Principal's Weekly Update

Hello, Uxbridge High School community,

Welcome to the penultimate vlog of this half term. As always, I’m going to talk about three specific themes.

This week’s themes are:

1. Communication

2. The current state of play at Uxbridge High School

3. A fantastic wider opportunity for Year 9 students taking part in the STEM activity

 

Starting with communication:

Over the past week, you should have received two important letters, either from me or from my team. If you haven’t seen them yet, please do check your emails. These letters are crucial for keeping us all aligned and working together effectively.

The first letter focuses on communication, reinforcing our core value of respect. We are striving to build mutual respect between students, staff, and parents. When we all work together and communicate respectfully, we can address any issues calmly and productively, and that allows us to keep moving forward in the best interests of our young people.

We truly appreciate the many parents who engage proactively with the school. That partnership makes a huge difference and ultimately helps our students achieve more.

The second letter provides an update on our mobile phone policy. As you know, smartphones can pose challenges if not properly managed, particularly for young people. While we recognise their benefits, we continue to ban their use during school hours, and we need your support to uphold this. Please review that letter and help us by reinforcing the policy at home.

 

Next, the current state of play at Uxbridge High School:

We’ve been enjoying some beautiful sunshine this week, which has lifted everyone’s spirits. It looks like the good weather will continue into next week. Just a quick reminder. Please ensure students come to school with a refillable water bottle and are encouraged to stay hydrated throughout the day.

Year 11 and Year 13 students are working incredibly hard as they go through their exams. The rest of the school remain really focused in lessons, which is great to see. We want to keep that momentum going right up until half term.

We’ve got some exciting events coming up, including Sports Day for Years 7, 8 and 9 and a Careers Day next week. These days are most successful when students are cooperative, routines are followed and we’ve got your support behind the scenes. So thank you, as always, for helping make that happen.

 

A Message from Mr Morgan:

Thanks very much. We’ve been incredibly lucky today to host a fantastic STEM event for the second year in a row.

We welcomed in professionals from Motives and Kenu, who delivered an inspiring series of workshops to our Year 9 students. The day included sessions on advertising in the medicine industry, finance in STEM careers and an introduction to clinical trials and medical research more broadly.

The goal was to give students a closer look at what STEM careers might actually involve and, hopefully, to spark some real curiosity and passion.

I can honestly say the energy from the students has been phenomenal. The engagement, enthusiasm and teamwork on display has been exceptional. The mentors from both companies were brilliant with our students, and the feedback from everyone involved has been incredibly positive.

We really hope this partnership continues into next year.

 

Headteacher:

Thank you, Mr Morgan. It’s been inspiring to see that kind of energy and ambition sparked in our students today. Hopefully, as you said, we’ve ignited some metaphorical fires for the future, definitely not real ones.

With that, enjoy the sunshine and have a lovely weekend.

We’ll see you the same time, same place next week.

Thank you.