Dear Parents and Carers, 

I hope you've had a positive week.

During our Inset Day on Monday, we spent the majority of the day strengthening our knowledge and understanding of adaptive teaching strategies to help us plan more effectively to meet the needs of all our learners. We also spent time focusing on those pupils with SEND and those pupils joining us from other countries,  who have English as an additional language. We all found the training useful and created our individual action points going forward. 

Year 10 have made an excellent start to their GCSE Mock exams. Although they've found a real challenge, they've shown resilience and determination, which is good to see. A small number are arriving without the necessary equipment to complete their exam; please can you check if your child is prepared before they leave the house in the morning. 

On Tuesday, a large number of Year 10s visited Peter Symonds College and took part in their Taster Day. The feedback was excellent; pupils found it both insightful and inspiring. Peter Symonds is holding their Open Events next Tuesday and Wednesday evening. I encourage you to go along with your child to see the range of courses on offer. It's a fantastic college.

On Tuesday,  our Year 7&8 pupils took part in the District Athletics competition at Charlton, some excellent performances. Well done to the team for their performances. They were great ambassadors for the school.

Our 'Mission Transition' continues. Mr Thomas, Mrs Ckeaver-Bailey and Mrs Sheedy have worked exceptionally hard to organise a whole host of events for our new Year 7s in September as well as Year 5s who are considering joining us in September 2026. Such a positive week, we look forward to welcoming our new intake families on Monday for our transition day and evening. I would like to give a huge shout out to our brilliant Year 9 Peer Mentors who have helped with all our events this week, showing excellent support for the Primary Pupils who have visited.

On Wednesday we were honoured to host 'The Hampshire Book Awards'. Our wonderful pupils worked alongside pupils from other schools in Hampshire to review a number of books. Thanks to Miss Barton for organising the event.

I've seen a few social media feeds recently from parents considering sending their child to Danebury. I would like to thank those of you who responded to the parents' questions with such honesty. The majority of your comments were hugely supportive of the school, and they meant so very much to us. We are working incredibly hard to create an environment where all pupils feel cared for, belong and where they thrive academically and socially. Your comments are so powerful and make a huge difference to our school improvement journey.

To that end, as we are approaching the end of the term, we will be sending out a short questionnaire next week about your experience of Danebury. We are doing the same with pupils over the next few weeks. Parental voice is incredibly helpful for us. We really value your feedback.

As temperatures are due to climb over the weekend and peak on Monday, I'm happy for pupils to wear their PE kit on Monday if they so wish. Please can you check if your child/children are leaving home with a water bottle please.

Have a lovely weekend.

Nicky Goodridge, Head Teacher