Dear Parent/Carer
I hope this letter finds you and your family well.
As we start the Christmas holidays, I wanted to get in contact to celebrate another fantastic term and update you on some key areas of school life:
Standards
The term has been a real success, with students responding so well to our new focus of “Ready, Respectful and Responsible.” Effort levels in class, behaviour during social times and punctuality to lessons have all been excellent. Our key statistics are so positive, with 262,378 merits awarded for outstanding work and only 13,379 behaviour sanctions.
Please ensure that you have signed up to the ClassCharts Parent app to see your child’s merits and behaviour record as well as picking up important information about fixtures, in-house events, and to give consent for trips. The ClassCharts Parent app can be downloaded from the app store on Apple or Android, or you can login online at www.classcharts.com/parent/login.
For login/password/registration problems, please contact ITSupport@southcraven.org with your name, your child’s name and your child’s Date of Birth.
Courage Task
It's been fantastic to see all students rise to the challenge of 'Courage Tasks' where they work silently and independently in class.
We've seen lots of hard thinking, resilience and extended writing.
Attendance
Thank you for your continued support with ensuring your child's good attendance at school. Attending school does make a difference with how young people achieve, therefore please respectfully remember that holidays are not permitted in term time.
We aim to support young people to attend school, so please contact your child’s Head of Year if support is needed.
Car Parking
Following a recent meeting with the Patient Services Manager at Cross Hills Group Practice, I have been asked to inform you that parents should not be parking in the Medical Centre car park when collecting students at the end of the day. There have been recent serious incidents and near misses which have put patients in danger and stopped emergency vehicles from accessing the practice.
Cross Hills Group Practice is private land and the car park is strictly for patient and medical staff parking only. They are happy to make allowances to allow parents to park in the car park when the practice is closed, but during working hours it is not safe for parents to park there.
We ask for your support in this matter and ask that moving forward, for everyone’s safety, that parents do not park in Cross Hills Group Practice car park at the end of the school day.
School Buses
South Craven had a visit from two managers from Keighley Bus Company earlier this week to discuss ongoing issues with bus travel to and from school. They asked me to share some key information with parents about the bus provisions. These will be in place from Monday 6 January 2025:
- Students must travel on the bus they have been assigned to and always have their pass with them.
- Students will always be allowed to travel on their allocated bus even if they forget their pass but at the end of the school day they will have to borrow money from school reception to pay the fare if they do not have their pass.
- Parents will be expected to reimburse school via Parent Pay if we have to lend your child money for bus fare at any time.
- Students must always behave sensibly on the bus and ensure they are sat down upstairs. The bus company will be improving CCTV coverage on buses to ensure students behave safely and appropriately whilst travelling.
We will reinforce these messages to all students in the new year and we will communicate progress with parents during the spring term.
This is Me. This is South Craven:
We have set a record for the number of enrichment events that we have provided for our students this term.
We celebrated our thriving sports teams, numerous revision sessions, activity clubs and the success of our school show Legally Blonde, where over 200 students from all year groups played to sellout audiences over three nights.
We have also enjoyed the following:
- Christmas Sock Day, raising money for the Airedale Hospital Charity.
- Year 11 Progression interviews, with all students focussing on their plans for next year.
- Year 13 English Literature trip to Hull, where students were given private access to original letters, photographs and manuscripts from Philip Larkin.
- The Holocaust Education Trust visited Year 9 students who were able to visit Holocaust sites using AI technology.
- Our Year 10 Geography students visited Manchester to build on their case study knowledge about the city in preparation for their exams.
- Our Year 10 and 11 Child Development students creating Christmas shoe boxes to contribute to Airedale Hospital’s festive gift appeal.
- Some of our Year 10 Scientists visited the University of Leeds to enjoy a full day of activities, exploring many degree subjects within the wider field of medicine.
- Our Year 12 Product Design students visited IKEA to learn about lighting designs.
A huge thank you to all staff for their support with these enrichment activities. Today we will enjoy fantastic Christmas assemblies for all students.
Mock Exams
Congratulations to our Year 11 and 13 students who recently sat a very tough series of mock exams to prepare them for the challenges of their GCSE /A Level exams in the summer.
Their behaviour and attitudes throughout the process have been superb and a credit to the school. They definitely deserve their Christmas break!
Social Media
Please make sure to follow us on our social media channels, where we showcase student successes, news, photos and more.
Our PE and Performing Arts Faculty also have their own Instagram accounts, where they share their latest updates and exclusive photos and videos.
Next Term
School closes today at 12:20pm and reopens on Monday 6th January 2025.
Next term will be busy as always with various events to look forward to including:
- Thursday 16th January - Year 12 Progression Evening (6.00pm start)
- Friday 17th January – Year 11 Mocks Results Morning
- Monday 27th January – SPM Reports Issued to All Year Groups
- Thursday 30th January – Year 12 Consultation Evening (4.00pm start)
- Monday 10th February – This is Year 9 Parents’ Event (4.00pm start)
- Friday 14th February – Staff Training Day (School will be closed to all students)
And Finally...
As always, I want to thank parents for their strong support. I would like to wish all students, parents and staff a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!
Please get in touch if you have any feedback about any aspect of school life.
All the best,
Martyn Hill
Headteacher
