I have written before about how incredibly lucky we are to have a farm within our school and this term the arrival of lambing has reinforced this in spades. As usual, the farm opened to the public on 15th and 16th March for lambing weekend and we were packed with families who came to pet the lambs, talk to the goats and meet the pigs. Those who came on Saturday were lucky enough to witness the birth of three lambs.
We will be opening our newly completed farm shop in May. Opening hours will be 3-5pm every Wednesday and 11-1 every Saturday commencing on Wednesday 2nd May so please come along to buy beef, pork, lamb and eggs.

As ever, the students have been up to all sorts of amazing things this term. Highlights include two of our students being shortlisted for the Saachi art prize in February and, although they did not win they both went to the exhibition and received wonderful comments about their work. Our Year 9 Youth Speak team under the guidance of Mrs Hopkins have won both the local and county finals. They go on to represent us at the regional finals and we all wish them very good luck. A large number of our students take part in Young Enterprise (usually aimed at post 16 students) and they have been touring Oxfordshire and Warwickshire making vast amounts of money on the way.
The news about our sixth form continues to be good. The County Council cabinet meeting on Valentine’s Day debated whether to allow us to proceed to formal consultation and the vote was unanimous in our favour. Formal consultation is a four week process and will commence in May. Once again, I will be asking for your support nearer the time.
The plans for our two storey 6th form building are gathering pace and will be available to view very soon. The building will include five classrooms, a large common room, a study area & ICT suite and a kitchen area. Those Year 11 students who have chosen to stay on to study a combination of A level Biology, Chemistry, Physics, Maths, Further Maths or a diploma in Animal Management or Agriculture will take a lead in choosing the furnishings and colour scheme for the building.

We have the opportunity to offer teacher training places on School Direct in conjunction with Warwick University. School Direct is a new 12 month training route into teaching which allows you to choose the group of schools in which you train, with an expectation of employment at the end. If you or anyone you know is considering a career in teaching Design Technology, English, Geography or History then please let me know. There has been so much going on this term and I hope this gives you a flavour of how we continue to go from strength to strength.
Dr Annabel Kay – Headteacher