From Mike Hulme The Year 7 Consultation Evening was another successful and well attended event last week and it was great to chat with parents about their experiences so far. Indeed, we always distribute an evaluative questionnaire at every consultation evening which helps inform practice and to gauge where we might improve in our work. The Year 7 team undertook the analysis of views and I am pleased to say that the overwhelming majority of comments were supportive and positive. It was noticeable that some parents were concerned over the space, acoustics and the inevitable queues to speak to staff on the evening. Whilst we have worked hard to minimise the disruption that our renovation work is having on our school life, the use of temporary venues will inevitably impact upon such events. Our new hall will offer so much more space and lessen the need to queue although the access to a greater number of teachers in Secondary School consultation evenings will be a new routine for many of our Year 7 parents and therefore some delay is inevitable. I would also commit to providing refreshments, in the form of tea, coffee and biscuits in the future, which is the usual fare. I note that a parent had commented upon the length of break one and that there is not enough time to queue and get food. I can assure all that all students are able to get through the canteen on time and that there is more than adequate time to queue, make choices and purchases whilst being able to socialise. I can vouch for this being frequently on duty during the lunch breaks. There were one or two other useful comments and suggestions which will be acted upon accordingly. As ever, we do welcome parental feedback to improve the service. The latest edition of the school’s exceptional school magazine “Shout” is available from this week and I strongly recommend purchase. The edition is themed “past, present and future” and contains articles written by the students. It must be said that the magazine is amazingly professional and contains a number of informative and interesting articles. I would like to congratulate Danny Tate the student leader editor of the publication and, of course, Mr O’Donnell who overviews the project. Please do make a point of getting your child to buy a copy for home. Another student led project which I did mention in a previous edition of this newsletter is that of the “Hands Off“ project. The campaign to alleviate physicality within school and to improve student to student interactions will be launched on Monday (15th March). The students have presented to all year groups in assemblies and the project will involve a high profile marketing campaign, badges and posters and is aimed to further improve behaviour and to teach mutual respect and thoughtfulness. This forms an important element of the Spiritual, Moral, Social and Cultural (SMSC) development of our students. Well done to the students of the month for March. They are: Nell Hodgson 7C; Venessa Addo 7L; Tameequa Francis-McLeish 8S; Rona Mae Fabrigas 8Q; Abdulmalik Elmi 9N and Sara Hussain 9P As mentioned last week, the school will be closed to students on Wednesday, 26th March due national strike action by the National Union of Teachers (NUT). This forms part of a continual dispute between the union and the government over pay and conditions. As the union represents 70% of the teachers in our school, then it will not be possible to safely manage the student body in school. I am giving families plenty of warning to enable alternative child care arrangements for the day. And finally ….. the students who have completed their Duke of Edinburgh Bronze award scheme for this year attended the graduation award ceremony on Tuesday of this week. Held in the Brent Civic Centre, the students were presented with their certificates by the Mayor of Brent in front of a large audience of achievers from other Brent schools and their parents. I was certainly very proud of the large number of QPCS student who were presented with the award which is a testament to their perseverance, an ability to organise themselves independently and to rise to the challenges posed. Well done to all involved in this now well established project at our school with a particular thanks to the staff who have supported the students and in particular Mr Young who has most ably co-ordinated the scheme once more.
Posted on: Fri, 14 Mar 2014 14:27:22 +0000
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