Welcome back to the spring term here at HSW! I hope you have all enjoyed that well-earned break and had a relaxing Christmas. Personally, it is good to finally be here full time and I am looking forward hugely to the rest of this school year and celebrating the many successes of our pupils.

Certainly this week has seen a very calm and purposeful start to the new term with pupils straight back into their routines and fully engaged in their lessons.

Elsewhere in our newsletter you will see a piece from Mr Tyson on attendance. Regular attendance to school is, we all know, essential to making strong progress educationally; there is much research evidence on this. The new government last summer tightened the regulations on recording and monitoring attendance for all schools (including independent schools) so you will find that some of our processes may now be different from previous years. It is important that you read and understand this information – do contact me or Mr Tyson if you have any questions.

Finally, I would like to wish the best of luck to our Year 11 and Year 13 pupils who have started their mock exams this week. I look forward to good results laying down a clear marker for success in the summer.