1st March 2016
Dear Parents, Carers and Families of The Royal Docks Community School,
On the 1st January, I celebrated my having been in post as Head Teacher for two years and am very proud of the significant changes we have brought to our school and that, as a result of our March 2015 inspection, Ofsted recognised the improvements that our school has achieved. I hope that you have taken time to read the report. A key indicator for a school striving for excellence is the quality of its leadership and management, and Ofsted recognised this as ‘good’ at our last inspection; leadership and management across the school will not be content until we are delivering ‘outstanding’ results and outcomes for our school and our students. One of the great pleasures that I have enjoyed in the past year has been showing guests around our school who are consistently impressed by the high standards demonstrated by our young people. Please remember that we offer open tours during the school day and welcome you to come and see your school at work.
Our Chair of Governors, Tim Harrison, the Chair of Newham Partnership working and our Vice Chairs, Rachel Flowers, The Director of Public Health for Croydon and Alex Lovell Financial Controller for Excel are fully committed to ensuring and sustaining the highest standards. Our school has undergone exciting change; standards are high and our staff, Trust and Governing Body are committed to delivering the very best for all students.
As part of a change process, it is necessary to manage the old and the new. We have demanded and delivered excellence from day one for our students at Key Stage 3, but also have to manage rapid progress required for our Key Stage 4 students. We are achieving this – our intervention programme at Key Stage 4 is well-managed, precise and showing real impact. I am very proud of the way in which Key Stage 4 students are responding to this and have very high expectations for all of them.
We have introduced weekly exam practise for our Year 11 students. This takes place under exam conditions in the exam hall every week. This is beneficial in many ways. Students have the regular experience of sitting exam papers in English, Maths and Science and develop an understanding of the rubric and demands of these papers. It also gives teachers the opportunity to break down final exams for students and give weekly feedback on the various components and demands of the final exams. We are also mindful of the pressure facing students during the final stages of exam preparation and have put many things in place to support them in sustaining their energy until and throughout their final exams. For example, the week beginning 7th March is a Y11 reflection week with no homework or after school practice exams, giving time for Y11 to take stock, re-energise and prepare for the next stage.
The way in which final exams are administered has changed. Exams are now linear – this means that rather than studying a module or topic and being assessed by exam each term, students need to be able to recall skills and knowledge at the end of a two year GCSE course.
In order to start preparing our younger students for the challenges that linear exams bring, all year groups will be sitting some end of year formal exams this summer. These exams will be made up of a combination of skills and knowledge-based questions and parents/carers will receive an end of year report. All students will take part, and full access arrangements for SEN students are in place as part of this schedule. You will be receiving further information on this in the very near future.
As you know, our school is partnered with two independent schools: Felsted School in Essex, and Warminster School in Wiltshire, who invite our students to apply for fully sponsored KS5 boarding places – we currently have two Year 12 students at Warminster and two Year 12 students at Felsted. Warminster School has just informed us that Cheyenne has come top of the year group in the Statistics mock exam and Michelle has become House Prefect. Congratulations to both students and their families. Furthermore, both Warminster and Felsted are supporting us to make our end of year exams both challenging and meaningful and are working with us on a number of projects. Year 10 and Year 11 students and their parents will be informed about how they can apply for fully-funded places for study at Key Stage 5 at Felsted and Warminster.
We are keen that our Key Stage 3 students are well prepared for secondary school and, in partnership with our independent schools, and Kier Hardie we are constructing a ‘prep’ transition work book that supports students to be inquisitive and fully prepared for learning. Our school is an outward looking school and our partnerships are flourishing. We are welcoming 173 new Y6 students in September who will be receiving their ‘prep’ work book in the summer term. This academic year, our school has formally joined the St Angela’s Teaching School Alliance and our teachers are working alongside Forest Gate Community School, Kier Hardie, St. Winefride’s and Westcliff Grammar School for Girls in Southend, to increase challenge and continue in our ‘pursuit of excellence’ (Ofsted report 2015).
The DfE Performance Tables have recently been published and reflect many issues that our school has worked to eradicate, they are not an indicator of current performance. Attainment at our school has simply not been good enough in the past and the performance tables report this. However, the performance tables do not report the value added results, and these results show a sustained and significant improvement. The value added results demonstrate how much progress each individual student has made in all subjects in comparison to students nationally in all subjects. In 2014, our value added score increased by 2 points and in 2015 by a further 9 points to draw us in line with the national average. This is a clear indicator that all subject areas in the school are delivering high quality teaching and learning. This was noted by Ofsted. Ofsted recognised that students currently are making ‘rapid progress’ (Ofsted March 2015).
The current Year 11 is on track to achieve a good set of results and I look forward to reporting the school’s results to you in the autumn term.
Can I take this opportunity to inform you that all current students will graduate to their new year group on Monday 20th June. Thursday 16th and Friday 17th June will be devoted to enrichment opportunities, achievement award celebrations and formal graduation. This worked very well last year, giving a dynamic end to the current school year and a very focussed start to the autumn term. More detailed information will be sent to you by Deputy Head Teacher, Mr. Ross this term. We look forward to welcoming our new Y7 students to their classes in September.
I thank you for your continued support and I would like to take this opportunity to draw your attention to events happening in the school for the rest of this term.
Monday 7th to Friday 11th March Year 11 Reflection Week
Monday 7th March Visit from the Worshipful Company of Horners to Year 9
Tuesday 8th March 9am – 12pm Parent Workshop
Thursday 10th March Visit from for Year 9 on careers in Medicine
Monday 14th – Friday 18th March Community Languages Speaking and Listening exams
Monday 21st – Thursday 24th March Outward Bound trip to Ullswater
Tuesday 22nd March – 6.30pm Year 11 Drama Parental performance
Wednesday 23rd March – 6pm KS3 disco
Thursday 24th March End of spring term
Tuesday 12th April Start of summer term
Yours sincerely
W Bower
Wendy Bower
Head Teacher