24th April 2018

Dear Parent/Carer,

Welcome back after the Easter break to all students and their families.

GCSE examinations

GCSE examinations will be starting in the next few weeks. The exams will run from May 14th to June 22nd. For all parents/carers of year 11 students you will find enclosed with this letter a copy of the exam timetable, please take time to go through this with your son. This is the second year of the implementation of the new 9 to 1 grading system. For the majority of subjects your son will be awarded a grade from 9 to 1 instead of a grade A* - G. There is a more detailed explanation of the changes on the DfE information sheet enclosed with this letter.

Good luck to all of our year 11 students!

Ramadan

As you will be aware the holy month of Ramadan is due to commence for our Muslim students from around 14thMay 2018 until Eid al-Fitr, around 15thJune 2018. For our Muslim students, Ramadan is a period of prayer, increased religious devotion, self-reflection, self-control, charity-giving and expressing goodwill to others. Most noticeably it is a time of fasting and control over the need to eat and drink during daylight hours. As always, it will be a decision for families, parents and individual students whether they are of an age to fast, for how long they will fast and if they are legitimately exempt from fasting.

Fasting during exams can have a profound impact on the performance of students, which is all the more significant due to the commencement of GCSE examinations for our year 11 students, who have worked hard over the past 5 years in preparation for their final assessments. Therefore, please ensure your son is well prepared, ready and understands the likely effects on his body during fasting and that he manages these challenges well, by:

  • eating well, with a balanced meal (containing all food groups) when breaking the fast at the evening meal (iftar) and during the pre-dawn meal (suhur) and drinking plenty of re-hydrating fluids between iftar and suhur;
  • managing his sleep effectively;
  • getting plenty of rest between examinations;
  • avoiding over-exertion during the day, especially if the weather is particularly warm;
  • planning ahead, in terms of organising his equipment and time, to avoid rushing around, and in terms of organising revision processes, to fit around prayers and other Ramadanspecific practices, such as the Tarawih prayer or I’tikaf, if these are likely to be performed.

Truancy call

If your child is absent from school, you will receive a truancy text in the morning to make you aware that your child is absent and asking you to phone the school to give the reason for the absence. It is vital that you phone the school back to let us know the reason behind your son’s illness and any other unexplained absences. This is particularly important if you know your son left for school in the morning but has been marked absent. Please call the school, and not your son, if you believe he is in school and a member of staff will confirm his attendance with you. Hence it is very important that we have up to date contact details for all families.

Changes to data protection law

You may be aware that from May, the rules around data protection are changing. The 'General Data Protection Regulation' (GDPR) will change how we can use your personal data and keep it safe, and will also strengthen your rights over your own data. The point of this is to make sure sensitive or private information about yourselves and your children stays safe. Whilst it is similar to the current Data Protection Act in many ways, there are a few differences, so we need to make a few changes at the school in order to ensure we remain compliant. One of these changes is that we have updated our privacy notice, and a copy is enclosed. If you have any questions about how the GDPR affects you, or how our school is preparing, please contact the main school office.

Parent/Carer event calendar

Enclosed with this letter you will find a calendar of events for Parents/Carers for the rest of this academic year. Please take the time to read it as it offers a wide variety of ways for you to get involved in your child’s education and also learn more about what goes on when he is at school. Please contact Sarah Henderson on 0207 540 5620 or by email on if you want to take part in any of the sessions or have any questions.

Help us to keep in contact with you

If you have moved residence or changed your phone/mobile number it is vital that you let reception know so that we can contact you if we need to and also make sure that letters get to the right person.

Keep up to date with all news and forthcoming events

Lots of important information such as term dates, events, uniform details, curriculum details and the latest copy of the Rokeby Recordercan be found on the Rokeby website. You can visit it at

Dates for this half term

Monday 7thMay: Bank Holiday – school closed

Thursday 10th May: Year 7 Parents’Evening, 3.30 – 6.00 pm

Thursday 24thMay: Year 11 Graduation

Monday 28th May to Friday 1st June – Half term holiday

Thank you for your continued support throughout this academic year.

Charlotte Robinson

Headteacher

Enclosed:

Year 11 examination timetable(Year 11 families only)

DfE information sheet

Privacy notice for Parents/Carers and students

Parent/Carer Summer calendar

Rokeby Review