1 September 2019
We are looking forward to welcoming all our current students back on Tuesday morning, along with our new Year 7. Everyone starts at the usual time and senior staff will be travelling on the buses in the morning to make sure that our new Year 7 get used to their way to school. We also welcome a number of new staff: Mr Carr and Mr McVey in Maths; Mrs Main, Mrs Yaqub and Mr Davison in Humanities; Mr Hutton in PE along with History; Mrs Murray in Music; Mr Moorcroft-Jones in Computing and ICT. Ms Turner and Ms Ford join us as additional Teaching Assistants on Tuesday. We wish them every success as they join our very supportive team at WLD.
GCSE results this year made one point extremely clear - we undoubtedly stretch and challenge our most able students! Grade 9s are more difficult to get than the old A* and are only achieved by around 4% of students nationally. Grade 9s were achieved in 13 of our subjects across our whole curriculum - this a real credit to the quality of the teaching and the hard work by individual students. In another indicator of the way in which students were able to achieve the highest possible grades the percentage of students getting grade 7 or better (the old A & A* standard) trebled this year!
We have had a wonderful report from the assessor for the Inclusion Quality Mark - who comes each year to re-assess us for Flagship status. The full report is here. A key headline was "Walton le Dale High School continues to move from strength to strength in terms of its inclusive practice". He also said that "I am of the opinion that the school has developed significantly over the past two years and that it is poised to increase momentum over the next year." That is great to hear!
On practical matters, Mr Howarth, Deputy Headteacher, wrote to all parents and carers at the end of last term. Please re-read his letter, particularly with reference to uniform, equipment and phones. Our uniform policy is set by the governing body and is very clear - please be aware, as autumn approaches, of the policy on outdoor coats "Denim, leather, track suit, hooded tops, sweat shirts and other fashion garments are not allowed." Many thanks for your support with uniform and other practical matters - good order and consistency are essential in a school so that brilliant learning can take place.
In terms of upcoming events, please be aware of Year 11 Mentoring evening a week on Wednesday (11th Sept) - further details to follow this week. Open Evening is on Monday 16th Sept - 2 weeks time - and that is a half-day with school closing at 12.20 to allow everything to be set up for the evening. Many students help as guides and volunteers - again, details will follow this week.
Last, but certainly not least, please join me in congratulating Mr Hardman on his outstanding 3 Peaks 500 mile challenge to raise funds for Manchester Children's Hospital in memory of Tim Hindle - an amazing achievement!
As always, should you have any questions or concerns as the new school year gets underway please do not hesitate to get in touch with us at school.
Have a good week....
James Harris
Headteacher
Posted by James Harris
Category: WLD Updates
