Christmas can’t be that far away as for the 24^th time, our receptionist, Joy, has put up and decorated our Christmas Tree in the school reception.

This week saw our Flexible learning Day take place. This has seen students participate in a wide range of activities. Our Year 11s have been visiting post 16 providers as part of helping them to finalise key choices for when they leave Severn Vale. Our Year 10s have been developing key employability skills, including how to become a confident communicator. Not only will this help them for any future interviews, it will also be invaluable for the compulsory Spoken Language component of their English Language GCSE. Year 9s have been taking part in the FameLab Academy. This is a Science competition organised by the Cheltenham Science Festival. The winning groups will get the chance to compete against other schools in the next stage of the competition. In Year 8, students in X Band have been participating in a Multi-Faith event, whilst those in Y Band have been taking part in a National Schools Design Challenge, working in teams to design a solution to a real-world problem. Last year’s winning group were able to go on and win this prestigious national competition at the V&A museum; fingers crossed for similar success this year!! Our Year 7s have been taking part in GCHQuedgeley, developing their problem-solving and team-working skills. All in all, the day has provided students with some key learning opportunities which they have engaged with really well.  

I have written separately this week to highlight that we will be running a test of our Emergency Response Procedures next week. This will involve a full lockdown drill taking place. We will be talking to the students about this and preparing them fully. In Term 1 last year we ran our first ever whole school Lockdown Drill with staff and students on site. It went smoothly and taught us some valuable lessons. Of course, we hope that we will never be in a position to have to carry out a lockdown procedure. Recent events show that we do need to be prepared for what we should do to keep our staff and students safe.

A reminder that next week will see our first Friends of Severn Vale Santa Fun Run. It takes place next Friday, 6 December, at 3.30pm. The run will be 2km and all students and staff are invited to join in. There is a £2 entry (cash on the day) which will include a Santa hat to wear for the run. All the proceeds will go to the Friends of Severn Vale, who will use it to fund projects for the benefit of students in school. It will be great to see as many students and staff there as possible. Please do encourage your child to take part; it should be a lot of fun!

I would also like to remind you of our annual Severn Vale Christmas Gift Drive in support of the Salvation Army.  The Christmas Gift Drive is a truly heart-warming example of our school community coming together to support others. We know times are hard for many and understand that some will not be able to contribute. If you can, do know that your gift will make a real difference to the lives of those in receipt. Thank you in advance for your support with this great initiative.

As it was a shorter week and fixtures were limited to:

• Year 7 Rugby – on Monday our Year 7s hosted Gloucester Academy in their final fixture. As expected, it was a physical encounter with the smaller pitch suiting GA. It was a really positive game to finish the season, with our boys really fronting up to a bigger GA team. The game ended in a narrow defeat, 5 tries 4. Special mention again to Brooklyn K for his MoM performance; he tackled all game and always made valuable yards going forward.

• Year 7 Netball – there were two great first netball fixtures for the Year 7 A and B teams against Crypt this week. Up against some very tough opposition, both teams lost. However, both teams made so much progress throughout the game. Player of the match for the 'A' team was Bish P, and the 'B' team player was Mollie H. A shout-out also to Ruby B for her excellent shooting! 

• Year 8 Rugby – on Tuesday our Year 8s travelled to Gloucester Academy for their final fixture of the term. Everything seemed to click from the first whistle for the boys. They ran hard, supported each other and their defence was solid. The boys controlled the game from the off and deserved their 55 – 0 victory. Everyone played well, but special mention to Alfie B and Ellis B for their great partnership at 9 and 10.

As ever, I include my reminder about Free School Meals eligibility. If your financial circumstances have changed, your child may be eligible for Free School Meals. If you click on this link you will find guidance on the eligibility criteria and the application process. It's a quick process and we are notified of all FSM entitlements by Gloucestershire County Council each Monday. I would urge you to take a look if you think you may benefit from financial assistance.  

I hope you have a great weekend.

Regards 

Richard Johnson
Headteacher