Letters

Welcome back to the start of the Summer Term.  It feels like we are moving very quickly through the school year with many exciting developments continuing and with all of our students and staff working hard towards the exam season.  Many students in Year 11, 12 & 13 took the opportunity to continue to come into the school and college during the Easter break to continue with their studies, with staff also coming in to help support them.  The formal external exams start earlier each year for our students, with the GCSE’s/A Levels starting in a few weeks time, taking place during May and June.  At this stage there is no substitute for lots of focus and revision in preparation for these exams, so continuing to work hard is the best advice for students to achieve their potential.

Last week we were delighted to hear that the Planning Inspector commented very positively about the thoroughness and appropriateness of our 3G pitch construction and use plans.  We have had huge support for our plans from many different communities within Falmouth and the local area and it is great for our town that we can now access the grant funding allocated to the project and get on with the construction.  The construction of the new  playing fields replacing those at Union Corner is now well under way and going well.  The new fields will be a considerable improvement over the old fields and the work on these is planned to be finished this summer.  We are now going out to tender for the new Sports Pavilion, so hopefully the construction of this facility will also start this summer.

In previous updates I have mentioned the school uniform and about ensuring that we are helping you as much as we can when it comes to purchasing uniform.  Many parents requested that we provided school authorised trousers and skirts to make the purchasing of these items easier for families.  We also listened to families who wanted to ensure they had the choice of more than one supplier when it came to purchasing uniform.  Therefore, school uniform and PE kit (with additional updated optional kit) will continue to be available through MC Sports in Falmouth can now also be purchased from A Game (based in Redruth).  An online ordering service will also be available to families.  We will be updating our uniform section on the school website over the next couple of weeks with all of the details (http://www.falmouth.cornwall.sch.uk/240/uniform) so please look out for the updated information.

We are very keen this term to get all families accessing the Falmouth School mobile app.  The app is free to download  (just search for the ‘School Gateway’ mobile app) and will inform you at regular points throughout the day with information about achievement, behaviour , timetables and attendance specific to your child in school.  When downloading the app, please ensure that you use the same mobile phone number and email address that you have already supplied to the school. The company providing the service will send you a personal reference number (PIN number) to allow you to log onto the service and receive information on your phone about your child.  Please note that this term we will no longer be issuing paper slips to inform you of detentions, as this information will be sent out using the app and/or email.  I know that although the vast majority of families have access to social media/mobile phones, some do not.  Please contact us if you do not have access so that we can ensure we are still able to communicate effectively with you about day to day issues.

Please remember that once you have contacted us through Reception, we will aim to reply back to you within one working day whenever possible.  Lower School parents have had this contact from Mrs Holland  over the last couple of years.  Starting this term, Miss Macrae will take on the same role to support Upper School families, with  Mr Moore returning back to his full-time Maths teaching.  This means that Mr Moore will no longer be picking up Upper School contacts and questions, other than those to do with Maths.

This week we welcomed Miss Searle who has joined us to teach Geography and Business and Miss Philpott who joins us in English. To complete the staffing updates for this term, Mr Hayward will be joining the PE Faculty, as Deputy Head of PE, in a couple of weeks time.