We are heading towards the end of a very busy term with a number of events coming up. Last week we were one of almost 90% of schools across the country that were closed or partially closed due to the industrial action by public sector workers in relation to the proposed pension reforms. Despite this we managed to maintain our improved attendance, up by more than 2% compared to last year. This week sees the interviews for the new headteacher on Tuesday and Wednesday, I’ll let you know who’s been appointed as soon as I can. We have an enrichment day for the whole school on Friday which should be very exciting. Each year group will take part in different activities with some students visiting universities, others taking part in a health education day and some running the school’s Winter Fair. Thanks to Mrs Jakszta for putting the enrichment day together. 150 year 7 and 8 students went bowling and skating last Friday as a reward for positive behaviour this term. We will be focusing on promoting positive behaviour over the next two weeks, encouraging students to be responsible around school and in the local community.

As you can see I am falling behind with this blogging thing, I just don’t know where the time goes. I have been talking to a lot of students about my departure and have been pleased to hear that they recognise the great strides that the school has made.  I  will be sad to leave, KSSC is a great place to work and there is much still to do. However, what I have said to the students  is that they have made a huge contribution to the  improvements that have  been made.   The vast majority are keen to learn and understand that they need to make the most of the time they have in school.  On that note, we had a very positive year 10 parents’ evening on 10th November where over 60% of parents attended to discuss their child’s progress with subject teachers. We also featured heavily in the Tyburn Mail with some fabulous reporting of the Black History celebration, the Careers’ Fair and the work of the Sports Partnership. We had a range of small scale activities for Children in Need with students selling cakes and taking part in sponsored events.  Our bid to be part of the ‘Get Set’ network, which is part of the build up to the London Olympics, was successful so we will be able to host a series of sporting events in 2012.  This week, a group of year 7 students visited RAF Cosford as part of the STEM club – there was a brief glimpse of them on the morning news! Our year 10 football team beat Great Barr 2-1 to reach the semi finals of the cup, well done to the team. Also, three of our year 11 dancers have applied and been selected to work with professional choreographers at the Royal Opera House this weekend, a fantastic experience for them! We are continuing our push on standards of uniform and will be following up with students who are not in full uniform next week. Thank you for your support on this.

I have some important news to share with you. After five happy and successful years as head teacher I am sorry to be leaving KSSC at the end of the spring term. I am moving to the headship of a bigger school, closer to home, in order to spend more time with my family. I have thoroughly enjoyed the past five years, we have been through some fantastic times and there has scarcely been a dull moment. I know the governors are already working on appointing my successor,  I am sure the new head will lead the school to even greater success. It has been a pleasure and a privilege to lead KSSC on its improvement journey and watch the staff and students grow in confidence and pride as we have achieved better and better outcomes.  I want to thank everyone connected with the school for the support they have given me in my time here and to wish you all the very best for the future. There is still much to do and it will be ‘business as usual’ until April,  I look forward to working with you over the next few months as we continue to move the school forward.

There has been lots of activity this week around our Black History Celebration. Although Black History Month is officially in October, we chose to have our celebration on Thursday to give us longer to prepare. The theme for the evening was Africa Calling and a number of events took place. The library hosted an exhibition of  work by local artists and work from our Textiles students.  The canteen served a delicious menu of African, Caribbean and Asian food. The Young Enterprise team took the opportunity to sell their wares with one group selling freshly made fruit smoothies and another offering Mendhi designs. The students performed African dance and a drama  based on the story of  Harriet Tubman and the underground rail road which took slaves to freedom in the US. There was an excellent turnout from students and parents with over 200 people attending.  Thanks to all the staff and students who helped to make the evening such a success. Many of our students and staff will be celebrating Eid-Ul-Adha this weekend so best wishes to you and your families. We will see students on Tuesday 8th November as we have an INSET day on Monday 7th.

Half term is finally here and I think both the staff and students are looking forward to a well earned break. The final week has been full of celebration with each year group receiving awards during assembly for achieving the PACER  qualities of Participation, Achievement, Citizenship, Endeavour or Responsibility. The students with the most Vivo miles in each year group also got a prize. We had an excellent turn out to our year 11 parents’ evening on Thursdaywith almost 70% of parents attending to discuss their child’s progress. Two of our year 11 girls have been running a Breast Cancer appeal in school for the past few weeks. They have organised a number of activities to raise money for charity. They ran an assembly for year 10 and 11 girls on Friday and our head boy was sponsored to dress as a female student for the day.  We finished the half term with a Halloween disco for year 7 students run by the student leadership team and others. Some fabulous costumes were on show. Thanks to all the students and staff involved in organising this. Wishing everyone a good half term holiday. See you back in school on Monday 31st October.

I think we are all glad that we are nearing the end of what has been a good but hectic first half term. We had a fabulous Careers’ Fair on Thursday attended by twenty eight providers giving students from years 9,10,11, and their parents, information and advice about further education colleges, sixth forms, apprenticeships and careers in Public Services such as the Armed Forces and the NHS. It was great to see our students engaging in conversation with a range of adults who remarked on how polite and well behaved they were. Feedback about the event was extremely positive and a huge thank you must go to all involved. We hope to make this an annual event. Within school, the focus for this week has been around futures and setting targets for achievement. We have just completed a climate walk for year 10 and collected information on year 11 in preparation for next week’s parents’ evening. What is really pleasing is our current attendance figure which stands at 95%. This is a 3% improvement on this time last year and the best attendance that we have ever had at KSSC. Well done to 10K who achieved 100% attendance this week.  Thanks to the attendance team for their hard work and to parents and carers for their continued support.

Another busy week, starting with a two day inspection of Citizenship by Rashida Sharif, HMI. The HMI observed a range of lessons, talked to student leaders, met with staff and looked at examples of students’ work. Overall she was very impressed with what she saw and heard, recognising the great progress that the school has made in recent years. She thought our students were fantastic and a real credit to the school. The report has not been published yet so I can’t share the outcomes but would like to say how pleased I was with the HMI’s positive comments about the school and the way that students contribute both in school and in the wider community. Well done everyone!

We have just completed our school council elections. Congratulations to those students who were voted in to represent their year group. Those that were unsuccessful will continue as form reps. The council will meet regularly to discuss student matters and bring items to the school leadership team. It is hoped that in time they will work with the governing body as well. We had a year 7 parents’ evening on Thursday where parents were able to talk to their child’s form tutor and look at examples of school work from a range of subjects. Again, there was good feedback from parents about how their child has settled in at KSSC.  Thanks to all the staff and students involved.

How time flies! We are four weeks into the term and already have lots of activities going on. We are getting ready for a survey inspection of Citizenship and will have a visitor in school on Monday and Tuesday looking at the work we are doing on this. We also have a year 7 parents’ evening next Thursday which is a chance for parents and carers to see how their child has settled in at Kingsbury.  We have just finished a  Learning Walk with year 7 this week so this will also tell us what’s going well. The student council elections have now taken place and each year group has two representatives that will sit on the school council. Those who stood but were not elected will become form representatives.  Our Careers’ Fair takes place on Thursday 13th October and we have around 30 employers and colleges attending. It is designed for students in Y9,10 and 11 to get more information about future courses and careers.  Some sports news – our Year 10 football team beat Hodge Hill 6-0  this week. Well done to the team. We are really promoting our PACER scheme at the moment and want to see students being awarded Vivos for demonstrating our five KSSC qualities. Remember, points make prizes!

This week has been very busy with two Open Mornings well attended by parents and prospective year 7 students. They were very impressed by what they saw in lessons and around the school.  Our focus for this week has been punctuality and we have completed a year 11 Climate Walk to see how well the students have settled in lessons. This has been extremely positive with almost all lessons being graded either 1 ‘outstanding’ or 2 ‘good’. It is pleasing to see year 11 maturing into young adults and taking responsibility for their learning and behaviour. Long may it continue! A large number of students have been involved in break time activities such as football, table tennis, cricket, hockey, ICT and the library, thanks to support from duty staff.  Since opening up the school during break times we have been pleased with the vast majority of students who treat the facilities with care and appreciate what’s on offer.

Our focus for next week is ‘Community’. This will be a feature of assemblies and form time. We hope that this will be the start of some work around what makes a good citizen and what it means to be part of a wider community.  We want students to reflect on how their behaviour and attitude impacts on those around them and how they can all make a positive contribution to making  KSSC a safe and happy place.

It’s been an interesting week. The push on uniform is really beginning to make a difference and the vast majority of students look fabulously smart. The two week amnesty is coming to an end so anyone arriving at school without correct uniform next week will be placed on isolation. A text has been sent to parents to inform them so fingers crossed we will have everyone correctly dressed. We had some good football results this week with our year 9 and 10 teams beating St Edmund Campion.  Unfortunately,  year 8 lost – better luck next time lads! The students are enjoying using the new astroturf during break times and for training which is great to see. We are preparing for Open Evening tonight which we hope will be a great success.  It is incredible to think we have only been back two weeks – where did the summer holidays go?