Dear Parents
This week has been mental health awareness week and today has seen an assembly and tutorial sessions on maintaining positive mental health. Over this term two year groups will have had mindfulness training and we are keen to share this further. Bellevue has made a connection with the charity Young Minds and we look forward to training more staff in youth mental health first aid support. Young Minds (independently) is the chosen charity for the ball and we would be very grateful for any donations you are able to give for the fundraising raffle.
I have spent the last two days away inspecting another school and it has been fascinating to see the strengths and challenges that other schools have – and to discuss the impact of COVID on particular year groups. The values on which this school is based threaded through all areas, and the work they too are doing on the key stage 3 curriculum intrigued me.
Next week there is a major IAPS conference for Heads on conscious inclusion and I look forward to applying some of the lessons from that in the coming months. I am grateful to Mrs Bradbury for the work she is doing meeting with parents to understand further steps we can be taking.
Next week a group of senior leaders from other Bellevue schools will be visiting Holmwood on Tuesday to look over some of the steps we have made from the school’s academic development plan. They will be scrutinising books, meeting some pupils and observing lessons. As a school we are very much looking forward to this visit after it was postponed mid-COVID last February.
There have been a number of exciting activities taking place in school this week, with one of the highlights being a visit to Reception today from Essex Police as part of their theme this term “people who help us”. Plans are pressing on for the Queen’s Jubilee and Holmwood Centenary street party and we are very hopeful that we will get a Wednesday without rain soon and will be able to welcome parents on site for a full block of fixtures!
Have a very good weekend.
Edward Bond
Headmaster