- 8/10/12 CNSA, AGM 7.00pm Arc
- 10/10/12 6th Form Chamber Concert 7.30pm
- 11/10/12 Year 6 Open Evening 5.00pm - 8.00pm
- 12 10 12 Year 8 HPV vaccinations
- 18 10 12 Year 13 Parents consultation 5.30pm
Don’t forget!
CITY OF NORWICH SCHOOL ASSOCIATION
ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING
MONDAY 8 OCTOBER 2012, 7-9pm
DRAMA STUDIO 213 (in the Arc)
Do you want to see more after school activities for our children?
What extras could we get for school?
Would you like to see more social events for parents?
What other ways are there to fundraise?
Should we use Facebook and Twitter?
Please come to the AGM to discuss these questions and more over a glass of wine or cup of tea. We do need to start the evening formally with a review of finances and the election of a completely new committee, but then we can move on to planning our own calendar of events for 2012/13 and to discussing what we should be spending our funds on.
Nominations for committee members can be submitted on the night, but the evening will be about so much more than the election. Please come along to meet some new faces and to plan how we can support the school and our children.
Open Evening
Due to Year 6 open Evening starting at 5.00pm all 6th form twilight classes on Thursday 11th October are cancelled.
Pet Show 28/9/12
An interesting range of local pets, accompanied by their owners
could be found in the Arc last Friday evening for the fun pet show organised by
the school association. This was the first CNSA event of the school year
and raised £132.40.
In addition to happy cats, cuddly rabbits and friendly guinea pigs
you could find a Mexican spotted quail, a chameleon, a goldfish, a parrot and a
hedgehog; plus mice, snakes, hamsters, gerbils, a tortoise, a gecko, a
ferret and a frilled lizard if you had a good look around. The most
unusual pet prize this year went to King Lott the axolotl (a type of salamander
if you didn’t know!). We also saw some dogs and horses for the first time
in our new photo categories.
But there could only be one Best in Show which this year was
awarded to Dakota, the hog nosed snake, and his owner (Jonathon ).
Our thanks go to judges, Alan McEwen from Eaton Veterinary
Practice and Ellie Spilling from Pets at Home and to Colin Ware from the
Eastern Herpetological Society who exhibited a number of his snakes.
But the event would not have been a success without your support;
so thanks to all the students, staff, parent helpers and contestants who made
the evening such fun.
Message from Mr Nixon
We look forward to welcoming parents and children to the forthcoming Open Evening on Thursday 11th October from 5pm-8pm. This is a great opportunity to look around and to find out more about the school. There will be 3 presentations during the evening. (5.15pm, 6.15pm and 7.15pm) In my presentations I will be highlighting the following:-
- We had our best ever results with 5 A*- C s rising 10% to 80% with English & Maths increasing to 64% (despite the English issue);
- Our Maths subject inspection being graded ‘good’;
- That we focus on rigorous examinations that prepare students for their future careers and have not used equivalencies to improve grades and value added;
- 75% of our students go onto sixth form to do A levels (then most onto University);
- Our standards are based on the past 102 years of excellence and traditional schooling because it works;
- We believe strongly in doing the basics well. Pen and paper are just as important as computers and ipads;
- The quality of our intake is significantly above the national average;
- Our sixth form is a major asset to the school (100% pass rate at A level);
- Our buildings represent the school, a mixture of high quality traditional and new that were built to last.
Over the past three years we have held our nerve and continued with our philosophy of rigorous examinations for the benefit of our students, an approach that is in harmony with the Government’s agenda on standards and one that I have believed in throughout my years in education.
Communications
After reviewing the parent’s questionnaires from last year, along with concerns voiced at various meetings, you may be aware that communication both within school and the wider community is being analysed. My thanks to those of you who have highlighted the areas of good practice as well as when our communication systems could have been improved.
Consequently, we have invited a communications team from Norfolk County Council to visit the school on Tuesday 9th October. They will be interviewing a number of people including staff, Governors, students and parents. They will also be looking at school signage, letters home and the school prospectus etc. Once they have fed back their recommendations, we will be producing an action plan that will go into the School Improvement Plan in order that we can continue to move forward in this really important area.
Jim Nixon
Headteacher
