September 2nd 2025

Dear Parents

 

As we welcome all students back tomorrow, our focus will be to get on with teaching and learning in the classroom as quickly as we possibly can to ensure an excellent school year.

 

As per our Term and Other Important Dates 2025 – 26 we are running Information and Meet the Academic Tutor Evenings for each Year Group in the early part of this term.

 

Year Group	Date
Year 7	Wednesday, September 10th 2025
Years 8, 9 & 10	Thursday, September 11th 2025
Year 11	Tuesday, September 16th 2025
Years 12 & 13	Wednesday, September 17th 2025

 

At the Evenings, parents will have the opportunity to meet with their child’s Academic Tutor. We will also be informing parents about what students will be learning across their subjects this year, as well as the enrichment activities and school trips planned.

 

We will also spend a little time showing parents how they can navigate our website to check all this easily when they need to.

 

We will contact you later in the week with booking details.

 

As we start the academic year, some of our key contacts have changed in our Academies:

 

	Eden	Rother	Stour	Medway	Sixth Form
Academy Director	Mr L Haisell	Mr D O’Loughlin	Ms K Humphries	Mr R Coles	Mr B Travers
Assistant Academy Director	Ms T Inch	Ms K Chase	Mr J Taylor	Ms S Shearer	Ms S Brandicourt; Ms C Paynter
Guidance Manager	Ms H Muddiman	Ms A Wilson	Ms M Hillier	Ms H Gear	Ms N Dunn

 

A word about mobile phones

 

 

Last academic year, we were grateful to you for your support about our approach and determination around mobile phones. Teachers reported far less time wasted in class and far higher levels of concentration with increased student understanding of their learning and faster progress.

 

Teachers also reported far higher levels of punctuality to lessons on account of students not being permitted to access their phones when changing classroom.

 

 

Where mobile phones are not turned off in bags during lessons, they can distract from teaching and learning of whole classes. We cannot let that happen, and where students do not follow our simple and clear requirements, we will only return mobile phones to parents. 

 

The amount of time young people spend on and their dependency on their phones present well-known risks and new this academic year, we will require that students do not make us of their phones at break and lunch. Where they do, the same consequences will apply as outlined above.

 

This means that phones must be turned off and in bags from the moment students arrive in school until after they have left.

 

This change brings us further in line with Gov.uk issued Guidance Mobile Phones in schools

which I sent to you in March last academic year, and is similar to the approach adopted by the vast majority of schools.

 

By way of reminder, students must not wear or carry headphones or ear pods in school at any time. 

 

If you missed it, please see our Letter to Parents of August 28^th.

 

Yours sincerely, 

 

Charles Joseph 

Principal