Dear Parents,
I am delighted that our students have settled in so well this week. A very warm welcome to students who are new to the school this term.
Examination Success
A Level and GCSE students are celebrating a year of great achievement. At A level we achieved a 100% pass rate with 83% of candidates achieving A*-C grades. The average point score per candidate, 127, was the highest ever recorded by the school. For many years now the school has been highly successful at A level and this year our students have carried on the tradition.
There were very many individual successes and 95% of students achieved their first choice university offer. Particularly notable were Megan Erridge who has won a place to read Fine Art at Oxford University; Ashnoy Nazareth to read Engineering at Cambridge University and Joyal Tom who will read Medicine at Imperial College, London. Students will also go to study a huge variety of courses at many universities including: Aston, Aberystwyth, Birmingham, Cardiff, De Montfort, Exeter, Lancaster, Leeds, Leicester, Liverpool, Liverpool John Moores, Nottingham, Nottingham Trent, Queen Mary University of London, Sheffield, St Mary’s, Swansea, Warwick.
GCSE Students qualified in a great variety of subjects – Religious education, Art, Biology, Business Studies, Catering, Chemistry, Dance, Drama, English Language and Literature, French, Geography, History, Information Technology, Mathematics, Media Studies, Music, Physics, Photography and Textiles. 64% of students achieved grade 4+ in both English and Mathematics; 69% achieved 4+ in at least 5 subjects.
There were many exceptional performances at all levels and many students were pleased to have achieved their ‘personal best’ – often beyond their expected grades. Particularly noteworthy were Junior who achieved six grade 9s and three grade 8s - ie as many parents still think of it - six A* * grades and 3 A*s! Cleya, five grade 9’s, four grade 8’s, and one grade 7 (“A”); Joshua four grade 9’s, three grade 8’s, two grade 7’s and James four grade 9’s, 5 grade 8’s, and one grade 7.
Congratulations to all our students on a great year of strong achievement. Thank you to teachers for all their hard work and to parents and families for their support. We wish our young people every blessing and success for the future at university, in the Sixth Form or at college.
Welcome to new staff
We welcome the following staff to the school:
Mr P McCaughey: Assistant Principal and Leader of Mathematics,
Mr A Hubbard: Head of Sixth Form Mathematics, Mrs L Akagha (Biology), Mr C Demeillers (Mathematics), Miss C Jackson (Biology), Mr T King (Physics), Mr L Leonard (Music and RE), Dr S Nyawako (Mathematics); Miss K Cranston, Mr O Diaz Chento, Mr D Ford Miss L Khirani, (Teaching assistants) Mrs E Grant (Science Technician).
Additionally the following staff have new responsibilities:
Mr M Calen: Acting Vice Principal, Mrs A Biddles: Head of Year 7, Mr D Nicholson: Head of PE, Miss S Patrick: Head of Science, Mr I Sadler: Head of Key stage 4 Science, Mrs P Suraweera: Head of Key stage 3 Science
Getting into routine
At the beginning of the year it is extremely important that our young people develop good habits and routines and are clear about the expectations we have for them. In order to help with that every student has been issued with a School Diary which contains a lot of important information. You are asked to read through this with your child.
Parent action required
Please read and sign the agreements on pages 3, 8 and 10.
May I emphasise the following:
- Phones may not be used in school, this includes on the driveway or at break/ lunch etc. Any student seen with a phone will have it confiscated. Parents will then be asked to collect the phone and a detention issued. Students may hand phones into the office for safekeeping during the school day.
- Students should not wear earphones at any time including when arriving at or leaving school.
- School bags should be a Ruck sack only (uniform list, Student Diary page 4)
- Piercings and make up are not permitted; hairstyles should be moderate (see “How we wear our uniform”, page 5)
General Information
There is a wealth of information about the school on the school website www.englishmartyrs.org and this includes a calendar for the school year, school policies and advice for parents and students.
Show My Homework
This year the school will begin using ‘Show My Homework’. You will now be able to see all of the homework your child has been set either via the school website or via the free Show My Homework App. Both students and parents will be able to see all homework tasks and when they are due to be handed in, which I hope will enable you to support your child to complete all homework on time.
Information Meetings for Parents and students
Parking
Please note that there is no parking or dropping off within the school grounds during the working day. Parking is available on site for Information and Parent Consultation meetings, concerts, shows etc. Please be considerate to our neighbours when dropping off or picking up children in local streets and please observe the Highway Code.
Bank Holiday – May 2020
A reminder - the government has moved the early May Bank Holiday from Monday 4th May to Friday 8th May 2020, in order to coincide with the weekend celebrations for the 75th anniversary of Victory in Europe (VE) Day. Our school holiday dates are changed accordingly and Monday 4th May will be a normal school day.
Development Trust
The English Martyrs Leicester Development Trust is a new charity which has been in existence now for just 12 months under the Chairmanship of Mr Edward Hayes. Every year the school has to cope with a diminishing budget and this means that important “extras” for our students are at risk, as we have to prioritise routine expenses. The Trust exists to make our school a better school. This year Year 7 students will each receive a free reading book on World Book Day and the initiative has been sponsored by our Development Trust. Other projects are in the pipeline. Over the last year the Trust has raised more than £10,000 for the school and I would like to thank all those parents and friends of the school who have given donations and especially those who have given through a direct debit each month. A direct debit form is available at school reception and on the website.
Encouragement from Pope Francis
During August Pope Francis shared his prayer intention for families and invites us also to pray for our families. This is an important intention as we begin the stresses and strains of the school year and I encourage us all to pray with our young people for our families and to pray for the ‘family of English Martyrs’ that we will live charitably together this year honouring Jesus’ words “May they all be one.”
Pope Francis said: “What kind of world do we want to leave for the future? Let us leave a world with families. Let us care for our families, because they are true schools for the future, spaces of freedom, and centres of humanity.
And let us reserve a special place in our families for individual and communal prayer. Let us pray that families, through their life of prayer and love, become ever more clearly ‘schools of true human development’.”
May I wish all of our students a very successful year ahead. I look forward to seeing you at the Parents Information meetings.
Yours sincerely
Marius Carney
Principal