Year 8 Update - Spring 1

It has been a great pleasure to welcome all of Year 8 into their first half term of 2026. You will not be surprised to read that yet again it has been a very busy half term for Year 8.

It was fantastic to see so very many of you at our Year 8 Subject Evening in January, both those parents and carers that I had appointments with and those who I was able to see informally. Subject evening is a key date in the Year 8 calendar, as a vital opportunity for parents and carers, and the students themselves, to get feedback on exactly what steps need to be taken to make even more progress. I was really proud of the maturity displayed by those students present, and I want to thank all parents and carers for your continued, unerring support of your children.

Attendance - The Winning Streak

This half term has seen the launch of our Winning Streak Attendance drive. We are extremely proud of how well the whole school has participated in our Winning Streak competition this half term. As shown in the graph, a fantastic number of students have achieved 100% attendance, with a significant improvement compared to the same time last year. Students have responded incredibly well, and the results reflect the collective effort across the school. An enormous well done to all our students, tutors and families for their continued commitment and support — thank you for helping make this such a success!

Tutor Time Curriculum

This term’s Tutor Time Curriculum has seen the tutor groups cover plenty of PSHE content. This has centred around Gaming and Gambling and has been delivered by the team of Form Tutors. This half term has also played host to a number of assemblies, both from myself as well as from Mr Lowdell. Both of us have been encouraging Year 8s to see January and the pending start of Spring as a time to reflect, as well as a good time to look to the future. With an eye on the future, Form Tutors have also guided Year 8 through our sessions on National Apprenticeship Week. These sessions looked at getting Year 8 to understand exactly what Apprenticeships are and to begin to see the full range of options available to them beyond school. Finally, students took part in sessions linked to Children’s Mental Health Week, which this year focused on the theme “This is My Place”. These sessions encouraged students to reflect on friendships and belonging, and to consider how positive relationships can support their overall health and well-being.

Spring 2 - Of course, there are many more things to come in next half term. When students return, we will once again be holding College Assemblies to further instil the Ethos of each of the Colleges into our students. As one of the College Leaders, we are always keen to sing the praises of the students in our College. This will be followed by the second of this year’s College Attendance Competitions, and I am personally keen to see Park College retain the crown! Next half term, our Tutor Time Curriculum will be jam-packed with Careers Sessions, the Year 8 World of Work event, an International Schools project and World Book Day. On top of this we will be covering Crime and Gang Culture in our carefully planned and delivered Tutor Time PSHE sessions.

Rewards and Celebration

We know how hard students work across the school. They display our CORE values of Commitment, Opportunity, Respect and Excellence each and every day. Staff are always keen to reward students for everything they do so well and I am delighted to share the highest earners of reward points for this half term.

Student	Reward Points
Bianca V	165
Miguel C-A	147
Defne K	145
James W	145
Albie P	144
Evie B	143
Leo E	137
Kostia T	136
Leylan B	132
Sara R	130

Online Safety Newsletter

Our February Online Safety newsletter has been published on the website on the Safeguarding tab – Online Safety - and you can also read it here Online Safety Newsletter - February. It includes information on the AI image generator and moderator tools that are widely available, Tik Tok and an article on screen time and resilience.

In addition we have added a newsletter to the website with information based around Safer Internet Day which was celebrated on 10 February, you can also read it here Safer Internet Day Newsletter.

Calendar

Wednesday 11 March - Year 8 World of Work Day

Thank you, as always, for your support of the school and of course your children. I am looking forward to the next half term already.

Mr Piper
Year 8 Lead