3rd February 2010

Dear Parents/Carers,

As we approach February half-term I wish to update you on events at school. We have all settled into very busy schedules after the challenging start to term due to the extreme weather. We have had parent’s evening for year 11 students and are pleased with their commitment to work and positive response for a vast array of intervention programmes in place to support their coursework completion and preparation for forthcoming examinations.

Then we had an evening for parents of our year 7 students and we are delighted with the way in which they have settled into secondary school education. They show a great deal of promise as a year group and have taken up extra-curricular programmes in a range of areas, in particular swelling our KS3 choir and ensuring Sale High School continues to be at the forefront in competitive sports. 

Our school Governors continue to support the school through a range of committees and links to key areas as well as their usual calendar of meetings. The Friends of Sale High School (FOSH) met again this term and have agreed some key dates for future meetings and events. Please contact Karen Kemp through school or turn up at one of the meeting if you would like to be involved. The date of meetings are:
24^th February, FOSH meeting, in the Library, 6.30pm,
7^th March, Car Boot Sale at Sale High, 10.00am,
24^th March, Thornton’s Chocolate Evening, Main Hall, 7.00pm,
20^th April, FOSH meeting at Sale High, in the Library, 6.30pm. 

We are now working towards our options evening for year 9 students as they prepare for KS4 and students are learning about the courses on offer in September through assemblies and tutor time. We hope to see lots of parents/carers at this event on 4^th March 2010. 

Teachers in school are also busy planning our next Flexible Friday on 26^th February 2010, for year 7. A key group of staff through our technology specialism are preparing for STEM week, (Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths) which runs from 8^th March – 12^th March and involves all students in a range of enrichment activities. 

My deputy and I have been working with Mr Beswick, Headteacher at LimeTreePrimary School on KS2/3 Curriculum transition. It is important to us that students are well supported on transfer from Y6 to Y7 so they can quickly pick up where they left off and continue to make good progress. 

I also have some good news: we have been awarded some capital funding to support our delivery of the science diploma. This means we can refurbish a science lab and incorporate an ICT suite as well as refurbish our library into a Learning Resource Centre. We are very excited with this development. 

May I take this opportunity to thank parents for your support with uniform and standards. This is always appreciated and by working together, students know and understand the boundaries and are more focused on their studies. 

Yours sincerely, 

Lynn Nicholls
Headteacher