17 December 2009

Dear Parents/Carers

Thank you for your support of the school during this busy and exciting term. We have
been very impressed by the way students have settled into the new school year and are
very appreciative of your help in ensuring that they are fully prepared to meet the
challenges of each school day.

School Priorities

As part of our work on school improvement we have identified 6 key priorities that we
will be concentrating on during this year. These are:

1. To use data to monitor student progress and intervene promptly and effectively to
address underachievement
2. To provide a curriculum for students that excites, inspires and challenges
3. To develop teaching and learning and student responsibility so that lessons are
challenging and fun
4. To develop student leadership so that students have a clear role in school
improvement and make valuable contributions to the school and wider community
5. To ensure that Governors, senior and middle leaders work together to develop a
shared vision and strategic plans that will drive improvement
6. To maintain and build existing and new partnerships in order to improve provision
through extended school, community cohesion, partnerships and networks

We look forward to sharing with you our progress towards meeting these objectives
during the course of the year. If, in the meantime, you would like any further information
about the details of the plans we are following then please do not hesitate to contact
me.

School Successes

Last summer Mrs Gorman, Head of Drama, saw a newspaper article inviting schools
who would like to be involved in a touring production of ‘Kes’ to contact the Liverpool
Playhouse. Mrs Gorman got in touch and in October Sixth Form students from the ‘A’
Level Drama and BTEC Performing Arts courses took to the stage with a company of
professional actors at the Wolverhampton Grand. This was a fantastic opportunity for
these students to experience for themselves what working in the theatre is like and their
performances were a credit to the school. Following the success of Kes our actors took
to the stage to perform ‘Sweeney Todd - the musical’ and once again proved that we
are fortunate to have such a talented group of actors to entertain audiences. The school
has been involved for a number of years in the Shakespeare in Schools Festival and
this year a very talented team of students presented their interpretation of Macbeth.
Their performance was very well received making Mrs Diaram, their Director, extremely
proud.

There have been two very successful Music Concerts this term. The music department
were invited to take part in a concert at St Nicholas Church in Codsall and last night we
held our own very successful Christmas Concert. I am grateful to the large number of
students who performed, including some from Westfield Primary School, and to the
audience for making it such an enjoyable evening.
In sport there have been a number of team and individual successes so far this term. In
Badminton our Year 9 teams performed extremely well with two qualifying to represent
South Staffordshire in the Staffordshire Championships. Congratulations to Alex Storey,
Holly Hayer, Mya Kilpatrick Wood, Sarah Rogers, Harry Hodgetts, Tom Simpson,
Richard Hall, Isaac Edwards, Daniel Brosnan, Sam Greensill, Alex Brooks and Rory
Jones. The Year 8 and 9 and Senior Team performed well in the cross country
championships with Year 8 and 9 coming third and the Seniors finishing first.
Congratulations to the following students for their contributions to this season’s
success; Gemma Evans, Kay Oakley, Beth Hazlehurst, Emily Postins, Jessica Baugh,
Lauren Evans, Rebecca Oakley and Lauren Brindley. In swimming the school enjoyed
further success in the Wolverhampton League with excellent performances from Hayley
Davies Moore, Kathryn Brookes, Lucy Jones, Tiffany Oakes, Lauren Evans (second
place) and Abbey Postins. We also finished an impressive second in the West
Midlands Consortium competition.

As part of our work on extending opportunities for students outside of the school day we
have developed ‘Buzz’ which brings together the wide range of extra curricular activities
available for students in Years 7-9. Buzz has proved extremely popular and with the
next set of activities scheduled to begin in January 2010 parents who are interested in
their child taking part should consult the school website for details of how to sign up.

The school held two very successful Open Evenings this term for prospective Year 7
parents and for students interested in joining the Sixth Form. We were delighted with
the positive feedback that we got from these events as well as the constructive
comments made to help us improve Open Evenings even further next year.

In November and December we had the opportunity to formally congratulate Year 11

and Year 13 students from last year on their impressive examination performances. We
were pleased that so many students and parents were able to join us and were grateful
for the inspirational contributions from our guest speakers, Reverend Jean Spragg and
Falklands veteran Simon Weston, OBE.

There have also been some other notable individual successes this term. Lucy Jones in
Year 10 came first in the ballroom sequence event and second in Latin at the Midlands
Dancer of the Year competition, Kelly Warrington was invited to join the Staffordshire
Tennis Academy and Joe Downing and Tom Nicholls of Year 10 were recognised for
their impressive contribution to the Young Firefighters Course.

Attendance

We have been encouraged by the reduction in the number of parents taking their
children out of school for holidays this term. Thank you for your support in helping to
ensure students attend for as many as possible of the 190 school days that we have
each year. As you will see from the school website we have reviewed our Attendance
Policy for 2010 and this will be presented to Governors during the Spring Term. In line
with recommendations from the Education Welfare Service, we have added further
information about the action we might take if children are persistently absent from
school (attendance less than 80%) and further details of this are included in the policy.
We appreciate parents contacting us before 9.00am if they know that their child will be
absent from school and would be grateful if you would continue to call us on 01902
891717. (24 hour voicemail available)
Improving communication and the school website

We are continuing to use the school website to keep parents updated of events and
provide information about life in school. We hope that it will not be necessary to close
the school for bad weather this year but will use the website as well as local radio to
advise parents of this should it be unavoidable.

The findings from our parental evaluation survey last year indicated that we need to do
more to improve communication and share information about what is happening in
school. As part of this we intend to add a Governor section to the school website in the
New Year so that parents know about the vital role that governors play in school
improvement and who the Governors are.

If you have any comments and feedback about any aspect of the school’s work, please
contact us by letter, by telephone or by email office@ounsdale.staffs.sch.uk or
headteacher@ounsdale.staffs.sch.uk As always, if you have a particular concern about
your child’s well-being or progress please speak to their Head of Year in the first
instance.

Arrangements for the end of term and January 2010

School will close on Friday 18th December at 12.30pm and school buses have been
booked early on this day. The new term begins for students on Tuesday 5th January
2010 following a staff INSET day on Monday 4th January.

Staff Leaving

We are saying goodbye to Miss Lovatt from the PE department at the end of this term.
Miss Lovatt has been a fantastic member of staff and her contributions to PE and to the
Healthy Schools initiative have been highly valued. We wish Miss Lovatt every success
in her new role as Head of PE in Sundorne School, Shropshire. We are also saying
goodbye to Miss Brown who has been supporting the PE department for one day per
week. We wish her well in her new post at Walsall Academy. Another member of staff
who will be missed is Mrs Thornthwaite who will be on maternity leave for the
remainder of this year. We wish her well and look forward to congratulating her on her
new arrival next term.

Finally, on behalf of staff, students and Governors I would like to take this opportunity to
wish you a very Merry Christmas and healthy and prosperous New Year.

Yours sincerely

Christine Brown
Headteacher