Dear Parent/Carer,
Happy New Year to all our families and welcome back to a new term at Sharples.
Following our Staff Training Day this week, I am pleased to report that we have begun introducing some new ideas to ensure that Sharples continues to move forward and provide the very best experience for our students.
Over the break, we have had a new audio system installed across the school. This replaces our traditional school bells, and provides a calm and more informative way of alerting students to lesson changeover and important announcements. It has been positively received by students and we are looking forward to developing its use over the coming months.
Following feedback from both students and staff, we have introduced a clear set of expectations for everyone at Sharples that are easy to follow and enable staff to reward those students who do their very best every day.
The SHARPLES Way will become integral to our Behaviour and Rewards Policy and students have already risen to the high expectations, with over 1000 ACE reward points given out in this first week of term.
Please support your child to ensure they leave for school with the correct uniform each day. All students should have a blazer and school shoes as per the uniform policy, trainers are not permitted. The only jewellery permitted in school is a plain silver or gold ear stud.
This term we have a number of exciting enrichment activities taking place for students across all year groups including The Y9 and 10 London West End Trip, The Y7 Sleep at The Deep evening, and Year 8 head off to Paris at the end of this term. Year 10 are in the final stages of organising their week long work experience from Monday February 9th and we are looking forward to seeing them thrive in a variety of workplaces.
A reminder that in the coming weeks, both Year 9 and 11 students will sit formal examinations in preparation for their next steps. It is vital that their preparation is focused and thorough. We are supporting students in school and we would advise parents to use the dedicated section of our website for help and advice to support your child at home with the exam preparation:
https://www.sharplesschool.co.uk/revision-guidance/
The dates for the exams are:
Year 9 – Monday 12th – Friday 23rd January
Year 11 – Monday 26th January – Wednesday 11th February
Please support your child at home with home learning and study for exams by ensuring a quiet space, free from technology and distractions for them to work and encouraging healthy sleep patterns.
Finally, I would like to take this opportunity to remind parents and carers that we now have a Breakfast Club from 8am everyday where all students are welcome. Laptops and a wide selection of reading books and board games are available, alongside free toast and a warm, positive start to the day.
Yours sincerely
Ms C Molyneux
Headteacher
