Letters

15 March 2023

Dear Parents and Carers,

I am writing to update you on the recent events that have taken place at Falmouth School so that you are fully informed, can actively engage with us and support us.

World Book Day

Thank you to everyone who supported World Book Day on Friday 4 March.

The Junior Leadership Team raised an impressive £73.71 to support the reading resources building at Falmouth School. I commend their creative skills and their ability to produce so many complex delights. Thank you to everyone at home who supported our students to undertake this venture.  It was great to see so many colleagues participate actively in this event whilst promoting the love for reading. I hope that my Mary Poppins costume keeps for next year as I hope that in 2024, all of us, as the Falmouth Family, will be able to build on this event further and create a range of exciting activities promoting creative writing, storytelling and celebrating the diverse literary genres for all of us to explore together. 

National Careers Week

Last week we celebrated National Careers Week. I would like to thank all the professionals who embarked on forging a partnership with us and sharing our vision: to bring the world of work closer to our students in many different forms and experiences. We very much appreciate you giving up your valuable time for us. This is the first time we have staged such a sequence of events for all our students within such a short time frame. In all, over thirteen different talks took place, and this is in addition to the Careers Fair for Year 11 that we held in February. The week has been very popular and I am fully aware that there are students who may have tried to book their seat at a specific talk but did not succeed in doing so due to the full capacity. I can assure you that the level of interest from the student body demonstrated to us that we can plan for more regular events of this kind. Mrs Taylor has been collating feedback from students and staff to inform our future planning. Due to the success of these two career related events we can now plan for our next phase: to widen the range of speakers over time, make it integral to our pastoral or curriculum programmes so these professional talks become a regular feature and are accessible to all students from Year 7 to Year 13. 

Local Community

I had the great pleasure to recently meet with the Mayor of Falmouth, Stephen Eva. We talked about the importance for the school to participate in local events. One such event we talked about is the celebration of Saint Piran’s Day. I congratulate all our students who participated in the parade whilst showcasing their musical talents and promoting the Cornish heritage on this important day. I also met with Jayne Kirkham, local councillor and Kate Springfield, Youth, Families and Development Manager of the Dracaena Centre. 

We shared our aim to collaborate more regularly and to continue developing the positive links across the local communities to champion our school, as the Falmouth Family. 

Uniform

I am drawing your attention to the school uniform expectations. Please, see the direct link to the Falmouth School uniform expectations for Year 7 – Year 11 students, as published on the school website. I have been impressed with many students following the school uniform policy with great pride and being true representatives of the Falmouth Family every day. Regrettably, there are a number of students who are persistently reluctant to follow our expectations. The lack of adherence to the uniform policy currently demonstrates the lack of belonging and the lack of commitment to us, as the school. Therefore, we would appreciate your continued support in working with us on this and together we will drive these improvements forward in the weeks ahead. We will be increasing our contact with you, as parent or carer, where the uniform infringements continue to persist. Thank you in advance for all your support in this area and understanding that our aspirations are high for your son/daughter in all aspects of the school life. 

School Site Updates

Over recent weeks our DT block has been surrounded in scaffolding and work has been carried out to remove the front canopy. Unfortunately, the extension has suffered from water ingress over many years which has damaged the structure of the building.  We have taken this as an opportunity to think about the needs of our Design and Technology curriculum and are exploring funding streams available to us to support the replacement of the learning space. We hope to have further news to share later this year.

Our canteen has seen changes recently, having had a new servery installed over the half term break.  We are now trying a new queuing system with the students to help them reach the serving points faster.  The queuing system is split into two different purchase points to reduce the waiting time. This has been working very efficiently at the busiest time. We are also looking to re-open our separate servery in the Green Room soon which will increase the opportunities for students to purchase food at different points and help with the efficiency of the area.  A main meal is available to all students every day at an affordable price of £2.10 which is nutritionally balanced.  A meal deal option of a main meal with a home bake is £2.50 or a selected sandwich, pasta or jacket potato with one topping a drink and cake is also available for £2.50.

The outlet in the Sixth Form area has fresh hot drinks available, various snacks and whole pizzas can be ordered by all our Post 16 students. Main meals can also be ordered in the morning each day for any Sixth Form students wishing to have one. We would encourage the Sixth Form students to explore this facility further and order in advance from the selection of the dishes on offer. To continue driving improvements and we will have a new summer menu after Easter which we will share with parents once agreed.

All the improvements are always aimed to achieve our key goals. Our aim is to increase our students’ sense of belonging as being part of the Falmouth Family and enjoy their learning environment. And, fundamentally, to enable all students to enjoy an extraordinary learning experience where everyone succeeds.

Exam Season

Our students in Year 11 to Year 13 are continuing to work hard and we are endeavouring to support them through this journey. 

On 21 March we are holding a Year 11 Family Learning event from 6pm to 7pm focusing on the exam season. We would like to share with you how the exam season will look for your son/daughter and how you could be involved in supporting them so that we all continue working together, for the success of all our young people.

Beyond this event we will share with you further details throughout the exam season about the school provision and supporting mechanisms.

Updates and Events

You might notice that we have started increasing our messaging through Facebook. It is our aim to share with you more frequently as many achievements as possible and also the visuals celebrating the learning of our students. We shall endeavour to include as many subjects as possible in the coming weeks and months.

On 23 March we are holding a Year 9 charity concert in the aid of Cancer Research UK. As a school it is essential for us to actively support a range of good causes and to engage with local, regional and national communities. We are very proud to be able to host this event as the first of many and we look forward to seeing you all there to join us, to enjoy musical ensembles and to contribute to an important cause.

Several important dates for everyone’s dairy have now been finalised. 

Year 11 prom will take place on Thursday 29 June 2023 at Falmouth Pavilions and we will be having graze boards followed by a disco. The timings are to be confirmed but it is likely to run from 6.30pm to 10.30pm. 

The Sixth Form prom will take place on Friday 30 June 2023 at Penmorvah Manor and we will be having a buffet followed by a disco. The timings are to be confirmed.

These are really important events for our students which will mark their journey with us when reaching the important milestones associated with the school and the Falmouth Family. We hope that all students will be able to enjoy these extraordinary events with great pride and form long lasting positive memories. 

I look forward to your continued support, seeing you all at various school events that we have planned and will continue developing as part of our aim to provide an extraordinary experience for all our students. 

Kind regards,

 

 

Lenka Chanter

Headteacher