Welcome Back!
After a summer of the most glorious weather, it was a real joy to welcome back all of our students yesterday. They all looked incredibly smart, and with so many new students across each and every year, there was a real sense of buzz and excitement. In my beginning of term assembly, we welcomed all of the new students and staff to our community, wishing them all the very best for the term and year ahead. In addition, I reminded everyone of the importance of the School Values (Creativity, Kindness, Honesty, Passion and Respect) and the Learner Profile (Aspiration, Curiosity, Independence, Reflection and Resilience). They are the foundation stones of everything that we are building at Saint Felix; they are part of every conversation, lesson, and activity as we look to build a community that is based on these attributes, qualities, and characteristics both within and beyond the classroom.
The mentoring programme begun again yesterday with Senior Department students working in small groups with their allocated teacher where they will navigate their educational journey together and collectively. Support, guidance and advice are the three key areas that this programme is designed to accomplish nuanced according to the age of the students. The Co-Curricular programme was also launched with an exciting array of opportunities available this term covering the creative, physical and cerebral with preparation already beginning for the House Shout, one of the absolute highlights of the year.
It gives me great pleasure to also welcome back the PTA. They have been busy (as always) over the summer selling second-hand uniform and creating an online shop. Cathy Pitt, Chair of the PTA, has put together some FAQs explaining the PTA’s work and how you can get involved; you will find these below. Cathy has asked me to highlight that all parents, guardians and carers are invited to a Welcome Back tea & biscuits social outside Clough (wet weather plan tbc) on Friday 12 September at 3.30 p.m. (i.e. just before pick-up time). Learn more about the PTA.
The first part of this week provided an opportunity for all staff to come together to prepare for the new academic year. With sessions covering a broad range of topics from Teaching and Learning initiatives to priorities for the year, everyone is ready and raring to start. A school, without children in it is a very strange place indeed! One of the main areas that provided a real focus was our annual Safeguarding training which took priority on Monday morning led by Assistant Head (Pastoral and DSL), Mrs Mann. Safeguarding and wellbeing are paramount at Saint Felix School and therefore please be assured and advised that when any concerns are raised and shared, these are acted and passed on promptly with the necessary actions and outcomes taking place.
The sporting season commences on Tuesday with the Saint Felix School Football 1st XI playing the Old Felicians in what will become an annual match; this will take place at 2.30 p.m. at the back of school and if you are free, please do come and watch. We will be organising a similar fixture for Netball during the course of this year following on from the Golf Match that took place at Southwold G.C. in June. It is a wonderful way of ensuring that recent leavers remain connected with the school whilst providing a strong fixture at the start of the season. In other sporting news from the summer break, Cody H broke the Norfolk Under 13 Mile record by an amazing 16 seconds and also managed to improve his personal best at 1500m by some distance. As the Athletics season begins to draw to a close, he is looking to break under the 5-minute barrier for the mile prior to moving on to Cross-Country. Over the summer, Charlotte P-R was featured in the renowned Horse and Hound magazine as a result of her fantastic exploits at Equifest. We wish all of our students the very best as they commence their sporting endeavours for the year.
I look forward to seeing you all over the coming weeks and months as we have much to look forward to with the upcoming Creative and Performing Arts Week, House Shout, Fireworks Evening, Musical recitals, and eventually the Carol Services before we know it.
Yours sincerely,
Matthew Oakman
Head