Dear parents and carers,

Our sports teams have done us proud this week, representing UCC superbly and securing their places in the advanced stages of several competitions. I'm delighted to report that the following teams have qualified for finals and the semi-finals of Basketball and Rugby competitions following on from victories in fixtures this week

Our Year 9 girls’ Basketball team have qualified for the Varsity Finals vs. Belvoir High School.

• Our Year 10 girls’ Basketball team have qualified for the Varsity Finals vs. Belvoir High School following a 36-16 victory vs. Catmose.

• Both Basketball finals will be played at Belvoir on Wednesday 19 December.

• Our boys’ U14 Rugby Team have qualified for the County Plate semi-finals following a 50-17 win vs. John Ferneley.

• Our boys’ U16 Rugby Team have qualified for the County Plate semi-finals following a 20-7 win vs. Roundhill Academy.

Some of you may have read about the tragic event that occurred in Lincolnshire recently, where a young girl was hit by a lorry after she got off the school bus and sadly died from her injuries. The full story can be found here. Our staff supervise students carefully in our car park at the start and at end of the school day but I would very much appreciate parents and carers reinforcing a clear safety message with your sons and daughters.

Our reception staff have requested that I draw your attention to the procedures for collecting your child from school during the school day. During the last week some parents were phoning with last minute appointments for students (dental, medical etc) and this often required a member of Student Services to leave their post at the front of school to then find the student. Please, where possible, can you let us know in advance of appointments and for our safeguarding procedures always bring a form of photo ID with you so that you can be identified officially as a parent/carer.

For those of you who are parents of Year 11 and have sons or daughter that are considering Harington for a sixth form place, I have been informed this week that they will be running A Level German for the first time from September. This is great news for us as it provides a further education pathway for students at UCC who wish to continue with their studies of the German language. Additionally, please note that the deadline for applications to Harington is January 11th 2019.

A few reminders about forthcoming events:

Our Christmas show ‘Our Christmassy World’ is on 10 December at 6.30pm.  Tickets are available from Student Services; adults £1.50 and children/concessions £1.00.

Our Christmas breakfast is on 21 December from 7.30am. Parents and carers are invited to come and have breakfast as a family in our dining room. The price is £2.62 for a full cooked breakfast and drink.

Christmas dinner for students is on 18 December at lunch time. Please note the Christmas dinner will be the only hot food served on the day.

On the subject of Christmas, we received a fantastic donation from the Mount family who have provided us with a Christmas tree from The Grange Farm. We are very grateful for this generous gift to our school community and the tree looks magnificent in our dining room.

Our arrangements and timings for the final day of the autumn term are below; please take note of the early finish time.

Last Day of Term Arrangements – Friday 21 December

Time	Activity
Form Time    8.35-8.50	AM Registration and Form Time Secret Santa type festive pastoral activity
Lesson 1    8.55-9.55	Normal Lesson
Lesson 2    10.00-11.00	Normal Lesson
Break    11.00-11.20	Normal Break
Lesson 3    11.25-12.25	Success Assembly in the Sports Hall
Lunch    12.25 – 12.50	Short Lunch – ‘hand food only’
Form Time    12.50-1.00	PM Registration and Form Time
End of School Day    1.00	End of School – Christmas Holiday Begins!

I hope you have a great weekend.
Mr Solly