it as easy to engage in the classroom humour which is a feature of learning at CGS. That said, we were glad to be able to make contact with the students and to talk to them; thank heavens for technology!
The term ended with an assembly, as it always does. Having the technology to also be able to deliver an assembly to all students virtually is great but there is nothing which can replace standing in front of a hall full of students who have that ‘it’s the end of term and almost Christmas’ excitement which is truly palpable. Never again will I take standing in front of several hundred students in assembly for granted. The very first time I did it, it was mildly terrifying as you can imagine! But for any Headteacher, leading the school in collective acts like assemblies is one of the defining elements of the role and I have to admit that I miss it terribly. My thanks to those students who took part in the assembly yesterday either as musicians, singers or readers and well done to those who recorded their contribution at home, in some cases from several locations. Mrs Ware, our Development Director, did a wonderful job of putting it all together and my thanks to her.
I received the news this week that the Friends of CGS have raised £6,000 this term which is quite amazing given the significant restrictions we have faced. For this to have happened without people leaving their homes for events is so impressive and testament to the hard work, dedication and creativity of the Committee members and to the huge support of our parent body. Thank you so much. The final FOCGS event of the term is the Virtual Fun Run and it’s not too late to sign up at www.cgsfunrun.org. Evidence can be submitted up until the end of this month and pictures, videos and times can be shared on social media using #CGSFunRun. The FOCGS tell me that the top individual JustGiving fundraiser is currently at £170, a great achievement, but there’s still plenty of time to beat it!
Well done to Sam and Daniel in Year 8. Sam recently passed his Grade 5 piano exam with Merit while Daniel passed his Grade 3 clarinet exam, also with Merit. Our Librarian, Mrs Hill, would like to thank everyone who supported the recent Scholastic Book Fair; it was very successful with over £600 of books sold and we have been able to use the commission to choose £300 worth of books for the school. Mrs Hill would also like to thank the parents of Year 13s who embraced the virtual Book Sponsorship at the Progress Evening with such enthusiasm that all the books on the list have been sponsored. Thank you!
We understand that this Christmas period may be a challenging one for some students and their families. We have spent time in tutor time this week speaking with students about how to support their mental wellbeing during this festive period and I know that Mr Bradbury wrote to students and parents last week to share information about this. Please do look at the resources available on our school website, which include specific guidance shared with students this week regarding Wellbeing at Christmas and also our Supporting Student Wellbeing signposting guide which includes details of a wide range of different support organisations available for young people, many of whom can also offer online counselling and support remotely.
https://www.cheshamgrammar.org/3317/mental-health-and-wellbeing
So, all that remains for me to do is to thank you once again for your support throughout this term. We have made it to the end - almost unscathed! The number of positive cases reported to us dropped significantly during the week which confirmed my view that learning from home this week was the right decision. After twenty years in senior leadership, I usually have a huge amount of experience on which to draw when making decisions, but this term, things have been very different and much of the time instinct alone is all there has been to go on which is why the support and positivity of the whole school community has meant even more than it usually does. We will be ready to go again next term and look forward to having all our students back where they belong, in our classrooms, by January 11th.
With best wishes for a peaceful Christmas and a brighter 2021,
Annmarie McNaney
Headteacher
