Headteacher Blogs

Dear Parents and carers, 

Firstly, I would like to thank you for your support in ensuring your child wears the correct uniform to school. In some schools I have worked in, staff have had to spend a considerable amount of time getting students to dress appropriately however that is not the case here. Our students look smart and on the odd occasions I have to ask a student to tuck their shirt in – the deal is if my shirt is hanging out then their shirt can hang out too - there is little if any challenge. There may be the odd exception but given how many students we have, they do really well.  

As we move into the winter months, there is limited outdoor space due to weather, so the school building becomes busy. We are putting on a lot of clubs and activities to keep them occupied over lunchtime – as we did after February half term – and I have emphasised with students the importance of being responsible, especially when in the canteen. Our expectation is that students behave as if they were eating at home with the family.  

We had a Sixth Form stand at the Howden careers evening on Wednesday in our plan to expand out into that area. We take in students from a number of different schools, from Holderness to Howden, and so are looking to expand and build on the good numbers we get from the main school. Last night, some of our staff attended the Sixth Form Open Evening at Wolfreton, and I am pleased to say that it went well and was busy. It did bring home to me how strong the collaboration is and how our students benefit from a shared experience on both campuses.  

Year 7 have settled in well and I have been pleased with what I have seen when dropping into lessons. This applies to other year groups too. They continue to be courteous, often coming to chat with me when I am in the canteen. Overall, their attendance is very pleasing so my thanks to you for your support if your child is in this year group and, indeed, all the others. The school itself is one when students are keen to interact, and visitors continue to praise them.  

Finally, we have launched our new rewards programme. This includes our Hull Fair attendance streak from today (Friday 9th to Friday16th October) which includes students getting rewards for attending all days during that time. There are lots of other rewards too which you will see on Instagram.  

Have a great weekend.

 Mr Nixon

Headteacher

Dear Parents and carers, 

The Local Governing Body meeting on Tuesday evening was a positive one because of our outcomes and all the work we achieved last year, though we all recognise there is still a lot to do. It was the last meeting for one of our Governors, Matt Benson who has stepped down and is now on the Trust Board. I have only known Matt for a short while but during that time, I have been extremely impressed with this knowledge and incisive questioning. My personal thanks to him for his dedication to the school over a number of years. 

The school at the end of the day is extremely busy with buses, cars, and taxis and, whilst it may look like we have plenty of car parking space, it is in fact very limited. There have been electric car charging points installed – this is a Government initiative across schools – but due to limited space, any car can park there, especially at the end of the day. Please do not use the spaces in front of reception unless there is a specific reason that we know about as a school. This is for the safety of all our children who are leaving at the end of the day. Also please do not drop off in the bus area.  

Mark Brown, Executive Director of Education, visited yesterday and following a conversation about where we are as a school, all of which was positive, we dropped into a few Year 11 and Year 7 lessons. There was a real sense of ambition in some of the lessons with students finding the work challenging and a palpable culture of “we can do even better” which was great to see. Presentation in books was good; some quite exceptional. I always appreciate the warm welcome I get when going into lessons, not only from the staff but the students as well.  

Open evening Thursday was a brilliant event. It is one of the most important evenings in the calendar. I thoroughly enjoyed walking round seeing the different areas and watching both staff and students speak so highly about our school. I admit to my bias, but it will come as no surprise that my highlight of the evening was listening to Aiden Standley playing the bagpipes. This was my first ever experience of hearing that sound in school, including 18 years in Scotland. I would also like to publicly thank Ella and Charlie whose speeches were the highlight of the presentation. The hall was absolutely packed for both presentations, so much so that on the second one, parents were having to stand outside the door. This despite us having put out extra seating and numerous parents standing at the front as well. My thanks to you as parents and carers for allowing your child to take part in the evening. They were fantastic. There was a real buzz about the school, and I felt very privileged to be part of it.  

 Have a great weekend.

Mr Nixon

Headteacher

Dear Parents and Carers, 

It was great to have students back in school on Wednesday, and to see so many of them come through the gates looking smart and on time. Year 7s have settled in very quickly and got used to our systems; they have come across as a very polite and respectful group of young people.  

We returned on the back of some excellent results for both Year 11 and Year 13. I won’t go into any great detail but to give you a taste, our 5+ in English and maths (called basics) rose from 38% to 51% and our 4+ rose 5% to 68%. The percentage of students who achieved a grade 7 also went up by 5% and a large number of subjects made significant improvement in outcomes too. At A level we achieved record results in A* - B grades and vocational subjects did exceptionally well too. The phrase I have been using is “This is just the start” but it is an excellent base from which we will continue our journey of improvement.  

It has been good to see attendance figures go up from the same time last year. As we get even better, it means your child misses even more education when they are not in school so please continue to send them to every day.  

Finally, there are a number of events coming up in the next few weeks, so I have listed them below. 

11 September 2026 | Key Stage 4/5 Celebration Evening (6:00pm – 7:30pm) 

24 September 2026 | Year 5/6 Open Evening (5:00pm) 

29 September 2026 | Sixth Form Open Evening (5:00pm) 

12 – 16 October 2026 | Year 11 Speaking Exams 

15 October 2026 | Year 7 Meet the Tutor 

16 October 2026 | Year 7 Restart a Heart Day 

19 – 22 October 2026 | Year 11 Mock Exams 

20 October 2026 | Year 10 Parent Information and Work Experience Meeting (6:00pm-7:00pm)  

21 October 2026 | Year 9 Inspiration Day 

22 October 2026 | School Closes for Half Term  

Have a great weekend. 

Mr Nixon 

Headteacher