Dear Families,
Headteacher’s Letter to Parents (July 2022) – PDF
As we work towards the last week of term, I would like to thank you for your incredible support over the past year. It’s been an extremely busy one and I’m sure you have been avidly reading our weekly Newsletters to keep up with the amazing things your children have been experiencing and achieving. It’s been great getting back to education without restrictions and our staff have been involving our pupils in as many educational activities as possible.
Firstly, some information about the last week of term. We are forecast a bout of extreme weather on Monday and Tuesday of next week and have been advised by the Local Authority to amend our school menu so that our canteen cooking equipment is used as little as possible during these times. We will, therefore, be focussing on cold food, such as sandwiches and salads, and snacks over this period. Our usual service will resume when the weather returns to some normality.
Please ensure that your child is protected from the sun in the upcoming days by asking them to wear sun cream and / or a sun cap. Please remind them of the importance of drinking water to keep hydrated.
The last day of the Summer Term will be Thursday 21st July 2022. Pupils will be dismissed at 12.20pm and will be able to get a meal during their usual breaktime. Arrangements can be made for pupils to be supervised at school if the timing should prove inconvenient; please get in touch at contact@willows.cardiff.sch.uk if this is the case. It will be a normal day, just shorter, so school uniform will be expected.
We plan to start the Autumn Term 2022 with only Year 7 pupils in school for the first day, the start dates are:
Tuesday 6th September 2022 – Year 7
Wednesday 7th September 2022 – All Pupils
When we return after the summer break the timings of the school day will have changed. School will start at 9.00am and finish at 3.10pm. Please ensure that your child arrives on the yard in plenty of time, so they can have a piece of toast and a drink before moving to their Line-Up.
Please ensure that you are aware of our expectations at Willows High School by reading through our Parent Handbook for 2022-2023 which is available on our website. The direct link is www.willowshighschool.wales/parenthandbook
Regarding shoes, please use our flowchart and remember that you do not need to buy jumpers with the Willows logo on, only blazers are expected. Regarding skirts, they should be no more than 5cm above the knee.
There are still some families who are not using the Classcharts app regularly. Classcharts is how we distribute all our school letters and news. If you haven’t already signed up, please do so. Classcharts is available for both IOS and Android mobile devices and is free of charge, it will also enable you to monitor your child’s timetable, attendance and merits / demerits in real time. You will need an activation code, this can be accessed by sending your child’s name and date of birth to classcharts@willows.cardiff.sch.uk. New Year 7 pupils, joining us in September will, be given activation details during the first week.
As always, this time of year is a time of change. I’d like to say a massive thank you to all of the staff who are leaving us and who have made such a positive contribution to Willows. I am sure you will join with me in wishing them all the very best in whatever they are moving on to do and hope that they will always keep in touch with us at the school. We are also lucky to have been able to recruit a fantastic group of new colleagues who we can’t wait to join us in September.
Our Friends of Willows group are always looking for new recruits. If you’re interested in getting involved, please contact Sam, our Family and Community Engagement Officer, using samantha.watt@willows.cardiff.sch.uk.
I have always said that we have brilliant pupils at Willows and this combined with the support from you, their families, really does help to make the school the success that it is. Have a fantastic summer break, we’ll see you on the other side.
Kind regards,
Chris Norman
Headteacher