The following message went out to parents on Monday 9 January 2023:
It may not be a new a school year – but it is still a new year – and we hope it has been a happy one for you so far.
There will be some changes in timings in the two terms ahead and we wanted to give you earlier notification on them, as well as flag up on or two other things as well:
This email will include:
- Changed INSET Day Date
- Changing Hours to School Day
- Changes to School Website
- Collecting School History
- Changes to Extra-Curricular Programme
- Potential Strike Action
- PTFA Events
- Canteen Changes
- EduLink
Changed INSET Day Date:
We usually schedule an INSET day for the Monday after the Summer Half-Term Break – this year it was going to be Monday 5 June.
It is used to plot out work and priorities for the following year and to make sure we use up freed time from Year 11s and Year 13s moving on to the maximum.
The day is usually light on formal exams but, after the recent publication of the Summer Exam Timetable, for the first time this is not the case this year.
This means we cannot support the Year 11s in their exams as we need to without totally rendering the INSET day – which is integral to how we work – useless.
Consequently, we are moving the date to Friday 26 May – the day before the Summer Half-Term Break. This will be adjusted on the school calendar at: https://www.friaryschool.co.uk/calendar/.
If you have any problems with this in terms of booked holidays, etc, then please contact Richard Barnett-Richards, one of our senior team, via office@friary.greywoodmst.co.uk.
Changing Hours to the School Day:
One of the latter acts of the Boris Johnson government was to direct secondary schools to run a 32½ hr school week. This does not necessarily mean more teaching time, just this set time on the school premises.
You can read more about it here: https://schoolsweek.co.uk/schools-asked-to-offer-32-5-hour-week-by-2023-and-ofsted-will-check/
Any change of the school day for a mainstream secondary school requires a formal consultation so we will be doing this. We will send this out later this term. It will effectively see minor adjustments to the beginning and end of the day and it will not cause problems for school buses, etc.
We appreciate that though these would be minor alterations, they may not meet universal approval, but as it is a government direction there is not much we can do about it.
Changes to School Website:
Over the next half-term you may notice some structural changes to our school website so we would appreciate your tolerance as things get moved around and slotted into place.
A school website comes with a raft of expectations in terms of statutory items, OFSTED and DfE expectations, as well as stuff the school wants to communicate, so to meet all these changing objectives sometimes a re-jig is needed.
If there is anything missing that you think would be useful then feel free to let us know via office@friary.greywoodmst.co.uk – we’ll certainly take any feedback on board.
Collecting School History:
We are calling out for help from local families to help gather and collate documents and photographs related to the school’s long history.
We are requesting originals or scanned copies so that the history of the school is not lost, and the thousands of students who have passed through the school’s doors, at the various school sites, will know that their experience and journey is being retained.
The documents could include reports, letters, magazines, or school-work, whilst the photos could be formal school ones, or informal snaps like those taken on the first day of ‘big school’. It could even simply be memories and anecdotes that would be good to share.
Our school has a rich history, and was founded back in the nineteenth-century when it was originally opened as a high school for girls, so hopefully this project will secure the story.
It will certainly be a good project for the students and there are potential options of an online record or an exhibition so we will see where this leads us to.
If you have any documents and photographs to contribute please email them to office@friary.greywoodmst.co.uk or drop them in at school reception (ideally alongside your contact details).
Changes to Extra-Curricular Programme
If there is one query that comes up more than any other from parents then it is to ask what the extra-curricular clubs are.
We actually update the programme each term and put it on the school website at: https://www.friaryschool.co.uk/extra-curricular/
In addition, we have Battle of the Bands coming up on Tuesday 14 February. This will focus on music from the 2010s so any singers or musicians can also sign up for that in the Music Department.
Elsewhere, the KS3 (Years 7-9) Show for the Summer Term will be ‘Mary Poppins’ and main role auditions take place on Tuesday 17 January (3.05pm-4.15pm).
Outside of these main roles, any child who wants to get involved will be welcome and they will just need to come to the first rehearsal which will be publicised in school in the weeks ahead.
‘Mary Poppins’ is not performed until W/B 19 June so look out for tickets in the Summer Term.
Potential Strike Action:
We just wanted to flag up that the trade unions for the education sector are balloting for strike action.
You can read more about it at:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-63283289
We do not yet know if we will be affected but if strike action goes ahead then it could be this term. When we have a clear picture we will let you know but for now we are very much waiting to see what happens nationally. It will not be a school decision.
PTFA Events:
You will already know how important our PTFA is in terms of providing extra support and facilities for your child – it is true to say that children would not perform as well at our school if it were not for the work of this group.
This term we have three main PTFA events which you would be welcome to attend at our school:
* PTFA Meeting – Monday 16 January – 6.00pm
* PTFA Quiz Night – Thursday 9 Feb – more details to follow
* Battle of Bands – Tuesday 14 Feb – more details to follow
Of course, we appreciate that you all live very busy lives so if you cannot commit to meetings or events then you could sign up for the PTFA School Lottery.
This sees you sign up for £1 per week which gets you a ticket that brings a weekly school prize draw of £50+ and entry into a national draw where you can win £25,000. You can sign up by following the details here: https://www.friaryschool.co.uk/school-lottery/.
Alternatively, if you shop regularly with Amazon, you can go to shop via Amazon Smile and select for donations to be made to ‘Lichfield Friary-Grange School Parent-Teacher Association’. It costs you nothing to do and every time you make purchase Amazon make a donation to the school.
Canteen Changes:
Following some changes in school, we have re-evaluated our canteen menus and are offering new menus where we have sought to provide improved options in terms of range and healthy eating.
The new menus will go onto the updated school website and a new queuing system should see things run more efficiently. We are also looking to invest in a new payment system which should make things quicker still.
Our canteen will never be ideal – unless it can magically extend 4 or 5 times – but we will continue to do our very best. More details will follow as the plans roll out.
EduLink:
The data we get back from EduLink illustrates that the overwhelming majority of parents check in on EduLink to learn more about their child’s progress. Naturally, the end of Autumn Term report elicited a great deal of parent activity.
In order to broaden the information we give you, we have added more details to the Behaviour option of the package. If you click on Behaviour it will now tell you if there have been any incidents in school, as well as the subject area involved.
You will appreciate we cannot have a major inquest over every incident. No teacher takes the time to record matters, or set and run sanctions, for fun as there is scant time enough already. Even so, we think it is worth giving it a go to offer you a daily insight into what is going on and if there is a substantive concern then we will get in touch.
To Finalise:
Well that’s it for now, the school year continues to whiz through – our Year 11s are down to their last 75 or so days – and as things develop as we move forward, we’ll continue to keep you updated.
