Dear UCC Families

Today sees us complete a very successful half term. I have spent a lot of time touring prospective families around the school, who are considering UCC as a secondary school choice for their Year 6 children. This has meant that I have been in lessons every day, observing the calm and purposeful learning environment in all subjects. I have been really impressed with the attitudes of our students, who have been polite, respectful and great ambassadors for UCC when I have asked them to speak to the parents and children on the tours. 

Following 2 years of pandemic and fire related disruptions, it has been great to complete a half term that has felt as normal as I can remember for some time. This return to normality has allowed us to focus on enhancing our teaching practices and further improve our provision for UCC students. Last week we welcomed internationally renowned education experts Tom Sherrington and John Tomsett to support us in refining our classroom practice. This week we were visited by our School Improvement Partner, Piers Ranger, who is a former headteacher and Ofsted Inspector - he spent the day meeting with members of our team, asking them challenging questions and providing us opportunities to reflect on the impact of our work. His visits are always useful as it is incredibly beneficial for an external set of expert eyes to review what we are doing and help us identify ways in which we can further improve. Ultimately this support and challenge helps us enhance the experience your children receive whilst they are at UCC; I hope it provides you with the reassurance that we never want to remain static and as a school community we are always seeking to learn and improve. 

I was delighted to hear about the successes of our sports teams this week. Our results below certainly represent the most successful autumn fixtures in football and netball in the 6 years I have been here:
Football
Year 11 boys beat Long Field 5-0 to win the Rutland and Melton Varsity Championship
Year 10 boys beat Long Field 4-1 to win the Rutland and Melton  Varsity Championship
Year 9 boys beat Belvoir 5-4 to win the Rutland and Melton Varsity Championship
Key Stage 4 girls beat Belvoir 3-1 to win the Rutland and Melton Varsity Championship
Netball
Year 8 girls beat Belvoir 17-10 to remain unbeaten and win the Rutland and Melton Varsity Championship

Having successful sports team is not the be-all and end-all of a great PE department. However, I am really pleased for all the students and staff involved in these successes, as they have worked so hard and collectively they have created an incredible team spirit. People are noticing and commenting to me about the difference they are seeing in our PE department and I am incredibly proud of how they are constantly evolving and improving. After introducing a PE Concept Curriculum in Key Stage 3, which is a curriculum for life, where essential life skills are explicitly taught and assessed, rather than simply being a by-product, I find it interesting that we are experiencing more success in our sports team than ever before.

I would like to thank the parents who put themselves forward to become parent governors. We received applications from vastly experienced, highly qualified and very committed parents and I am delighted to inform you that Emma Morley and Fraser Stephen-Smith were the parents who received the highest number of votes. We are in a position where we can appoint 2 governors and we will officially welcome Emma and Fraser to our governing board after half-term.

I hope you are able to enjoy some quality family time over the next couple of weeks. I look forward to seeing your children when we return to school on Monday 31^st October 2022.

Have a great weekend, please take some time to read the rest of the Newsletter

Yours faithfully
Mr B Solly