September 2021
Dear Parents/Carers
I hope you had a restful and enjoyable summer break and are looking forward as much as we are to the new year ahead. We hope that you and your families are well. Well done to all of our students who have started the new academic year really positively. We are so pleased to be back to some degree of normality and we are excited to get cracking with them and see how well they can do!
More than ever, students have to show a good work ethic, resilience and determination, as well as receive excellent teaching, in order to do well in their end of year 11 and year 13 examinations. Amid the constant flux and challenge of the last 18 months, students have shown great tenacity and the GCSE and IBCP results were testament to their efforts — we are very proud of them all and wish them lots of luck with the next steps in their journeys, wherever that may be. We are delighted that the majority of our Y11s choose to stay on to study the IBCP in our 6th form; our sixth form has grown significantly over the last few years and this year we have approximately 140 students taking the IBCP now.
I know many of you saw our Y11 and Y13 results news on our school website and thank you to so many who sent in such positive comments and letters about our brilliant Year 11 and Year 13 students and our committed staff. Of course none of this success would be possible without the dedication and commitment of our staff team who do absolutely everything they can to help our students succeed. If our students work hard they will have every opportunity in the future to find the success and fulfilment they absolutely deserve. We know that with your support and backing our students can achieve great things and this makes King Ethelbert a very exciting place to be. It is also significant and important for you to note that at a time of a nationally publicised shortage of teachers, King Ethelbert consistently receives a wide field of excellent applications from teachers with the appropriate academic qualifications needed for each subject specialism whenever we advertise a teaching post. King Ethelbert is a good place to work as well as a happy place to be for everyone.
To all new parents/carers at King Ethelbert I offer a warm welcome to you and your child as you join the King Ethelbert community. There is absolutely no doubt that if parents/carers work together with the school we will, as an extended team, provide the best opportunities for all our young people. We all have the same ultimate goal which is to provide our young people with opportunity for success in a positive, happy and caring environment.
You will find enclosed with this letter our annual calendar for parents/carers which is correct at the time of printing. Additional activities or any key changes to this calendar will be sent to you as soon as they are known so that you can keep track of everything that is going on. We also have our school website which is continually updated with important information so do check the website regularly to find out the latest news and any important information you need to know. It is important that we are able to keep in contact with you so please make sure we have your correct email address and mobile phone numbers because we do text parents/carers if there are important messages we need to get out to you quickly. You may have seen on our website the parent app, My Ed, which we use regularly to send you important information including progress reports for your child. Please do have a look at www.myedschoolapp.com for further information on the app and how to download it if you haven’t already. This will enable us to communicate with you, via email and text, any information we need to send home.
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We want you to join in our celebrations and acknowledge the successes of all our young people. We are also aware, however, that you may have worries and concerns at any point in the year so do please contact the school if you have any queries and do feel able to come and talk to us so that we can work together for the benefit of your child. Your child’s form tutor is always the best first port of call.
One thing that has been proven over and over again is that in order for your child to do well at school it is imperative that he or she has excellent attendance. I cannot stress enough the importance of making sure your child is in school every day if at all possible and any illness is reported to us quickly so that we can support you and your child to ensure work is not missed. Progress is directly linked to the amount of time spent in school and we all want our children to do as well as they are able. Should your child feel unwell during the school day, please remind them that they should go to Pupil Services to see our qualified first aider, Mrs Keam, and not phone home themselves in the first instance. This allows us to work with your child and yourselves to assess and triage appropriately and contact you if necessary.
Forthcoming Events
YEAR 6 OPEN EVENTS : Tuesday 21st September: 6.00 pm – 8.00 pm
Wednesday 22nd September: 9.30 am and 4.00 pm – 6.00 pm
Parents/carers will recall the importance of school open events where year 6 parents/carers have the opportunity to visit local secondary schools to assist in making their choice of secondary provision for their child. Our events this year are being held as above. On both of these days students will leave school at
2.20 pm to enable preparations for the open events to be made. We appreciate the contribution from many of our current students who will be involved in these events. Further details will be forwarded to parents of students involved in due course.
YEAR 11 RAISING ACHIEVEMENT EVENING: Wednesday 6th October 2021 – further details to follow
YEAR 11 SUBJECT EVENING: Tuesday 12th October 2021 – further details to follow
YEAR 13 RAISING ACHIEVEMENT EVENING: Wednesday 13th October 2021 – further details to follow
YEAR 10 SUBJECT EVENING: Tuesday 19th October 2021 – further details to follow
YEAR 11 SIXTH FORM INFORMATION EVENING: Wednesday 9th November 2021
PRESENTATION AFTERNOON – WINTER GARDENS, Margate — Wednesday 17th November 2021 at 2.00 pm
YEAR 7 PROGRESS EVENING – Tuesday 23rd November 2021: On Tuesday 23rd November between 4.00 – 6.00 pm we will be holding a progress evening for parents/carers of year 7 to meet with your child’s form tutor and review their first term at school. Following this, your child’s subject teachers will be available in their classrooms for pupils to introduce and to share with you the work they have been undertaking. Further details of this event will be given to year 7 parents/carers nearer the time, and we look forward to welcoming all year 7 parents/carers on this evening.
YEAR 12/13 SUBJECT EVENING: Thursday 2nd December 2021 – details to follow nearer the time.
STAFF TRAINING : 2021 — 22
In line with many other schools nationally we will, for some of our staff development time this year, be running morning training sessions for staff between 8.00 – 10.15 am – ‘Early Risers’. There are five days throughout the year when these are scheduled:
Wednesday 29th September 2021 8.00 – 10.15 am
Friday 12th November 2021 8.00 – 10.15 am
Friday 14th January 2022 8.00 – 10.15 am
Thursday 17th March 2022 8.00 – 10.15 am
Wednesday 27th April 2022 8.00 – 10.15 am
On these days pupils are not to come into school before 10.30 am. Students should report to their lesson for period 2 at 10.35 am where registration will be undertaken by their subject teacher. Period 3 will follow at 11.35 am and lunch at 12.35 pm. There will be no morning break on these days. The rest of the school day on these occasions will run as normal, with school finishing at 3.20 pm. Please will you ensure that your child does not arrive prematurely to school as staff will be involved in professional development workshops and there will be no staff supervision until 10.30 am.
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We will be having four further staff training days during the year and as all staff will be involved in continued professional development, the school will be closed to students. These days are:
- Friday 11th February 2022
- Wednesday/Thursday/Friday 20th, 21st and 22nd July 2022
A reminder that this term school finishes on Friday 22nd October with the school reopening on Monday 1st November 2021.
We are looking forward to this new academic year which will be a very exciting one as new plans and ideas are implemented by us all to make sure our students are given all the opportunities they deserve. I know, as ever, that I will have your support in making 2021/2022 a happy, positive and successful one for everyone involved with King Ethelbert School. Please do not hesitate to contact us if you have any queries at all. It is very important to me that staff and parents/carers work closely together so that all our young people are given the best possible opportunities to find happiness and success. Thank you to all parents/carers for your continued and much appreciated support.
Yours sincerely
Mrs V Willis
Headteacher