Dear Families,
I hope this update finds you in good health. It has been another busy week at Derby Moor with a sport themed few days for our community. Many of our students are riding the wave of optimism generated by the England football team and have also been wowed by the athleticism and skill shown on the football field by our staff this week. This served as a precursor to sports day this afternoon. More about that below, alongside an number of other updates:
Volunteers for C19 test centre
We will be looking again for volunteers to help with our onsite testing centre in September. If you have helped out previously or would like to get involved, please contact the school who will take your details and arrange a call back.
Dropping off and collecting students
May I remind families who drop off and collect students that we are very lucky to have a purpose built turning circle for vehicles to use at the start and end of the day. Please do not park on Moorway lane. We ask this because it effectively narrows the road to one lane, causing congestion and slowing down everyone’s journey time. Additionally, some vehicles are blocking the driveways of local residents meaning they are unable to access their driveway which is not in keeping with our value of community. Please use the turning circle and park considerately when picking up or dropping off.
Arriva Bus Tickets
We have emailed families about discounted travel for students using Arriva buses. You can find a link to the information from Arriva here.
Mock Interviews
We have hosted a number of business leaders in school again today in partnership with E4E. They have been helping out with mock interviews for our Year 12s. The interviews are a vital part of preparing our students to face interview panels for University Courses, Apprenticeships and throughout their careers beyond education. We are committed to developing our students into highly employable young people and today’s experience is one part of the overall package we offer to prepare them for the ever changing world of work. Thank you to all the employers who came to Derby Moor today and gave up their time to enrich our students experience.
Derbyshire Telegraph
You may have seen that our student leadership team were featured in the Derbyshire Telegraph this week for their work on raising funds for Save The Children, in response to the crisis in the Middle East. We are so proud of what they have achieved. You can find the full article here.
Duke of Edinburgh Award
The Bronze and Silver Assessed weekends took place in the Peak District last weekend, with groups camping in the village of Birchover during what proved to be a torrential rainstorm. All students can now say that they have learnt how to survive outdoors during a thunder and lightning storm.
All groups embodied the school motto of Together We Succeed as they had to collaborate as a team, encouraging each other when the going got tough, proving to be resilient and determined throughout. As such, all groups successfully completed their expeditions.
Presentations are now to be delivered by the Silver Groups on Monday 12th July at 3:05pm.
Bronze Groups need to return their borrowed school equipment when they are next in school.
In the meantime, the recruitment process has started for the new Bronze groups for September. Mrs Burrows has been available during lunch times to years 8, 9 & 10 and has now spoken to students about the DofE award. If you still would like some information, Mrs Burrows will be available at lunch times all next week, or ask your form tutor to ask her for an information pack.
Enrolment forms need returning to Mrs Burrows by Friday 16th July please – they can also be passed onto Miss Lancaster, Miss Clayton-Clarke, Mr Nolan, Mr Bayliss, Mr Abell, Mrs McGregor or Mrs Yasmin (the DofE staff team).
Parent Questionnaire
A thank you to those parents who recently completed our parent survey sharing their thoughts and opinions about the school. We really value the opinions of all stakeholders and appreciate you giving up your time to complete it. A headline summary is as follows:
90% of parents felt that the school has high expectations for their child
91% of parents said that they felt their child was safe at school
86% of parents would recommend the school to another parent
We will use the results of this questionnaire to reflect on current practice and in discussion for possible action and future developments, to further improve the school.
Year 6 Transition
As you are aware in order to follow the government’s guidelines, we had to adjust our arrangements for supporting this year’s Year 6 transition. It was reluctantly agreed across the City that the three Transfer Days were suspended.
At Derby Moor we were able to offer a reduced transition process to a number of students where possible.
In addition we are offering the opportunity for Y6 parents to visit the school during the summer holidays. This will give your child the opportunity to have a tour of the school and meet with a Year Manager to talk through school expectations / procedures / uniform etc.
If you would like this opportunity to visit along with your child can you please arrange an appointment by telephoning Reception 01332 772706.
Sports Day
Today we enjoyed our annual Sports Day at Derby Moor and celebrated the athletic abilities of many of our students. I have to say it was and absolute joy to see the whole of our school community together on the field for the first time in a very, very long time. Whilst each Year Group was segregated into their bubbles it was still somewhat symbolic to have everyone in one place, enjoying the events together. There were some fantastic individual performances today and a genuine euphoria amongst our community as those watching enjoyed a glimpse of the summer sunshine.
End of term
Our last day of term is Thursday 22nd July. We will be distributing a letter next week with the details for each year group about how we will bring the term to an end and how we expect things to begin again in September.
I hope you all enjoy the weekend and for those following the football, best of luck for Sunday evening. Hopefully it will finally come home.
Scott Doyle
Principal
